13 Most Famous Music Festivals of All Time - Updated 2023

The Donauinselfest is one of the biggest music festivals in Europe. It has a record of over 3 million attendees over 3 days.

It is an annual free open-air music festival that is organized at Donauinsel in Vienna, Austria. The celebrated music festival has already made history as the largest open-air music festival across the globe.

Not only it attracts a colossal amount of visitors that is only growing every passing year, but the music festival has been increasing its impact on the music industry.

The music festival is coming back in 2023 with an impressive lineup of artists. The three-day festival is scheduled to happen between June 23rd and 25th. The most interesting part of the festival is that the ticket fee is free.

Performances by music artists take place in the area that runs 4.5 meters long and has 11 different open-air stages around the island, adding and deducing stages according to the number of artists. 

In 2022 itself, the music festival recorded an attendance of 2.5 million. Donauinselfest usually prioritizes Austrian artists and also provides a platform for rising artists to increase their awareness in the music scene.

Introducing Austrian and global artists, Donuinselfest set a great event in 2022 with a chronicle of artists including Sigrid & Marina, Alisa Shall, Nick LeFunk, Tina Niederer, Ray Dalton, 2-day Beard, and more.

The festival also included various Korean Pop artists including Lightsum, Levex, and Coverrun. Over the years K-pop artists have become a main center of attraction in the music scene.

Various banks, insurance, and investment companies facilitate the festival which makes it capable enough to host such a large-scale event in a successful and organized way.

Mawazine festival is a yearly international music festival with a recorded historical record of over 2.5 million attendees.

It is one of the biggest music festivals in Africa.

The international festival is held in Rabat, Morocco, featuring diverse national as well as international music artists. It is the second largest music festival after Donauinselfest, with 90 acts on 7 stages.

The music festival takes place in May or June over the course of eight days drawing a colossal number of artists with a diverse lineup of performers and musicians across the globe, including established and rising music artists.

Apart from the performance, the huge music festival also offers food stalls, drink stalls, and other recreational stalls including art exhibits and dance performances. 

Mawazine is highly appraised for its top-notch lineup of artists and festive atmosphere that is like a cherry on the top. It is also the major cultural event in Morocco that aids in the tourism development of the place.

Notable artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Pharrell Williams, Jennifer Lopez, French Montana, Ellie Goulding, Julio Iglesias, The Weeknd, Carlos Sanatan, Deep Purple, and more have performed at the event.

The music festival will return with a huge celebration of the 19th edition after three years of hiatus due to COVID in 2024, to meet the expectations of festival-goers who eagerly look forward to the resuming of this unmissable music event.

Montreal International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival. It recorded Guinness World Record for the world's largest jazz festival in 2004.

A huge lineup of roughly 3000 artists from several countries with over 650 concerts makes the music festival a grand celebration. The festival welcomes more than 2 million visitors and 300 authorized journalists.

Alain Simard is the creator of the Montreal Jazz Festival who spent much of his time working with Productions Kosmos with a lineup of artists like Chuck Berry, Chick Corea, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and more.

The first edition of the music festival was in the summer of 1979. Various obstacles like insufficient funding appeared along the way; however, they were able to give two nights of the festival at Théâtre-St-Denis.

Later in 1980, the festival was backed up by funding from Gary Burton, Alain de Grosbois of CBC Stereo and Radio-Québec, Ray Charles, Vic Vogel on the bill, and Chick Corea which recorded an attendance of 12,000.

Since then the festival has only continued to grow in terms of attendees as well as its scale and performances. The music festival also served as the place for a number of live recorded albums which includes 'Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival- New Air' in 1983, After the Morning-John Hicks's in 2010.

For the first time in its 40 years of history, the music festival was canceled because of the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. It would have been the 41st edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

In 2021, the organizers announced that the Montreal festival would be postponed until the autumn due to the ongoing pandemic. The time period of the festival was deduced to 5 days for its 41st edition in 2021.

To ensure the security and the effective running of the festival, a major part of the city's downtown core remains closed to traffic for ten days. It reportedly takes place at twenty different stages which comprise free stages and indoor concert halls.

The biggest music festival in the US, Summerfest, is held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The first edition of the festival took place at Henry Maier Festival Park in 1968.

The huge festival includes seven permanent stages and two pavilions that can be transformed into stages if needed. With such a huge area the festival has a lot to offer to the festival-goers.

The stage and pavilion names include American Family Insurance Amphitheater, BMO Harris Pavilion, Miller Lite Oasis, Generac Power Stage, Briggs and Stratton Big Backyard, U.S. Cellular Connection Stage, Uline Warehouse, and more.

