Common logic holds that a music festival is only as strong as its lineup. What else would goad you into sleeping in a field with thousands of strangers for one of the few of your precious summer weekends?
But for many of Colorado’s music festivals, it’s about more than just the music. Take Buena Vista’s Vertex and Fraser’s Divide Music Festival, gatherings that are new to Colorado’s festival circuit this year.
Aside from headliners like Kid Cudi, Cake and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, the Divide Music Festival boasts yoga classes, hiking trails and a free shuttle to nearby Winter Park Resort, an area so vast that visitors could effectively lose sight of the artists they came to see in the first place.
Buena Vista’s Vertex will also pair music with Colorado’s great outdoors. While the festival boasts a decidedly unmainstream lineup — blues rockers Alabama Shakes, jam band Trey Anastasio Band and DJ duo ODESZA will headline — it will take full advantage of its prime real estate near the Collegiate Peaks and the Arkansas River. Vertex-ians can opt in to preorganized rafting, paddle boarding, hiking and biking trips from the event grounds.
If you’re looking for more and less of a schlep, The Denver Post’s Underground Music Showcase has rolled out 138 bands for the festival’s 16th annual assault on South Broadway, a number that will grow to more than 400 by the time it arrives at the end on July 28-31.
Take a look at the rest of Colorado’s formidable 2016 music festival lineup below.
May 28: with POPFILTER, Zach Heckendorf and The Knew in Denver.
June 10-12: with The Magic Beans, Electron, The New Deal in Westcliffe.
June 10: with Fetty Wap, Ty Dolla $ign, Fabolous and DJ Mustard in Greenwood Village.
June 11: with Orgone, J. Roddy Walston & The Business and The Bunny Gang in Longmont.
June 16-19: with Zac Brown Band, Blake Shelton and Brad Paisley in Grand Junction.
June 16-19: with Tipper, Bonobo, EOTO and Nightmares on Wax in Southern Colorado’s Spanish Peaks Country.
June 16-19: with Ryan Adams, Neil Finn, Emmylou Harris and John Prine in Telluride.
June 25: with Dillon Francis, Matt and Kim, Cold War Kids and HEALTH in Denver.
June 30-July 3: with Beats Antique, José González and Michael Franti in Snowmass.
July 1: with Vanilla Ice, Salt-N-Pepa and Coolio in Greenwood Village.
July 8-10: with Above and Beyond, DJ Snake and Knife Party in Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
July 9: with Cage the Elephant, Young the Giant and X Ambassadors in Greenwood Village.
July 9-10: with Pearl Jam, Cage the Elephant, the Dirty Knobs and the Temperance Movement in Telluride.
July 22-24: with Kid Cudi, Bleachers, Cake and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes in Fraser.
July 28-31: with Poliça, Thee Oh Sees, Allah Las and Lee Fields & the Expressions in Denver.
July 29-31: with Sam Bush Bluegrass Band, Punch Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers and Bela Fleck in Lyons.
July 31: with 3OH!3, Yellowcard and New Found Glory in Denver
Aug. 5-7: with Jon Cleary, Marcus Miller, Galactic and Jon Scofield in Telluride.
Aug. 5-7: with Papadosio, Elephant Revival, Ziggy Marley and Rising Appalachia in Loveland.
Aug. 5-7: with Alabama Shakes, Trey Anastasio Band and ODESZA in Buena Vista.
Aug. 12-14: will announce its lineup soon. The festival is set in Fort Collins.
Aug. 19-21: with the Decemberists, Lucinda Williams and Conor Oberst in Lyons.
Aug. 20: with Huey Lewis and the News, the Go-Gos and Kool and the Gang in Greenwood Village.
Aug. 26-Sept. 5: with Huey Lewis and The News, Foreigner and Travis Tritt in Pueblo.
Sept. 2-4: J with Train, The Killers and Stevie Wonder in Aspen.
Sept. 2-4: with the Misfits, Ween, Death Cab for Cutie and Jane’s Addiction in Denver.
Sept. 10: High Elevation Rock Festival with Avenged Sevenfold, Pierce the Veil, Volbeat and Chevelle in Greenwood Village.
Sept. 16-18: with Joe Walsh, Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, Gary Clark Jr. and Jason Isbell in Telluride.
