When: April 4-6
Where: Iowa City, IA
More Info: Here

Plenty of great writers have spent time in Iowa City, such as Raymond Carver, Kurt Vonnegut, and Flannery O’Connor. That’s because of the college town’s excellent Writer’s Workshop at the University Of Iowa. So it would only make sense that the city would hold some kind of literary festival. If you’re a music fan, a bookworm, or both, then the annual Mission Creek Festival is right up your alley.

This year’s lineup includes artists like indie rocker Indigo De Souza, the genre-bending experimentalist L’Rain, and the avant-rap duo Armand Hammer, while the main headliner is indie-folk luminary Neko Case. As far as literary activities go, poet, cultural critic, and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib will be speaking about his new book, There’s Always This Year, and there’s also the Small Press and Literary Magazine Book Fair.

When: April 6-7
Where: Raleigh, NC
More Info: Here

With over 300 acres of festival space, Dorothea Dix Park has been home to Dreamville Festival since its inception back in 2018. J. Cole, hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, has held the fest to celebrate not only his own career but the city that bred him. This two-day festival in early April offers plenty of local vendors and entertainment from national touring acts.

As an extension of J. Cole’s record label imprint, Dreamville Records, the festival draws from its own roster as well as other popular R&B, pop, and hip-hop scenes. This year’s headliners are SZA on Friday and J. Cole on Saturday, plus an undercard that includes St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red, Afrobeats star Amaarae, TDE veteran ScHoolboy Q, and Memphis hip-hop staple Key Glock.

When: April 12-14 & 19-21
Where: Indio, CA
More Info: Here

Coachella has become the industry standard for music festivals across the globe. In most cases, it sells out before the lineup is even announced, which speaks to its cultural import as the festival of all festivals. As always, it’s fun to scrutinize the font sizes on its poster to see which artists have noticeably leveled up and what big names are surprisingly lurking in the smaller type.

This year, entertainment company Goldenvoice has booked a wide range of artists. There’s an emphasis on ‘90s-inspired alt-rock in the smaller fonts, including The Beths and Feeble Little Horse, and a focus on actual ‘90s alt-rock with Blur, Deftones, Sublime (without Rome), and a reunited No Doubt, the latter of whom have their own space at the bottom of the poster. As far as headliners go, there’s Lana Del Rey, Tyler, The Creator, and Doja Cat, and second-line billing includes performers like Peso Pluma, Ice Spice, and J Balvin.

When: April 20-21
Where: Boulder, CO
More Info: Here

A college town home to the University of Colorado – Boulder, just at the foothills of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, Boulder is a beautiful place to hold a music festival. For its latest edition, Bluebird Music Festival comes back to Macky Auditorium for two days. As its website details, Saturday will feature five hours’ worth of performances, and Sunday’s itinerary includes a Strings & Stories session in the afternoon, followed by a slew of evening performances.

For the fest’s 2024 iteration, the three headliners are Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco fame), Gregory Alan Isakov, and Joy Oladokun. Other artists on the bill are Andy Shauf, Langhorne Slim, Bendigo Fletcher, Briscoe, Sunny War, and The Cody Sisters. Ahead of the proper festival, you can catch some kick-off shows from Bob Barrick, The Cody Sisters, and Briscoe earlier in the week at various Boulder venues.

When: April 20-21
Where: Atlanta, GA
More Info: Here

At the Atlanta event venue Pullman Yards, SweetWater Brewing Company is bringing back its aptly named SweetWater 420 Fest on, you guessed it, April 20. Over the course of two days, the 20th and 21st, to be exact, this ATL brewery’s festival includes an eclectic lineup of performers as well as a wide variety of local craft beers to give you a taste of the South’s beer scene.

The event has reimagined their lineup since originally announcing, with many of the fest’s originally scheduled bands playing on one stage, including Gov’t Mule, Big Gigantic, Grace Potter, Trombone Shorty, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and others. They’re also ditching general admission ticket fees. Now, fans will just need to donate $10 to the Waterkeeper Alliance each day to get into the show.

