Summer Music Festivals: Are the Lineups Worth The Money?

By now we know all of the big music festivals that hit the US every spring and summer. They all have long, strange names–like Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. As the ticket prices for the biggest and best music festivals in the country continue to rise, we couldn’t help but stop and ask ourselves: Are these festival lineups really worth the price? There are many factors one needs to take into account before deciding if attending one of these music festivals will be worth it to you. And, of course, everyone has a preference when it comes to their favorite artists and music festival vibes. Here is our breakdown of summer music festivals according to price, value of festival tickets, and the overall experience one is bound to have.

Sasquatch! Music Festival

The Gorge, WA

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $325+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $113+

Big Names in the Sasquatch! 2014 Lineup: Outkast, The National, Queens of the Stone Age, M.I.A, Foster the People, Kid Cudi, Chance the Rapper

Additional Costs: Showers ($3), Food and Drink ($30-$50 per day)

Is It Worth It?: When adding up the cost of individual concert ticket prices for each of the above named artists, not including the ones who weren’t even on tour the year they were headlining, it averages around $260. This is a $65 negative difference from the face value of a 3-day pass to Sasquatch. In our opinion, this is a big enough difference to reconsider attending this festival. Sasquatch is a newer festival with a smaller, less diverse lineup than let’s say, Lollapalooza, or Bonnaroo (which are both cheaper festivals to attend). The location of Sasquatch is The Gorge Amphitheater, which is a beautiful venue. But it is also located in a remote area of Washington, which makes the journey to Sasquatch a tedious one. Though Sasquatch is a valuable festival experience, we don’t think it is necessarily worth the money you are paying in order to attend. That being said, we’ve all made sacrifices to see our favorite artists, and if you’re a die hard fan of someone you can only catch in the Sasquatch lineup, there’s no harm in splurging here. We’re music lovers too, we know how it is.

Lollapalooza Music Festival:

Chicago, IL

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $250+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $83+

Big Names in the Lollapalooza 2014 Lineup: Eminem, Arctic Monkeys, Lorde, Outkast, Calvin Harris, Kings of Leon, Skrillex, The Avett Brothers

Additional Costs: Lodging ($50-300), Food and Drink ($30-50 per day)

Is It Worth It?: When adding up the cost of individual concert tickets for the biggest names in the Lollapalooza lineup, you’re looking at easily over $1,000. And for a 3-Day ticket price of just $250, you can bet that Lollapalooza is one of the best and most affordable festivals of the summer music festival season. But, since this is not a camping festival, if you don’t live in the Chicago area/have anyone you can crash with, lodging can get a little pricey. But have no fear, there are many possible solutions for out of state festival goers. Supporters of the festival (who you can locate through Air BnB) are all around the Chicago area, and will gladly house you for a smaller price than let’s say, the Mariott. The other glitch in the festival is that it’s packed, and sort of a nightmare to navigate through, in, and out of. But really, these are all small prices to pay for perhaps the best summer music festival lineup of the year.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

Indio, CA

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $375+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $135+

Big Names in the Coachella 2014 Lineup: Outkast, Zedd, Ellie Goulding, Muse, Skrillex, Pharrell, Arcade Fire, Beck, Lana Del Rey

Additional Costs: Camping ($85 Car Camping Pass), Shuttle bus ($60), Lockers/Charging Stations ($45), Other Lodging Options ($200-300), Food and Drink ($30-50 per day)

Is It Worth It?: Taking into consideration that the Cochella lineup hasn’t seen much excitement or variation in a few years, the surplus of around $200 that you would spend at Coachella versus seeing these artists individually may not be worth it. Some will argue that Coachella is a novelty in itself due to the fact that you can only catch some of these artists at this festival (i.e, they are not on tour). But is this really a valuable aspect of the festival? Many people could say that Coachella is becoming less and less about the lineup, and more about the atmosphere of this Indio Valley festival. Now, more than ever before, Coachella is about the fashion, the celebrities, yoga, and the giant ferris wheel. Because they haven’t revamped the lineup in awhile, we’re not sure this is the premier music festival that it used to be. Also, don’t forget that Coachella is literally located in the desert. So if you do decide to bite the bullet and attend Coachella, then be prepared for extreme heat, and extreme cold at night.

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival

Manchester, TN

Cost of 4-Day Pass: $250+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $85+

Big Name’s in the Bonnaroo 2014 Lineup: Elton John, Jack White, Kanye West, Lionel Richie, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, Skrillex

Additional Costs: Food and Drink ($30-50 per day)

Is It Worth It?: Not only are Bonnaroo tickets some of the most affordable festival tickets you can buy, but they are the best bang for your buck in terms of the lineup (also notice that this is a four day festival). This jam-band famous festival is known for constantly adding to and mixing up their lineup, making each year an exciting gamble that almost always turns out well for festival-goers. This past year alone, it would have cost attendees of Bonnaroo over $1,000 to see all of the headliners separately. But instead, music lovers all over the country got to spend 3 jam packed days in Manchester, Tennessee—where camping is not only free, but easy. Camping is done behind your car, and even though it’s cramped, you won’t be spending much time in the tent anyways (not to mention “Centeroo” is just a short walk away). Bonnaroo, much like Lollapalooza, is a vet in the music festival scene. And because of this, they pretty much have it all down. In addition to bringing some of the biggest music acts to one place, Bonnaroo offers water activites at Centeroo, a giant ferris wheel, yoga, comedy, and more. From what we can see, the only downside to Bonnaroo (and really any music festival you’re driving in to), is the sometimes excruciating long line to enter the fest. But really, this is a small sacrifice compared to the amazing time that is widely experienced at Bonnaroo. Think it’ll be worth it? We certainly do.

