3 Appalachian Music Festivals That Will Make Your Summer Epic

As published on FestivalSnobs.com

Your life is a balance.  You can’t have too much of the same thing.  You may love pizza, but if you take a job with a pizza company and also pledge to eating pizza-and just pizza-for breakfast, lunch, and dinner you may not be liking pizza a whole lot in a month.

Same goes with you and your life.  You need variety.

And you are in that time of year-wonderful, blissful summer.  Where entertainment, fun, and adventure are at your fingertips.  Oh and festivals?  They pack ALL OF IT together in one place.

So you have a tough choice.  What festivals should you go to?  Where can you have a completely unique experience?  Where are the events that separate themselves from the pack?  Places where you can look back years from now and remember distinct, unique moments you never experienced before and remember them like yesterday.

Below are 3 festivals that are not the same at all.  But together they do have one thing in common.  They provide unique, immersive experiences.  Each one will stretch you in a different direction sending you on a new adventure of fun.  Each are in their own month.  June, July, August.  And if you chose to go to all of them this summer that bliss you are seeking will be guaranteed-and guaranteed to be epic.  You might even walk out of summer transformed, and into fall as a completely new you.

Wanderlust Snowshoe – June 3-5, 2016 (Snowshoe, WV)

“FIND YOUR TRUE NORTH”

Nestled in West Virginia’s Pocahontas County, lies Snowshoe Mountain Resort and the 3 day home to Wanderlust Snowshoe.   A Yogi inspired festival aimed to help you connect to your life’s purpose is centered on activities that stimulate your senses and body.  From powerful health food found at the Food Co-Op to partaking in Standup Paddle board Yoga classes in the middle of Shavers Lake there is a plethora of outdoor happenings to do.  Roam the Uncommons where you can hang out, try your feet at slack-line, or meet a new friend trying acrobatic yoga.  And don’t forget about the Music.  Nahko and Medicine for the People, Tasha Bank, and Morley are just some of the musical performers featured at this magical place.

Missed out on Wanderlust Snowshoe? – Wanderlust hosts this festival in various locations all summer!  Check them out here.

Floydfest –  July 27-31, 2016 (Floyd, VA)

Floyd Fest | 2015 — Grateful Grass with Keller Williams, Jeff Austin & Jay Starling — photo by Dan Holz | Osprey Packs

“DREAMWEAVIN”

An arm’s reach away from the Blue Ridge Parkway is a destination where “culturally powerful music”, authentic bands, and conscious living meet.  Going into its 15^th year, FloydFest, a 5 day camping, music and arts festival, brings in top notch bands reverberating the tunes of rock, reggae, jazz, and bluegrass.  A few headliners for this year’s event include Liz Vice, Bruce Hornsby, Shakey Graves, Monophonics, and the Pimps of Joytime.  Inspiring you to be a dreamer, the plateau-on-a-mountain-top venue will feature 9 stages, a global village, and a workshop porch interlaced with speakers, eclectic food, and nature adventures forcing you to ask yourself when you will be able to schedule time to sleep.

Moonrise Festival – August 6-7, 2016 (Baltimore, MD)

“WATCH THE MOONRISE”

Dance.  Dance.  And Dance some more.  Moonrise Festival brings club music and arts to one place:  The Pimlico Race course just outside of Baltimore.  A fresh festival to the East Coast, Moonrise has brought the artists closer to their fans than any other event like it.  If you attended last year, you may have been served up some fresh pizza from the likes of the Glitch Mob and Dieselboy.

Keep your eyes peeled for out-of-the-box décor and interactive talent at this year’s affair.  Zedd, the Chainsmokers, Oliver Heldens, and Gramatik to name a few, will be dropping beats and hitting hard at the 3^rd Annual event.

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Find your true north, dream weave, and watch the moon rise.  A recipe for an epic summer.  Without a doubt these three festivals come from different spectrums of the festival world.  But make a trip to each of these Appalachian events and you will find yourself full of variety, adventure, and that pure summer bliss.