When: April 20-21
Where: North Charleston, SC
More Info: Here

Located in North Charleston’s Riverfront Park, the Shovels & Rope-curated festival is back for another weekend of fun. Spanning two days and two stages in late April, High Water Festival focuses on folk-pop and indie rock. Right near the idyllic Cooper River, High Water is a fitting name for the fest. As the poster itself urges, it’s time to “get high and stay dry.”

Of course, Shovels & Rope will be performing at their own festival, but headliners this year are the rising folk behemoth Noah Kahan and amphitheater-friendly alt-pop titan Hozier. Alongside Shovels & Rope, the second line features Fleet Foxes, Grace Potter, and The Flaming Lips, who will be playing their classic record Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots in its entirety.

When: April 25-May 5
Where: New Orleans, LA
More Info: Here

New Orleans is one of the biggest jazz cities in the nation. From second-line parades to a storied jazz legacy at the legendary Preservation Hall, NOLA is a preeminent locale for the brassy genre. It only makes sense, then, that the city would have its own jazz-oriented festival. For another go-around at the Fair Grounds Race Course, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival returns in late April and early May.

Although “jazz” is in the title, the festival has booked a wide variety of artists, including main headliner The Rolling Stones. Alongside local jazz acts like the Original Pinettes Brass Band and Cha Wa, there’s Foo Fighters, Chris Stapleton, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, The Killers, Vampire Weekend, and Heart, just to name a handful of them. Several internationally known artists, such as Trombone Shorty and Big Freedia, will enjoy a proper homecoming to the city.

When: April 26-28
Where: Austin, TX
More Info: Here

You can’t call yourself the Live Music Capital Of The World without having plenty of festivals to uphold such a lofty title. Austin, Texas, however, is no fluke. On top of Austin City Limits, there’s the Austin Psych Fest, which, as one would surmise, is pure utopia for all stripes of psych-rock fans. This year also marks its 15th anniversary, so this iteration is bound to be one for the books.

On top of psychedelic visuals and installations from artists like Mad Alchemy, TV Eye, and Slim Reaper, the fest’s indie rock-heavy lineup is nothing to scoff at. There’s the Aussie songwriter Courtney Barnett, shoegaze-meets-jangle-pop outfit Alvvays, Lawrence, Kansas post-punk duo Sweeping Promises, psych-folk musician Kurt Vile and his band The Violators, and the Chicago surf-rock trio Dehd. The Far Out Lounge is going to be a fun place to be later this month.

When: April 26-28
Where: Indio, CA
More Info: Here

Entertainment company Goldenvoice is perhaps best known for Coachella, the Indio, California festival that sees artists and attendees alike come to the desert from all across the globe. Just a week after the second weekend of Coachella, though, Goldenvoice has another festival in Indio, albeit one with quite a bit more twang: Stagecoach. Surely, this attracts the kind of crowd that would correctly heed Kacey Musgraves’ instructions.

Just glimpsing at the Stagecoach festival poster, it’s immediately clear that this is a stacked bill for country fans. Headliners include ubiquitous stars like Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, and Morgan Wallen, plus other big names such as the zeitgeisty Jelly Roll and the legendary Willie Nelson. Also, as a fun, surprising twist, pop-rapper Post Malone will perform a special set of country covers.

When: April 27
Where: Las Vegas, NV
More Info: Here

Nü-metal has undergone something of a critical renaissance in recent memory. Whether it’s the reevaluation of late ‘90s or 2000s groups like Korn and Slipknot or the widespread acclaim of contemporary hardcore groups like Turnstile and Militarie Gun, heavy music fans have had a lot to enjoy with this resurgence. That culminates in Sick New World, a Las Vegas music festival that packs a mind-blowingly stacked bill in just 24 hours.

System Of A Down and Slipknot take top billing, but even the undercard is stacked with heavy-hitting names, literally and figuratively. Grunge pioneers Alice In Chains, metalcore enthusiasts Bring Me The Horizon, and hardcore misfits Knocked Loose all stand out, and even if some attendees want something calmer, there’s something for them, too. Shoegaze figureheads Slowdive and slowcore torchbearers Duster are on the lineup, too.