2027 US Music Festivals: The Biggest Festivals, Dates & Where to Stay
By total attendance, the biggest music festival in the US is Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: 1,260,630 visits over 10 days in 2026, on stages that are mostly free. The biggest ticketed festival is Coachella, at about 750,000 across two weekends, and the biggest three-day crowd belongs to EDC Las Vegas, with more than 500,000 in 2026.
Below are the biggest music festivals in the US for 2027, ranked by attendance, then a month-by-month 2027 calendar, the top country festivals, where to stay for each big one, the biggest festivals in the UK and Europe, and the best electronic, rock and indie festivals.
Biggest Music Festivals in the US, Ranked by Attendance
Ranked by the latest total attendance each festival or its city has published. Most festivals count every day’s entries, so a three-day pass counts three times. That’s why the per-day figure is often the fairer comparison.
| # | Festival | Where | Attendance | Days | Per day | 2027 dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Musikfest Mostly free | Bethlehem, PA | 1,260,630 (2026) | 10 | 126,000 | 1,260,630 (2026) · 10 days · about 126,000 a day | Aug 6–15 | Hotels ↗ |
| 2 | French Quarter Festival Mostly free | New Orleans, LA | 950,000 (2024) | 4 | 238,000 | 950,000 (2024) · 4 days · about 238,000 a day | Apr 8–11 | Hotels ↗ |
| 3 | Coachella | Indio, CA | 750,000 (2025) | 6 (2 weekends) | 125,000 | 750,000 (2025) · 6 days (2 weekends) · about 125,000 a day | Apr 9–11 & 16–18 | Hotels ↗ |
| 4 | Summerfest | Milwaukee, WI | 568,711 (2026) | 9 (3 weekends) | 63,000 | 568,711 (2026) · 9 days (3 weekends) · about 63,000 a day | Jun 24–26, Jul 1–3 & 8–10 | Hotels ↗ |
| 5 | EDC Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV | 500,000+ (2026) | 3 | 167,000+ | 500,000+ (2026) · 3 days · about 167,000+ a day | May 14–16 & 21–23 | Hotels ↗ |
| 6 | New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival | New Orleans, LA | 475,000 (2026) | 8 (2 weekends) | 59,000 | 475,000 (2026) · 8 days (2 weekends) · about 59,000 a day | Apr 22–25 & Apr 29–May 2 | Hotels ↗ |
| 7 | Lollapalooza | Chicago, IL | 460,000 (2025) | 4 | 115,000 | 460,000 (2025) · 4 days · about 115,000 a day | TBA (late Jul / early Aug) | Hotels ↗ |
| 8 | Austin City Limits | Austin, TX | ≈450,000 (est.) | 6 (2 weekends) | 75,000 | ≈450,000 (est.) · 6 days (2 weekends) · about 75,000 a day | TBA (October) | Hotels ↗ |
| 9 | CMA Fest | Nashville, TN | ≈400,000 (2026) | 4 | 100,000 | ≈400,000 (2026) · 4 days · about 100,000 a day | Jun 10–13 | Hotels ↗ |
| 10 | Stagecoach | Indio, CA | ≈255,000 (2026) | 3 | 85,000 | ≈255,000 (2026) · 3 days · about 85,000 a day | Apr 23–25 | Hotels ↗ |
| 11 | Outside Lands | San Francisco, CA | ≈225,000 (est.) | 3 | 75,000 | ≈225,000 (est.) · 3 days · about 75,000 a day | Aug 6–8 | Hotels ↗ |
| 12 | Welcome to Rockville | Daytona Beach, FL | 210,000 (2026) | 4 | 52,500 | 210,000 (2026) · 4 days · about 52,500 a day | May 6–9 | Hotels ↗ |
| 13 | Sonic Temple | Columbus, OH | 184,000 (2026) | 4 | 46,000 | 184,000 (2026) · 4 days · about 46,000 a day | May 13–16 | Hotels ↗ |
| 14 | Ultra Music Festival | Miami, FL | 165,000 (2026) | 3 | 55,000 | 165,000 (2026) · 3 days · about 55,000 a day | Mar 26–28 | Hotels ↗ |
| 15 | Riot Fest | Chicago, IL | ≈150,000 (2026) | 3 | 50,000 | ≈150,000 (2026) · 3 days · about 50,000 a day | TBA (September) | Hotels ↗ |
| 16 | BottleRock Napa Valley | Napa, CA | ≈120,000 (2026) | 3 | 40,000 | ≈120,000 (2026) · 3 days · about 40,000 a day | May 28–30 | Hotels ↗ |
| 17 | Governors Ball | Queens, NY | 120,000 (2026) | 3 | 40,000 | 120,000 (2026) · 3 days · about 40,000 a day | TBA (June) | Hotels ↗ |
Camping festivals count differently. Electric Forest in Michigan draws about 50,000 people, but the same crowd stays all weekend, so it doesn’t pile up daily totals. Bonnaroo is taking 2027 off to let its Tennessee grounds recover from storm damage.
