10 Best Music Festivals in the World 2018

- discover them here - find yourself there -

The best music festivals in the world have captured our hearts and inspired our imaginations.

So here's what we did:

We made a list of the best!

We used our own festival experiences and lots of secondary research to build a list of the best music festivals in the world. Then we compared our list to the top ten festivals on Ranker.

Here's how we scored them:

Our scores are based upon overall environment and music fest experience, which considers the lineup, the artists, the activities, the intentions, the chance for growth and the latest news.

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Be sure to check out Best Music Fest's handpicked festival gear recommendations so you can rock each festival like a pro.

You can also listen to festival inspired playlists featuring the best electronic music to get a taste of the each festival's lineup.

10 Best Music Festivals (Staff Picks)

  1. Dirtybird Campout
  2. Lucidity Gathering
  3. Lightning in a Bottle
  4. Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
  5. Shambala Festival
  6. TomorrowLand
  7. Ultra Music Festival
  8. Woogie Weekend
  9. Electric Forest
  10. Electronic Daisy Carnival

Lightning In A Bottle – One Of The Best Music Festivals In The World

LIB is undoubtedly one of the best music festivals in the world!

The Do Lab's infamous Lightning in a Bottle has provided endless amounts of great times with really good people and lots of electronic music. We feel it's the spitting image of a dream festival. Their mission to leave it better has been setting an example across the festival industry - and to all of us - to go green. They understand the potential to learn and grow from an electronic music festival environment within the U.S. By focusing on mental and physical health along with community and forward-thinking at the forefront of a spectacularly magical wonderland saturated with on point music of every sort, they have nearly perfected the recipe for personal growth and the occasional life-changing moment.

Bonnaroo – Best Camping Music And Arts Festival

If you love live music then this is one of the best music festivals for you. Just be ready for a weekend full of unexpected adventures and discovering dance moves you didn't know you had. Bonnaroo's festival grounds, The Farm provide the perfect environment for building psychedelic forest party installations and framing mind-blowing performances by artists of every sort.

Tomorrowland – Best Electronic Music Festivals

Electronic music festivals of this size and nature are few and far between.

Tomorrowland now spans two weekends in two different locations, Brazil and Belgium. It has even given rise to an American sister EDM festival, Tomorrow World. This music festival features larger than life constructions and a live music lineup featuring the best EDM artists on the planet!

Here's a Quick Flashback from our 2015 Music Festival Video Guide

Remember when the 2015 music festival dates and lineups were announced last year?

The Best Music Fest Team didn't want to miss a beat when the season came around, so we started peeping the scene ahead of time. Much to our delight, the season's circuit was chock full of festivals that would be slappin da bass as hard as possible.

Our inspiration for this project came from a major concern about overlapping music festival dates for Memorial Day Weekend. Lightning in a Bottle and Movement Detroit Electronic Music Festival are going down on the same weekend next year.

We know that there might be a lot of tough choices to make come next season, so we tried our best to help you decide which ones to catch based on what matters to you.

Here are our 2 favorite videos from the guide:

LIB 2015 – Memorial Day Weekend

We have a very special place in our hearts for Lightning in a Bottle. Last year the music fest fell on the same weekend as an up and coming electronic music festival in Detroit.

 

Movement 2015 – Memorial Day Weekend

The Movement Electronic Music Festival looks pretty awesome with a great line up and a venue that is smack dab in the middle of a historically significant cultural hub. It will feature some of the best electronic music played by several of the greatest edm artists ever. Is this electronic music fest the one for you come Memorial Day Weekend?

Best Music Festivals 2014 Video Recap

The following festivals are archived here from the best music festivals 2014 video recap page. 

This is a curated selection of live music fest performances. It's dedicated to all those music festival fanatics that can't stand being apart from the scene. These live performances feature electronic musicians that know how to incorporate heavy doses of pure energy into all of their music. If you're anything like us you might get stuck watching them all day wishing you were at one of the best music festivals in the world.

Please let us know if you have any great music festival videos to share.