Summerfest recorded its peak attendance in 2001 at 1,000,563 attendees. The music festival was closed due to the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. It was resumed in 2021 with only 9 days of events rather than 11 days.

In 2022, Summerfest had an unmissable lineup of artists including Alessia Cara, Howard Jones, Lil Wayne, Steve Aoki, Charli XCX, Pop Evil, Steve Miller Band, Violent Femmes, Dillon Francis, Modest Mouse, and more.

The music festival was held between June 23, 2022, and Jul 9, 2022. Whereas, in 2023, it is scheduled to take place over three consecutive weekends from Thursday to Saturday from Noon to midnight.

During the music festival, the spotlight shall shine on over 1000 performances, 800 acts, 12 stages with delicious food and beverages, and other interactive activities adding to the festive environment.

The music festival is soon to arrive with its 55th edition in a few months from now. The organizers officially announced the 2023 Summerfest with the dates starting from June 23 through 25 and June 30 through July 2 and July 7 until July 9, 2023.

The organizers of the event unveiled the first Miller Lite Oasis as the headliner for the celebration of its 55th edition in 2023. In 2022, the festival recorded an attendance of 800,000 and in 2023 there lies a high hope that it will increase more.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival or simply Coachella is a highly awaited annual music festival held in Indio, California. 

The event doesn't prioritize a specific genre but features musical artists from diverse genres including rock, pop, hip-hop, indie, electronic dance music, and more. Correspondingly, it showcases established musical artists as well as rising artists.

Back in 2022, Coachella took a break for the first time in several years due to the outbreak of the pandemic. The music festival finally made its comeback in April 2022 with Kanye West abruptly getting off the lineup and the Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia took over his place.

The music festival was headlined by established artists like Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, the Weeknd, and Swedish House Mafia in 2022.

We are a little over a month away from the notable music festival that is scheduled to hold from April 14 to April 16 and April 21 until April 23, 2023. Netizens were hyped after the official announcement of the dates.

Speaking of the list of artists, one of the highly anticipated bands BLACKPINK is making a comeback at the festival this year. They debuted at the festival with their performance in 2019. 

As soon as the officials of the music festival released the dates, netizens were hyped to see the girl's name in the list of the lineup. Whereas, other notable artists including Frank Ocean, Bad Bunny, Alex G, Becky G, The Blaze, and more are to perform at the event.

Glastonbury Festival is a grand five-day music festival. It takes place in Pilton, England which attracted 210,000 attendees in 2022.

This festival is considered a major event in British culture, highly inspired by the counterculture of the 1960s, the ethos of the hippie, and the free-festival movement. The first edition of the festival was in 1970, headlined by Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Micheal Eavis was the one who proposed the idea to host the festival after attending an open-air concert featuring Led Zeppelin in 1970 at the nearby Bath and West Showground.

The music festival has around 200,000 attendees with various other recreational activities including theatre, circus, cabaret, dance, and other arts. Various established artists headline the show with performances from emerging artists too.

In 1994, the festival recorded an attendance of 300,000 people, headlined by Levellers' performance on The Pyramid Stage. However, a significant number of attendees count comes from the gatecrashers i.e., people without tickets.

Irrespective of the notability and scale of the festival, Glastonbury has still managed to be organized by a small and intimate group of dedicated volunteers which is very commendable.

Like many music festivals, Glastonbury also had to cancel its event in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. BBC aired a series of remarkable performances of Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Beyonce, and more in the commemoration of Glastonbury's 50th anniversary in 2020.

It was resumed after two years of hiatus in June 2022, with Billie Eilish as the youngest to headline in the history of the festival. Likewise, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar also headlined the festival alongside her.

All the festival-goers ought to muster up for the British music festival is going to take a few months later from now from June 21, 2023, through June 25, 2023.

The impact of the festival is huge and has a contagious festive environment. An interesting fact to know about the festival is that there were no police officers until 1990.

Lollapalooza Music Festival is one of the biggest music festivals in America. It attracts thousands of festival-goers across the globe.

The music festival was launched as a farewell tour by Perry Farrell, singer of the group Jane's Addiction, in 1991 after hearing the word in a movie. The first edition of the festival was a commercial success and had a diverse collection of bands. 

Lollapalooza ended in 1997 after its inception in 1991 because of bad ticket sales. However, the festival resumed its operation after it was revived in 2003. The festival organizers announced that it would debut outside the US in 2010.

The music festival doesn't limit itself to a specific genre of music but features diverse genres including punk rock, heavy metal, Alternative rock, hip-hop, electronic, and soul.