Musikfest
Ten days and 16 stages across downtown Bethlehem and SteelStacks, the old Bethlehem Steel site where the blast furnaces still tower over the crowd. Fifteen of those stages are free; only the headline shows on the Wind Creek Steel Stage need a ticket. That’s how it clears a million visits most summers: 1,260,630 in 2026.
French Quarter Festival
Free, four days, and spread across 20 stages in the Quarter and along the Mississippi riverfront, with local restaurants serving from booths around Jackson Square. Every act has Louisiana roots. The 2024 edition drew an estimated 950,000, a festival record.
Coachella
Two identical weekends at the Empire Polo Club, about 125,000 people a day. 2027 passes went on sale in May 2026, months before a single act was named, which tells you how this trip works: lock the pass, then lock a room before the valley fills up.
Summerfest
Nine days over three weekends at Henry Maier Festival Park on the Lake Michigan shoreline, with about 600 acts and headliners in the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. It drew 568,711 in 2026. That’s well under its pre-pandemic peak of 831,769 in 2017, and still one of the biggest crowds in the country.
EDC Las Vegas
Dusk-to-dawn dance music at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the biggest three-day crowd in the country: 500,000-plus in 2026. For 2027 it becomes two weekends for the first time, EDC Dusk and EDC Dawn, with the same lineup and a lower capacity each weekend.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Eight days across two weekends at the Fair Grounds Race Course, about 10 minutes from the French Quarter. Most of the acts are Louisiana musicians, and the food is half the reason people come back every year. Attendance hit 475,000 in 2026, up from 460,000 in 2025.
Lollapalooza
Four days in Grant Park with the skyline behind the main stages, about 115,000 a day and roughly 460,000 in 2025. More than half the crowd comes from outside Chicago, which makes Lolla weekend one of the busiest hotel weekends the city sees all year.
Austin City Limits
Two three-day weekends in Zilker Park, just across Lady Bird Lake from downtown, with about 450,000 through the gates across both. ACL lands in the middle of college football season, so pick the weekend that doesn’t line up with a Longhorns home game and the hotel search gets a lot easier.
CMA Fest
Four days of country across downtown Nashville: free daytime stages around Broadway and nightly stadium shows, which move into the new Nissan Stadium in 2027. The CMA put 2026 at about 100,000 fans a day.
Stagecoach
Country’s big desert weekend, on the Coachella grounds the weekend after. About 85,000 a day and around 15,000 campers, with plenty of crossover acts on the bill; Post Malone closed Sunday in 2026.
What’s the biggest music festival in the US?
It depends what you count. Musikfest and French Quarter Festival lead on total visits because most of their stages are free and open to anyone walking past. Among ticketed festivals, Coachella has the biggest total, about 750,000 across six days. On a single weekend nothing tops EDC Las Vegas, with more than 500,000 over three nights in 2026.
