California


HOLLYWOOD BOWL June 22-Sept. 30. Along with their fine al fresco opera offerings (“Don Giovanni” will rear its stone head a few times this season), the Hollywood Bowl delights in pairing pop figures with classical power for bombastic, cinematic evenings; this year Barry Manilow takes three spins with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (July 2-4), as does the Brian Setzer Orchestra with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (Sept. 14-16). Smokey Robinson and Diana Krall each partner with similar string groups for two evenings apiece (July 20-21 for Mr. Robinson and Aug. 24-25 for Ms. Krall). The more straightforward shows still pack a punch: Kelly Clarkson, the Fray, Liza Minnelli, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick. Glen Campbell delivers what is said to be the final Los Angeles performance of his storied career, and Wilco closes the season; hollywoodbowl.com.


MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL Sept. 21-23. This festival was a predecessor for all the jazz festivals to follow. Started in 1958 with Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie as headliners (and running consecutively since), it pioneered the multiple-stage format. Additionally, the earliest incarnations introduced a charitable dimension to major music events; a good amount of the nonprofit organization’s proceeds are invested back into jazz education. This year, of the 500 artists commanding the eight stages, standouts include Tony Bennett, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Esperanza Spalding, Jack DeJohnette, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Melody Gardot and the Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra; montereyjazzfestival.org.


OUTSIDE LANDS San Francisco, Aug. 10-12. Northern California’s premier pop-culture festival features a lineup as varied as its population. This year Stevie Wonder, Metallica, Foo Fighters, Skrillex, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Beck, Norah Jones and Big Boi will tread the same boards. The supporting roster is muscular with indie favorites and quickly ascending underground talent: Sigur Ros, Justice, the Kills, Bloc Party, Die Antwoord, Amadou & Mariam, Fun., Sharon Van Etten and more; sfoutsidelands.com.


SIERRA NEVADA WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL Boonville, June 22-24. Burning Man’s tribes have been known to spill over into this genial bohemian retreat, one with a pacifist and eco-friendly ethos. Reggae and world music hold court equally here, and the 2012 lineup includes the dub greats Jimmy Cliff and Luciano, the Caribbean groove poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, the Hawaiian vocalist Fiji, the dancehall singer-D.J. Sister Nancy, the Chilean orchestra Chico Trujillo, the African party band Afrolicious, the D.J. collective GlobeSonic Sound System and more; snwmf.com.


STERN GROVE FESTIVAL San Francisco, June 24-Aug. 26. This festival celebrates its 75th season with 10 free jazz and R&B shows. The stylish set of participants includes Sheila E., Anita Baker, the Family Stone, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Meshell Ndegeocello, Al Jarreau and one power-pop outlier, OK Go; sterngrove.org.


Colorado


ROCKY MOUNTAIN FOLKS FESTIVAL Lyons, Aug. 17-19. Contemporary folk-pop meets its rootsy brethren in this well-stacked lineup, which celebrates the event’s 22nd year. On the younger side: the hushed singer-songwriter Sam Beam performs with his group, Iron & Wine; the modern troubadour Justin Townes Earle offers his Americana fare; and the throaty songstress Neko Case stops by on the final day. Traditional folk enthusiasts can enjoy sets by Lyle Lovett, Kathleen Edwards and Amos Lee; bluegrass.com/folks.


TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL June 21-24. This ever-expanding festival flaunts its start on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year (June 21). Organizers are using the extra daylight to pack in even more rock and folk marquee names across the four-day blowout: John Fogerty, Alison Krauss & Union Station with Jerry Douglas, Laura Marling, John Prine, Glen Hansard, Béla Fleck & the Marcus Roberts Trio and K.D. Lang. They are supported by a strong roundup of traditional and contemporary bluegrass artists: Greensky Bluegrass, Punch Brothers, Della Mae and the spectacularly named Peter Rowan’s Big Twang Theory; bluegrass.com/telluride.