Over 170 music groups and individuals performed at the festival in 2022. The lineup for the music festival included J-Hope, Lil Baby, The Kid Laroi, Tomorrow X Together, Big Sean, Wallows, and more.

The music festival has already announced the dates for 2023. It is scheduled to take place between August 3 and August 6, 2023, at Grant Park, Chicago. 

Not to mention, the large-scale music festival has received various awards until 2023. They bagged an award for the category of Best Festival at NME Awards consecutively from 2014 until 2020.

Pol’and’ Rock Festival is a yearly free rock music festival in Poland. Inspired by the Woodstock festival, the music festival was initiated in 1995. 

Speaking of the attendees, the festival recorded an attendance of 400,000 in 2009. The count surged in the following years and was over 700,000 in 2011. The festival peaked at the highest record of 750,000 in 2014.

With an aggregate attendance of 750,000, the festival marks itself as one of the biggest music festivals organized across the globe. It has continued to upgrade its influence in the music scene and in the attendees count too.

The festival was held in the town of Kostrzyn nad Odrą between 2004 and 2009. It was held in Zary for the last time in 2003 because of the controversy surrounding some incidents during the festival.

Various coveted artists have become part of this huge music festival. The Swedish power metal band Sabaton performed at the music festival in 2012. In fact, they recorded the set to make it their live album titled Swedish Empire Live.

The music festival wasn't an exception to the impact of the outbreak of the pandemic. However, unlike many, they organized an online festival, live-streamed from Transcolor Studio in Szeligi near Warsaw.

Pol’and’ Rock Festival took place on the Makowice-Ploty airfield in Western Pomerania, in 2021. Whereas, it took place on the Broczyno airfield in Czaplinek in its 2022 edition.

There is good news for the festival-goers looking forward to the festival for it is scheduled to take place between August 3 through August 5, 2023, at Czaplinek-Broczyno Airfield.

Ultra Music Festival is one of the biggest electronic music festivals. It takes place in Bayfront, Miami, United States, in March. 

The first edition of the music festival took place in Miami Beach and changed to a tenure at Bicentennial Park after the surge of attendees. The music festival mainly focuses on famous genres like House music and Electronic Dance Music (EDM).

Initially, a two-day festival, Ultra Music Festival later became a three-day festival in 2011. The success of the festival has led it to bag various awards and accolades including an award for World's Best Festival in 2016 and 2017.

The grand music festival is just a few days away; it is scheduled to take place from March 24 through March 26, 2023, with unmissable performances by an amazing lineup of artists.

The music fest is back with some of the biggest names in the genre of EDM. Some of the headliners at the fest in 2023 are Afrojack, Alesso, Camelphat, Caricox, David Guetta, Zedd, Timmy, Tiesto, and more.

Whereas the lineup of other performers includes Becky Hill, Apashe, Dabin, Julift Fox, KAAZE, Iso Xo, Kyle Kinch, Lil Texas, Gheist, Ian Bluestone, Maddix, Nicky Romero, Malaa, Lubski, and so on.

The festival organizers have provided three types of tickets. They are general admission Tickets, premium general admission tickets, and lastly VIP tickets. Whereas, the general one has different tiers.

Among the tiers, the Premium tickets have a lot of benefits. If purchased, one can get access to the PGA lounge with a relaxation area. Whereas, the VIP tickets have two tiers; the first one pricing at $999.95 and the second one at $1499.95.

In 2022, the music festival recorded 165,000 attendees. Likewise, it is expected to increase in 2023 with the outstanding lineup of artists and other recreational activities.

Tomorrowland is an extensive electronic dance music festival that takes place every year at De Schorre provincial recreational park in Boom, Belgium.

The large-scale music festival was first held on the idea of two brothers, Michiel Beers, and Manu, in August 2005. Ever since it has evolved as one of the highly awaited annual events for festival-goers.

Artists like Push (M.I.K.E.), Cor Fijneman, Technoboy, Yoji Biomehanika, Yves Deruyter, Coone, and Armin van Buuren performed at the first edition of the music festival.

This festival takes place during the summer, generally towards the end of July, and over at least two weekends. The highly anticipated festival is scheduled to take place between July 21 and July 30 in 2023.

Speaking of the pricing of Tomorrowland's ticket, the price depends on the duration of time you'd like to stay and the level of access you are looking for.

The festival organizers provide passes that are valid for one weekend or multiple weekends. Correspondingly, they also facilitate sell-day passes that will grant access for a day into the festival.

Not to forget, all versions of tickets be it for a weekend or multiple weekends have comfort editions that grant VIP access, as well as general access to the mainstage areas and the festival.