Is Coachella bigger than Summerfest?
On the latest numbers, yes. Coachella drew about 750,000 across six days in 2025, and Summerfest drew 568,711 across nine days in 2026, so Coachella’s daily crowd is roughly twice Summerfest’s. Summerfest’s “world’s largest music festival” billing comes from Guinness World Records and dates back to the years its crowds topped 800,000.
2027 US Music Festivals Calendar
Every festival on this page, month by month. Dates marked TBA get filled in as festivals announce them, and the hotel links for the biggest ones are in the where-to-stay section below.
April is the crunch month. Coachella, Stagecoach, French Quarter Fest and both Jazz Fest weekends all land inside four weeks, so hotels in Indio and New Orleans fill first. Book those rooms as soon as you have a pass. Summer is the peak: from late May through early August there’s a major festival almost every weekend.
March 2027 Music Festivals
- Mar 26–28Ultra Music FestivalMiami, FL
April 2027 Music Festivals
- Apr 8–11Country Thunder ArizonaFlorence, AZ
- Apr 8–11French Quarter FestivalNew Orleans, LA
- Apr 9–11Coachella, weekend 1Indio, CA
- Apr 16–18Coachella, weekend 2Indio, CA
- Dates TBATortuga Music FestivalFort Lauderdale, FL
- Apr 22–25Jazz Fest, weekend 1New Orleans, LA
- Apr 23–25StagecoachIndio, CA
- Apr 29–May 2Jazz Fest, weekend 2New Orleans, LA
May 2027 Music Festivals
- May 6–9Welcome to RockvilleDaytona Beach, FL
- May 13–16Sonic TempleColumbus, OH
- May 14–16EDC Las Vegas (Dusk)Las Vegas, NV
- May 21–23EDC Las Vegas (Dawn)Las Vegas, NV
- May 28–30BottleRock Napa ValleyNapa, CA
- May 29–31MovementDetroit, MI
June 2027 Music Festivals
- Dates TBAGovernors BallQueens, NY
- Jun 10–13CMA FestNashville, TN
- Jun 10–13Carolina Country Music FestMyrtle Beach, SC
- Jun 11–13Beyond Wonderland MidwestJoliet, IL
- Jun 23–27GlastonburyPilton, England
- Jun 24–26Summerfest, weekend 1Milwaukee, WI
- Dates TBAElectric ForestRothbury, MI
July 2027 Music Festivals
- Jul 1–3Summerfest, weekend 2Milwaukee, WI
- Jul 8–10Summerfest, weekend 3Milwaukee, WI
- Dates TBACountry Thunder WisconsinTwin Lakes, WI
- Dates TBATomorrowlandBoom, Belgium
- Dates TBA (late July or early August)LollapaloozaChicago, IL
August 2027 Music Festivals
- Aug 6–8Outside LandsSan Francisco, CA
- Aug 6–15MusikfestBethlehem, PA
- Aug 26–29Reading & LeedsReading & Leeds, England
September 2027 Music Festivals
- Dates TBARiot FestChicago, IL
- Dates TBALouder Than LifeLouisville, KY
- Dates TBALost LandsThornville, OH
- Dates TBASea.Hear.NowAsbury Park, NJ
October 2027 Music Festivals
- Dates TBA (two weekends)Austin City LimitsAustin, TX
- Dates TBAAftershockSacramento, CA
Country Music Festivals 2027
Country has its own festival circuit, and it’s built for road trips: camping, tailgate-style lots and beach weekends. These are the biggest for 2027.
CMA Fest and Stagecoach are the two big ones. Several of the others are camping festivals near small towns, including Country Thunder in Florence, Arizona and Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, so if you’d rather have a bed than a tent, book a room early.
CMA Fest
The biggest country weekend of the year. Free daytime stages downtown, stadium shows at night in the new Nissan Stadium.