Electric Zoo

Randall’s Island, NYC

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $369+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $123+

Big Names in Last Year’s Electric Zoo 2014 Lineup: David Guetta, Zedd, Kaskade, Alesso, Jack U

Additional Costs: Food and Drink ($30-50 per day)

Is It Worth It?: This one is a little bit trickier. If you are a big EDM fan, and you live in NYC, Electric Zoo is hands down the best EDM festival of the year. But if you are looking at each DJ individually based on their concert ticket prices, you don’t make out that well by purchasing Electric Zoo tickets. But this is a very genre specific issue. EDM concerts on a whole, (unless you are seeing a big name like Skrillex or Deadmau5), typically run pretty cheap. The nature of an EDM performance is drastically different from anything else—in other words—it’s not so much of a performance but a set of laying out tracks and remixes. But because of this, EDM festival promoters have to generate larger lineups, bigger publicity stunts, and overall higher attention to the ambiance. Essentially, you’re paying promoters to ensure that you have a good time. Electric Zoo is known for being the premier NYC EDM festival, and if you haven’t been, we suggest doing it at least once.

Things to Consider When Deciding Which Music Festival Ticket is Worth It

Each music festival has a personality of its own, and with that, a whole set of pros and cons. If a music festival is far away from where you live, travel accommodations should be considered when deciding how much money you’re willing to spend on music festival tickets. If you’re not a fan of camping, this should definitely weigh into your decision to attending camp-away festivals such as Bonnaroo or Coachella. If you’re not completely into the EDM scene, and would prefer a variety of acts, Electric Zoo probably won’t be for you. Know the lineup. As a rule of thumb, if you find at least ten acts that you would want to see over the weekend at a music festival, then tickets will probably be worth the cost.

Before you start thinking about attending a summer music festival, know this: Music Festivals aren’t for everyone. Despite however well someone can make out by purchasing Lollapalooza tickets instead of individual concert tickets, if the festival environment isn’t one that is fun for you, then the price will not be worth it. Music festivals, no matter which one you go to, are exhausting, mildly stressful, long, and rowdy. But that’s just part of it. You will also meet some incredible people, make wonderful memories, and witness one of the greatest phenomenons ever facilitated: a gathering of people who love music. Music festivals are unlike any other event because of this, and if you’re willing to deal with the port-o-potty lines and 10 dollar beers, then we say do it. 

Below are some other noteworthy summer music festivals worth taking a look at. The festival season is almost over, but this just means that summer music festival tickets are going to start earlybird presale in just a few months. Now that you have the info, what summer music festival are you thinking about attending in 2015? Comment below or Tweet @iTickpick!

Austin City Limits

Austin, TX

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $200+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $90+

Big Names in the Austin City Limits 2014 Lineup: Eminem, Pearl Jam, Outkast, Skrillex, Beck, Calvin Harris, Lorde

Lodging: Not a camping festival.

Ultra Music Festival

Miami, FL

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $150+ (early bird tickets usually sell out in minutes. chances are you’ll be paying closer to $250)

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $150+

Big Names in the Ultra 2014 Lineup: Above & Beyond, Afrojack, Avicii, David Guetta, Tiesto, Hardwell, Krewella

Lodging: Not a camping festival.

Firefly Music Festival

Dover, DE

Cost of 4-Day Pass: $199+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $100+

Big Names in the Firefly 2014 Lineup: Outkast, Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Arctic Monkeys, Band of Horses, Imagine Dragons

Lodging: This is a camping festival.

Forecastle Music Festival

Louisville, KY

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $185+

Average Ticket Price Per Day:  $95+

Big Names in the Forecastle Music Festival 2014 Lineup: Outkast, Jack White, Beck, Band of Horses, Spoon, Gary Clark Jr.

Lodging: Not a camping festival.

Counterpoint

Kingston Downs, GA

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $160+

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $90+

Big Names in the Counterpoint Festival 2014 Lineup: Outkast, Pretty Lights, Foster the People, Chance the Rapper, Phantogram

Lodging: This is a camping festival.

Pitchfork Music Festival

Chicago, IL

Cost of 3-Day Pass: $130

Average Ticket Price Per Day: $50

Big Names in the Pitchfork Music Festival 2014 Lineup: Beck, Kendrick Lamar, Neutral Milk Hotel, St. Vincent, Schoolboy Q

Lodging: Not a camping festival.