During summer, there are so many opportunities to enjoy outdoor music festivals in the Midwest. The weather isn’t always the greatest during the summer, but people in the Midwest know how to have a good time at any outdoor concert even if it’s raining. There are four main music festivals that many concert-goers say are a must go. These festivals are located in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. Summer isn’t just about work, it’s about relaxing and having fun after work. Most concerts start around four o’clock in the afternoon so you could go after work. Music festivals also do concerts on weekends for people who can’t get off of work during the week. Here are the top four music festivals that you should attend in the Midwest.

 

Country USA: Oshkosh, WI – June 27 through June 29

 

Country USA is Wisconsin’s largest country music festival that used to be Tuesday through Saturday but now has been changed to Thursday through Saturday so attendees wouldn’t have to take off so many days of work. This music festival gives you the ticket options for general admission, VIP, and campsites. Within these tickets you can add on a country club membership, which gives you access to see artist interviews before they perform, a bar for drinks, and private restrooms. This is an upgrade that I highly recommend for this music festival. They also sell souvenir cups for drinks that will make your refills a cheaper price. Every year the work crew at Country USA tries their best to improve the music festival experience by providing lockers to store items you don’t want to carry and created a sand volleyball tournament for those who are interested. Bands play in smaller tents throughout the day for attendees to check out but once the headliner for the night is on, all other bands are stopped so the focus is on the big stage. This year’s headliners are Alabama, Dierks Bentley, and Brad Paisley.

 

Summerfest: Milwaukee, WI – June 26 through June 30 & July 2 through July 7

 

Summerfest is another music festival located in Wisconsin. This music festival is about two weeks long but is closed on July 1 from noon-midnight. For this festival, there are three different types of tickets you can purchase. The first one is general admission, which will get you into the whole park at any time. The Summerfest grounds have a variety of stages, so with the purchase of a general admission ticket you can go to any concert on the smaller stages. The next ticket you can get is the weekday admission ticket. This is valid between 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday for Summerfest. The last ticket you can purchase is the American Family Insurance Amphitheater ticket. This ticket gives you access to the big headlining stage on the far end of the fair grounds. It also gives you access to the whole grounds in general, so you can see other concerts before the headliner that you are going to see. Some headliners this year include Thomas Rhett, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Lopez, and Billie Eilish.

 

Lollapalooza: Chicago, IL – August 1 through August 4

 

Lollapalooza is one of the most well-known music festivals in the Midwest located in Illinois. This music festival consists of eight stages and over 170 bands from all over the world. The location of this festival leads to many photogenic opportunities, an interactive area, and many places to purchase merchandise. They provide a great selection of delicious food from the windy city’s favorite restaurants. The ticket options for this festival are general admission, VIP, platinum, and the Lolla insider. The Lolla insider is a ticket that gives you access backstage, a private cabana, and much more. This is the music festival of the year in Illinois that many people talk about. The headliners this year include The Chainsmokers, Childish Gambino, Twenty-One Pilots, and Ariana Grande.

 

WE Fest: Detroit Lakes, MN – August 1 through August 3

WE Fest is one of the leading country music festivals in the nation. With its location at the WE Fest Amphitheater on the Soo Pass Ranch, it gives attendees a great wide-open atmosphere. The tickets are similar to Country USA in Wisconsin with having general admission, reserved, VIP, and campsite tickets. The difference between the two is that you can reenter the festival at WE Fest and you cannot reenter at Country USA after you leave for the night. This festival also creates Spotify playlists related to the performers that will be at the show. Attendees can follow this playlist and learn the songs they don’t know from certain artists. This is a great way to keep the crowd listening to every act and gives the artist more confidence if they aren’t that well known. The headliners this year include Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, Brooks & Dunn, and Billy Currington.

 

The Midwest has many options when it comes to summer music festivals but these four should definitely be on your bucket list. A summer with great weather and great music makes it a summer you won’t forget. Take off of work for a day or drop whatever responsibilities you have for one day and go check out a music festival. It will definitely be worth your money and the experience is unforgettable. So, grab your concert buddies and create memories that will last a lifetime.