Stagecoach
Three days at the Empire Polo Club, about 85,000 a day, with a big camping crowd.
Country Thunder Arizona
Four days of camping at AZ Talio Ranch southeast of Phoenix. Florida Georgia Line, Megan Moroney and Jordan Davis headline 2027.
Tortuga Music Festival
Country on the sand at Fort Lauderdale Beach. Florida Georgia Line and Megan Moroney are on the 2027 bill.
Carolina Country Music Fest
Four oceanfront days off the Myrtle Beach boardwalk, one of the East Coast’s biggest country weekends.
Country Thunder Wisconsin
The Midwest stop on the Country Thunder circuit, with multiple stages and a big camping scene near the Illinois line.
A few smaller country festivals, including Colorado’s Country Jam and Watershed at the Gorge, paused in 2026. We’ll add them back if they return.
Where to Stay for the Biggest Festivals
Rooms near the big festivals often go before the lineup is announced. Book your room when you buy your pass, ideally a refundable rate, and sort out the rest later.
Coachella & Stagecoach
Both run at the Empire Polo Club, Coachella over two weekends and Stagecoach the weekend after, so the same hotels fill three weekends in a row. Indio and La Quinta are closest. Indian Wells and Palm Desert are 15 to 25 minutes out and have the resort pools. Palm Springs is the furthest, about 40 minutes, and has the best nightlife. Coachella sells hotel packages that bundle a pass, a room and shuttle access, and its shuttle passes run from stops around the valley, so check the stop map before you book.
- La Quinta Resort & Club, La Quinta: the classic desert resort, close to the polo grounds.
- Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas, Indian Wells: big pools, next door to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
- Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio: the closest full-service hotel to the festival.
Coachella weekend 1 hotels Coachella weekend 2 hotels Stagecoach hotels Coachella tickets
Indian Wells hosts the BNP Paribas Open in March, a month before Coachella. See our tennis tournaments calendar.
Lollapalooza
Grant Park is downtown, which makes Lolla the easiest big festival to do without a car. The hotels on South Michigan Avenue face the park, so you can walk back between sets. The Loop and River North are a short ‘L’ ride away. More than half the crowd comes from out of town, so downtown rooms go early.
- Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave.: huge, and right across from the park.
- The Blackstone, 636 S. Michigan Ave.: a historic hotel a block from the gates.
- Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 S. Michigan Ave.: the closest of the three, and often the best value.
Making a weekend of it? Check our Wrigley Field guide for a Cubs game.
Austin City Limits
Zilker Park sits just southwest of downtown across Lady Bird Lake. Stay downtown, on Rainey Street or on South Congress and walk, bike or ride-share in, because parking near Zilker on festival weekends is next to nothing. South Congress is the best base for walking back at night.
- Hyatt Regency Austin, on Lady Bird Lake: the closest big hotel, about a 30-minute walk to the gates.
- Hotel Saint Cecilia or the Austin Motel, South Congress: the classic Austin stays.
- Hotel Van Zandt, Rainey Street: bars on the doorstep for after the headliner.
In town for a show too? See our Moody Center guide and COTA guide.
Jazz Fest & French Quarter Fest
French Quarter Fest happens in the Quarter itself, so stay there and walk. Jazz Fest is at the Fair Grounds in Mid-City, about 10 minutes away. The guesthouses along Esplanade Avenue put you within walking distance, and the Jazz Fest Express shuttle runs from downtown right into the gates.
- Hotel Monteleone, Royal Street: a French Quarter landmark, with the Carousel Bar.
- Royal Sonesta, Bourbon Street: in the middle of everything.
- Esplanade Avenue guesthouses: the walk-to-the-Fair-Grounds option for Jazz Fest.
French Quarter Fest hotels Jazz Fest weekend 1 hotels Jazz Fest weekend 2 hotels Jazz Fest tickets
See our Caesars Superdome guide for downtown New Orleans.