Thanks to everyone that helped capture these memories!

Armin van Burren Live at Tomorrowland | Best Music Festivals 2014 Video Recap

What's not to love about one of the greatest electronic music producers playing uplifting trance on an epic stage at one of the biggest music festivals in the world? In this video we see and hear the Dutch DJ, Armin van Burren take the good people of Tomorrowland Music Festival to a higher place. This will definitely be a lasting best music fest moment.

This will definitely be a lasting Best Music Fest moment.

Hardwell Live at Tomorrowland | Best Music Festivals 2014 Video Recap

Infamous EDM DJ brought some serious slappers to the Tomorrowland crowd. His bass heavy, melodic beats paired perfectly with the oversized ambiance and ecstatic light/firework display!

 

The 10 Best Music Festivals According to Ranker

To keep things fair, we're including a list of the top 10 music festivals in the world according to voters at Ranker.com.

The 10 Best Music Festivals in the World:

  1. Tomorrowland
  2. Glastonbury Festival
  3. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
  4. Lollapalooza
  5. Rock in Rio
  6. Bonnaroo Festival
  7. South by Southwest
  8. Woodstock
  9. Summerfest
  10. Ultra Music Festival

Screenshot from Ranker:

a list of the 10 best music festivals 

 

The Best Music Festivals in the US

We're looking forward to catching as many of them as possible in 2018. This section is dedicated to U.S. festivals and features previews, reviews, playlists and artists that won't require a passport. Follow along as the Best Music Fest family gears up for another epic festival season across the United States. You can find all of our gonzo-style music festival reviews here.

Serenity Gathering Music Festival March 17-20, 2016

Southern California has been proving itself to be a wonderful home for transformation music festivals such as San Diego's Serenity Gathering. Gear up and get ready for an excellent journey of peace, love, and sound in the local mountains about an hour away from from the infamous Gas Lamp District. This festival will feature lots of yoga and community building workshops along with several of the best EDM artists and bass-loving live electronic music producers on the west coast. The Best Music Fest Fam is especially excited about catching this event in our 2016 adventures. Learn more: Serenity Gathering  

Lucidity Kindred Quest Music Festival April 8-10th 2016

Settled in the beautiful hillsides of Santa Barbara, Lucidity Kindred Quest Music Festival holds a steady focus on the power of transformation - both personal and communal. This charming event features a robust lineup of teachers, artists, performers and musicians. Both grass root acoustic styles and electronic dance music will fill the air between pockets of delicious vegetarian vendor clouds. Learn more: Lucidity Festival  

Lightning in a Bottle Music and Arts Festivals May 2016

Lightning in a Bottle has been Southern California's premier electronic music festival for a few years, but unprecedented growth seems to be stirring up some concern among the veteran LIB'ers. No matter what happens, Best Music Fest will be on the scene to help keep the LIB spirit alive. Featuring 3 main stages and  an endless world of interactive art, side shows, fire dancing, yoga classes, culinary arts and more workshops than anyone could dream of catching, this festival is without a doubt one of the top music festivals in the USA and a front runner in the bid for world's best! Learn more: Lightning in a Bottle   Festival Inspired Playlists and the Best Electronic Music Ever Be sure to check out our handpicked playlists to discover the best electronic music and EDM artists hitting the festival circuit this year. You might also enjoy our list of the 7 Best Electronic Music Blogs to stay connected to the scene.  

Please Stay Safe During Festival Season

We can't stress how important it is to stay safe when enjoying your favorite festivals. Please take advantage of the information and free resources provided by the amazing, volunteer team at DanceSafe. They are dedicated to promoting health and safety within the electronic music community. Check them out at DanceSafe.org.  

Make Sure You Bring Everything You Need to Your Next Fest

It sucks when you forget to pack the important things for festivals. Make sure you don't with our music festival packing list and gear suggestions.

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The Best Music Festivals in the World
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The Best Music Festivals in the World
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Are you missing out on the best music festivals in the world? What are the biggest and most interesting events on Earth? Find out now.
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Best Music Fest