One of the main attractions and centerpiece of the festival is its main stage which only evolved over the years from its debut. It has become the largest and most intricate stage of any festival in the world.

Tomorrowland has bagged various awards and accolades until this day. The music festival racked up the award for the category of Best Music Event at the International Dance Music Awards for five years in a row from 2012 until 2016.

Artists including Armin van Buuren, Eric Prydz, Hardwell, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, ANNA, Martin Garrix, Paul Kalkbrenner, and more are confirmed to perform at Tomorrowland in 2023.

Likewise, Tomorrowland Winter 2023 is commencing from March 18 through March 25, 2023, at the French resort of Alpe d'Huez. The festival features live performances, skiing, and snowboarding.

Essence Music Festival started in 1995. It was initiated as a one-time event in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the monthly magazine Essence.

For the first time since its initiation in 1995, the music festival wasn't produced by the original producer team in 2008. Instead, the owner of the festival, Essence Communications, contracted Rehage Entertainment Inc.

Solomon Group took the role of the producer of the music festival starting in 2013. Notable TV channel, MSNBC, broadcasted the festival live in 2013 and 2014.

The music festival returned in 2022 after the two-year hiatus resulting from the outbreak of the pandemic. The Walt Disney Company served as the sponsor for the 2022 edition of the music festival.

Artists including Nicki Minaj, Lucky Daye, Janet Jackson, The Roots, Tems, Carl Thomas, Summer Walker, Chloe x Halle, Patti LaBelle, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, City Girls, Isley Brothers, New Edition, Stephanie Mills, and more performed at the festival in 2022.

The forthcoming highly awaited music festival is announced to take place from June 30, 2023, in New Orleans, Los Angeles. The final performance of the festival in 2023 is scheduled to take place at the Caesars Superdome at 1500 Sugar Bowl Drive.

Sziget Festival is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe. It takes place in Northern Budapest, Hungary, on Óbudai-Sziget.

The week-long festival has shown commendable growth from its inception until 2023. It has grown from a low-profile event in 1993 to become one of the most notable European rock festivals, making impacts across the globe.

The music festival has acquired various notable awards and accolades until March 2023. Sziget marked its name under the list of the 5 best festivals in Europe prepared by The Independent in 2011. 

Correspondingly, Sziget has racked up the European Festivals Awards in the category of Best Major European Festival two times once in 2011 and another in 2014.

The music festival is highly appraised for consolidating diverse genres of music and not limiting to only a specific genre. Around 50% of the total attendees come from outside Hungary, especially from the Netherlands.

Correspondingly, a significant percentage of the attendees come from the country including the UK, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Romania. Sziget recorded an attendance of 450,000 in 2022. 

Sziget resumed in 2022 after two years with performances from artists like Dua Lipa, Arctic Monkeys, Alan Walker, Kensington, Snax, Kings of Leon, Steve Aoki, Stromae, Remi Wolf, Anne-Marie, and more.

The music festival is scheduled to take place between August 10, 2023, through August 16, 2023. All the festival-goers better be prepared for the amazing festival that is soon to arrive.

Festival L’Boulevard is an urban music festival that takes place yearly in Casablanca, Morocco.

It incorporates established artists as well as provides a platform for rising artists.

It is a 4-day long music festival with one specific day dedicated to each of the four genres which include Electro, rap, rock and metal, and fusion. Likewise, each day is also divided into two sections i.e., the afternoon and evening.

The afternoon time is dedicated to the competition of different artists held at the Racing  Universitaire de Casablanca (RUC) stadium. Whereas, the evening is for performances at the Club Olympique Casablancais (COC) Stadium.

Mohamed Merhari and Hicham Bahou launched the music festival in 1999. Initially, launched as a competition to reward the best contestants in the hip-hop, rap, rock, and metal category, the music festival has grown to become a landmark event in Casablanca.

One of the best features of L’Boulevard is that there are three main competitions to the event that provides young musical groups a golden opportunity to help gain exposure to the potential audience. 

Various music artists including H-Kayne, Don Bigg of Mafia C, Zanka Flow, Fnaïre, and others have already participated in the competition of the festival and also have bagged the best contestant award.

With the blend of both established and rising artists, the music festival contributes to the development of the youth music scene. The music festival recorded an attendance of 520,000 in 2022. 

Music Festivals This Summer 2023 are 1. LollaPalooza 2. Glastonbury 3. Summerfest. Here are some festivals to look out for:

• Pitchfork Music Festival
• Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
• Austin City Limits
• Riot Fest
• Ultra Music Festival
• Rolling Loud
• Donauinselfest
• Primavera Sound Barcela
• Made In America Festival
• Afropunk Festival