EDC Las Vegas
The speedway is roughly 15 to 20 miles northeast of the Strip, so most people stay on the Strip and ride festival shuttles, or camp on site at Camp EDC. The 2027 split into two weekends, with smaller crowds each weekend, should ease the room crunch. Book the weekend you’re going, not the week between.
- Stay on the Strip, close to a festival shuttle stop, so you can sleep through the day.
- Camp EDC at the speedway runs both weekends if you want to skip the shuttle entirely.
EDC Dusk hotels EDC Dawn hotels
Staying the week? See our Sphere, T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium guides.
Summerfest
The festival grounds are on the lakefront at the edge of the Historic Third Ward, so stay in the Third Ward or downtown and walk. Three weekends means you can usually find a room, but the Third Ward goes first.
- Kimpton Journeyman, Third Ward: a short walk to the gates, with a rooftop bar.
- The Pfister Hotel, downtown: Milwaukee’s grand old hotel, about 15 minutes on foot.
- Hilton Milwaukee City Center: a big downtown hotel, good for groups.
Weekend 1 hotels Weekend 2 hotels Weekend 3 hotels
See our Fiserv Forum guide for the Deer District.
Ultra Music Festival
Bayfront Park is on Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami, so downtown and Brickell hotels are within walking distance or a short Metromover ride. Miami Beach is the splurge, with a longer ride home every night.
- InterContinental Miami: right next to the park.
- Kimpton EPIC Hotel: downtown on the river, with a rooftop pool.
- JW Marriott Marquis Miami: a big downtown hotel, a short walk to the gates.
Bayfront Park is next door to the Heat’s arena. See our Kaseya Center guide.
CMA Fest
Everything happens downtown, from the free stages around Broadway to the nightly shows across the river at the new Nissan Stadium. Stay downtown or in SoBro and you won’t need a car all weekend.
- Omni Nashville Hotel: attached to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
- JW Marriott Nashville: downtown, with a rooftop bar.
- Hilton Nashville Downtown: all suites, across from Bridgestone Arena.
CMA Fest hotels CMA Fest tickets
See our Bridgestone Arena guide for Lower Broadway.
Biggest Music Festivals in the UK & Europe
Glastonbury returns in 2027 after its fallow year, and Europe’s summer circuit is as big as ever. Here are the festivals worth a flight.
Glastonbury
Back after its 2026 fallow year. Around 200,000 on site, and tickets sell out in minutes.
Reading & Leeds
Twin festivals with the same lineup over the late-August bank holiday weekend.
Download
Britain’s home of rock and metal.
BST Hyde Park
A run of big headline shows in Hyde Park through early summer.
Tomorrowland
The world’s best-known dance festival, about 400,000 across two weekends.
Primavera Sound
A huge indie and pop lineup at Parc del Fòrum on the Barcelona seafront.
Roskilde
One of Europe’s oldest and biggest, with a week-long camping city.
Sziget
A week on an island in the Danube.
Rock Werchter
Belgium’s big four-day rock weekend.
Biggest Music Festivals in the World
The biggest attendance figures belong to free city festivals. Mawazine in Rabat, Morocco, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and Donauinselfest in Vienna all report crowds in the millions, because most of their stages are open to everyone. Among ticketed festivals, Rock in Rio draws 700,000-plus per edition, and Tomorrowland gets about 400,000 across two weekends. In the US, the free Musikfest crosses a million visits most summers.
In London for a show? See our O2 Arena guide and Wembley Stadium guide.
Music Festivals by Genre
The biggest electronic, rock and indie festivals in the US for 2027.
Electronic & EDM Festivals
EDC Las Vegas
The biggest dance festival in North America, now over two weekends.
Ultra Music Festival
Three days at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, with 165,000 fans in 2026.
Movement
Memorial Day weekend at Hart Plaza, in the city where techno was born.
