Annual music festivals bring local and national talent to Arizona stages
By Cait Brennan - March 12, 2015
Big names like California’s Coachella, Austin’s South by Southwest and Tennessee’s Bonnaroo may get all the press, but don’t let the hype machine fool you: You don’t have to drive across the country to have a life-changing music festival experience.
We’ve intentionally left out our annual Pride and Rainbows festivals – you’ll always find coverage of those not-to-be-missed line-ups in our pages, and you probably know the dates by heart.
But here are some other worthy festivals here at home that you may have missed. So, with spring temperatures right around the corner, now’s the time to mark your calendars for some – or all – of the following:
Pot of Gold Music Festival
March 13-17 | Tempe Beach Park | potofgoldmusicfestival.com
As one of Tempe’s newer St. Patrick’s Day traditions, this festival brings four full days of live music performances to Tempe Beach Park. Regardless of what you listen to during a day of lakeside lounging, POG likely has it. Each day features a major headliner – Bastille, Kendrick Lamar, Fall Out Boy and Korn, respectively – and sprinkled in you’ll find everything from mid-1990s Godsmack to the California reggae of Rebelution. Bonus: Various vendors, including food, alcohol, artist merch and Echo Magazine, transform Tempe Beach Park into the ultimate festival venue. Don’t forget to bring a blanket or lawn chair and we’ll see you there.
Photos courtesy of McDowell Mountain Music Festival
McDowell Mountain Music Festival
March 27-29 | Hance Park | mmmf.com
One of the longest-running festivals around, MMMF has brought a lot of great music to town in all its various iterations. Once a way-out-in-the-desert event, it now makes its home downtown at Hance Park. While some miss the old days, McDowell Mountain is growing and changing just like the rest of the Valley. The 2014 fest brought us a diverse lineup including Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, STS9 and Dwight Yoakam. And, right on cue, they’ve upped the star power even further in 2015 with the announcement of Thievery Corporation, Widespread Panic, Passion Pit, Phantogram, a dozen local acts and more. Tickets are on sale now.