It goes without question that 2015 was an incredible year in music. Whether you are a fan of rap music, as in Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Bryson Tiller’s TRAPSOUL or J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive, a fan of country music, as in Hunter Hayes’ 21, Thomas Rhett’s Tangled Up, Jordan Gray’s West of the Pines or Tim McGraw’s Damn Country Music, or even a fan of the famous musicals at the Opry, music lovers were not left disappointed this past year.
Successfully contributing to the already-high standard for music this upcoming year, several music festivals have already begun to release their lineups for later in the year. In addition to all of the highly anticipated, large-scale annual concerts, including The Governors Ball, Firefly, Coachella and Jazz Fest- which many people religiously follow- there seems to be a wide variety of relatively new festivals set to occur this upcoming year which very little people know about.
First is Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival, which is set just outside of Lake Okeechobee, Florida. The festival, which was one of the first festivals to release their lineup for this year in mid-October of 2015, has a lineup that boasts artists such as Mumford & Sons, Kendrick Lamar, Fetty Wap, Miguel, Future, X Ambassadors, Bassnectar, Skrillex, and more. The festival, which promises “swimming, camping, wild art, dance, yoga, local food, craft bazaar, beach and jungle stages, magic moments, late-night shenanigans, [and] all night music,” is scheduled to occur from Mar. 4 to 6.
Another is the Buku Music and Art Project, which was founded in 2012 and is held annually at Mardi Gras World. Artists set to perform at the festival include Pretty Lights, Kid Cudi, Yellow Claw, Earl Sweatshirt, Post Malone and Kehlani, just to name a few. The festival, which will occur in Louisiana’s Warehouse District of New Orleans on Mar. 11 and 12, is an 18+ concert that will feature food indigenous to the city of New Orleans and unique to other city festivals, as well as pop-up street performers and on-sight art exhibits.
Another upcoming festival is the Taste of Country Music Festival, founded in 2013 as the only multi-day camping country music festival in the Northeast. Headliners for its June 10 to 12 dates in Hunter, New York include artists such as Kenny Chesney, Jake Owen, Big & Rich, Gary Allan and Kid Rock. Deemed “country’s Woodstock” and apparently destined to become one of the top country music events in the United States, the Taste of Country Music Festival will not be one for fans of country music to miss.
As numerous additional festivals continue to drop impressive lineups in the upcoming months, music fanatics, foodies and adventure seekers alike can undoubtedly admit that if it is any representation of this past year and what January has already shown, 2016 will not be a year lacking great festivals.