Beyond Wonderland Midwest
Three days at Chicagoland Speedway, southwest of Chicago.
Electric Forest
A four-day camping festival in the woods of Sherwood Forest, around 50,000 campers.
Lost Lands
Excision’s bass-music festival at Legend Valley, built around camping.
Rock & Metal Festivals
Welcome to Rockville
Four days at Daytona International Speedway, with 210,000 fans in 2026.
Sonic Temple
184,000 fans in 2026. Iron Maiden, Blink-182, Korn and Falling In Reverse headline 2027.
Louder Than Life
Four days of rock and metal at the Highland Festival Grounds.
Riot Fest
Punk, rock and alt across three days in Douglass Park, about 50,000 a day.
Aftershock
The West Coast’s big rock and metal weekend, at Discovery Park.
Indie & Multi-Genre Festivals
Outside Lands
Golden Gate Park, with Wine Lands and a serious Bay Area food lineup. Pack a jacket.
Governors Ball
New York’s big one, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park off the 7 train.
BottleRock Napa Valley
Memorial Day weekend at the Napa Valley Expo, with as much wine and food as music.
Sea.Hear.Now
Music and surfing on the Asbury Park beachfront.
Music Festival FAQs
What is the biggest music festival in the US?
It depends how you count. By total attendance it’s Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with 1,260,630 visits over 10 days in 2026, though most of its stages are free. The biggest ticketed festival by total attendance is Coachella, at about 750,000 across two weekends in 2025. The biggest three-day crowd is EDC Las Vegas, with more than 500,000 in 2026.
Is Coachella bigger than Summerfest?
By the latest reported totals, yes. Coachella drew about 750,000 across six days in 2025, and Summerfest drew 568,711 across nine days in 2026. Per day the gap is wider: about 125,000 for Coachella against about 63,000 for Summerfest. Summerfest carries a Guinness World Records billing as the world’s largest music festival, earned when its crowds topped 800,000.
Is Coachella the biggest music festival in the USA?
It’s the biggest ticketed festival by total attendance, about 750,000 across two weekends. Free festivals such as Musikfest and French Quarter Festival count more visits, and EDC Las Vegas draws a bigger crowd per day.
When is Coachella 2027?
Coachella 2027 is April 9 to 11 and April 16 to 18 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Stagecoach follows on April 23 to 25 at the same grounds.
Is Bonnaroo happening in 2027?
No. Bonnaroo is taking 2027 off to let its grounds in Manchester, Tennessee, recover from storm damage.
What is the biggest country music festival in the US?
CMA Fest in Nashville, with about 100,000 fans a day across four days. It runs June 10 to 13 in 2027. Stagecoach, in Indio, California, is the biggest country festival on the West Coast, at about 85,000 a day.
What is the biggest music festival in the world?
Free city festivals such as Mawazine in Rabat, Morocco, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and Donauinselfest in Vienna report attendance in the millions, because most of their stages are open to everyone. Among ticketed festivals, Rock in Rio, Tomorrowland and Glastonbury are some of the biggest.
When is music festival season in the US?
The big US festival season runs from March to October. Ultra opens it in Miami in late March, April brings Coachella, Stagecoach and Jazz Fest, and summer is the peak, with a major festival almost every weekend from late May through early August. Austin City Limits closes it out over two October weekends.
When do music festival lineups come out?
Most big US festivals announce lineups between fall and early spring. Coachella has announced anywhere from September to January in recent years, and festivals in May and June usually follow in winter. Hotel rooms near the biggest festivals often go before lineups are announced, so book your room when you buy your pass.
Going to a show instead of a festival? See our Sphere Las Vegas guide for seats, shows and where to stay on the Strip. Through our partnership with Vivid Seats, you can also find tickets to festivals, concerts and shows ↗.
Attendance figures are the latest published by each festival, its city or trade press. 2027 dates confirmed as of November 2026.