Connecticut


GATHERING OF THE VIBES Bridgeport, July 19-22. The good energy sourced at this festival remains in the 1960s, jam-band vein; the headliners Phil Lesh & Friends and Bob Weir & Bruce Hornsby, as well as the supporting freewheeling acts Yonder Mountain String Band and Assembly of Dust, support the bohemian ideal on which this event has built its reputation. However, a new smattering of more keyed-up performers — notably the headliners Primus, as well as the dance-pop duo Mates of State, the funk-inclined instrumental rock group Sound Tribe Sector 9 and the Malian-American electric experimentalists Toubab Krewe — indicate that the festival is growing more nuanced with each passing year; gatheringofthevibes.com.


INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND IDEAS New Haven, June 16-30. The free world-music offerings of this high-minded, 17th annual gathering are sensational. The Beninese R&B-funk singer Angélique Kidjo joins the jazz star Dianne Reeves and the gospel-jazz singer Lizz Wright in the opening-night gala, and the weeks progress to include concerts on the New Haven Green from the Grammy-winning Piedmont-region string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Brooklyn Bhangra funk collective Red Baraat and the inimitable Rosanne Cash; artidea.org.


LEVITT PAVILION SUMMER SEASON Westport, June 24-Sept. 2. This community affair marks its 39th season with a nuanced roster of free acts: the swing banjo troupe Cynthia Sayer and her Sparks Fly band, the alt-country Celtic rockers Carbon Leaf, the pop-punks Hank & Cupcakes and more. The concurrent RiverSwing Series pairs professional dance instructors with peppy bands for lively, interactive evenings; levittpavilion.com.


District of Columbia


D.C. JAZZ FESTIVAL June 1-10. Washington’s largest bop and swing party offers over 100 performances in multiple halls and taverns throughout the city. One standout offering is the Jazz Meets the Classics concert at Kennedy Center, in which the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master bassist Ron Carter, the vibraphonist Stefon Harris, the pianist Kenny Barron and the drummer Lewis Nash will lend jazzy cadence to selections by Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Chopin. The Jazz in the ’Hoods subseries highlights the best musicians from each neighborhood of the district, including Adams Morgan and U Street; dcjazzfest.org.


Florida


DELUNA FESTIVAL Pensacola Beach, Sept. 21-23. Now in its third year, the coastal DeLuna shindig bills itself as “the ultimate end-of-summer music festival experience.” Certainly there are worse ways to transition to overcoats than with tenacious sets by a host of rock greats: Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Guided by Voices, Superchunk, Ben Folds Five and more; delunafest.com.


Georgia


ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL Piedmont Park, May 26-28. This Southern staple celebrates its 35th year of free, al fresco traditional and contemporary jazz, with an impressive slate of stars: Roy Ayers, Kathleen Bertrand, the Robert Glasper Experiment, the Lionel Loueke Trio, the Tito Puente Jr. Orchestra and more. It is preceded by the city’s annual 31 Days series, during which local clubs, parks and restaurants host jazz soirees each day in May; (404) 546-6820, atlantafestivals.com.


Illinois


CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL June 8-10. The proud city of blues spares no talent for its free and enormous annual gala. This year the festival welcomes the incandescent riffs and searing words of Texas Johnny Brown, Eddie Shaw & the Wolf Gang, Joe Louis Walker, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, Floyd Taylor, Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues, Rev. K. M. Williams and Paul Kaye. The closing artist, Mavis Staples, will bring a touch of gospel to the whole affair; chicagofestivals.net/music/blues-2/blues.


LOLLAPALOOZA Chicago, Aug. 3-5. Lolla is officially old enough to drink; this once-iconoclastic alternative-rock festival celebrates its 21st anniversary this year. Created by the frontman of Jane’s Addiction, Perry Farrell, as a debauched touring spectacular of loud bands and counterculture, Lollapalooza has since set down its anchor as one enormous, annual affair downtown. Most of this year’s crop of artists feel true to the rebellious alt-rock spirit of the event’s 1990s roots: the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Black Keys, Black Sabbath, Jack White, At the Drive-In, the Shins. However, thanks to the recent explosion of electronic dance music, there are some timely additions: the star D.J.-producers Avicii, Calvin Harris and Kaskade; lollapalooza.com.


PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL Chicago, July 13-15. The young music aesthete’s Web site of choice, Pitchfork, returns with a seventh raucous weekend pinned on independent, left-of-center artists of all genres and a pleasing ticket price ($45 per day, $110 for the weekend). This year’s performers include the collegiate world-rockers Vampire Weekend, the pop ingénue Feist, the riot grrrl supergroup Wild Flag, the British dub-jazz collagist King Krule, the surf-rock dreamers Real Estate, the noise-looping abstractionist Dirty Beaches, the New York-sound avant-gardist Oneohtrix Point Never and the breakout electro-rock outfit Sleigh Bells. Not coincidentally, all have been praised on Pitchfork’s pages; pitchfork.com/festivals/chicago/2012.


Louisiana


ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL New Orleans, July 6-8. Often underrepresented genres in the summer festival circuit, R&B and neo-soul get their due in this specialized weekend. The soul doyenne Aretha Franklin will receive the event’s top honor, the Power Award, and lead an emotive lineup that includes the Grammy-winning belter Mary J. Blige, the funky singer-songwriter Estelle, the chic singer-rapper Eve, the extraordinary blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr., the pop-gospel duo Mary Mary, the neo-soul and R&B singer D’Angelo among others; essence.com/festivals/2012. Maryland


STARSCAPE Baltimore, June 9. Over 40 performers deliver a nonstop day of dancing across five stages at this 14th annual, electronic dance music-inclined shindig. Performers include Wolfgang Gartner, Modestep, Dada Life, Dillon Francis, Conspirator, Beats Antique, Shpongle and Flux Pavilion. And the lovely view from Fort Armistead Park pairs well with bass drops; starscapefestival.com.


Michigan


DETROIT JAZZ FESTIVAL Aug. 31-Sept. 3. One of the largest free music soirees in the world celebrates its 33rd installation with a grand roster of collaborations between traditional jazz greats: Chick Corea with Gary Burton and the Harlem String Quartet; Terence Blanchard with Poncho Sanchez, Art Blakey Tribute and more; Pat Metheny with Chris Potter, Unity Band and more; and Wayne Shorter Quartet with Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano and more. The true enticement: the superb and long-overdue headliners, the saxophonist Sonny Rollins and the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, neither of whom have played the festival in over two decades. The event also includes a Jazz Talk tent that will serve as an educational hub for swing enthusiasts and neophytes alike, with lectures and artist discussions running throughout the weekend; detroitjazzfest.com.


MOVEMENT Detroit, May 26-28. The Motor City can take plenty of credit for the surge of electronic dance music now captivating mainstream attention; the in-the-know D.J.s in this region have been promoting and perfecting the genre for decades. The internationally renowned Movement festival reflects their prowess. The overstuffed 2012 lineup feattures AraabMuzik, SBTRKT, Stacey Pullen, Major Lazer, Lindstrom, Derrick Carter, Nadastrom, Zeds Dead and Wolf + Lamb; movement.us.


Minnesota


SOUNDSET Shakopee, May 27. The Soundset festival is certainly efficient. It packs about 40 on-the-rise hip-hop and dance artists into a single day, as well as other enticements such as a record production showcase, custom car show and skateboard competition. The underground rap artists on display are some of the best in the genre: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Action Bronson, Aesop Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T. and Grieves & Budo. The marquee names Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco and Ghostface Killah & Raekwon round out the day; soundsetfestival.com.


TWIN CITIES JAZZ FESTIVAL St. Paul, June 28-30. Held in the gorgeous bandshell of Mears Park downtown, the free jazz bash includes one terrific headliner: the Bad Plus, an endlessly clever and rock-inclined trio that originates from Minneapolis. They’re augmented by the international, freewheeling talents of Joshua Redman, Delfeayo Marsalis, Francisco Mela & Cuban Safari, Araya Orta Latin Jazz Quartet and the Luca Ciarla Quartet; twincitiesjazzfestival.com.


Nevada


BOULEVARD POOL Las Vegas, May 26-Sept. 20. The Cosmopolitan Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip furthers its hipster-friendly image with a slew of concerts at its pristine pool. A standout offering is Fun., the trio of New Yorkers who cinched the best-selling single of the year to date with their Freddie Mercury-worthy pop operetta “We Are Young.” Other performers include the tuneful R&B prodigy Ryan Leslie, the psychedelic R&B troupe Polica, the jazzy hip-hop artist K. Flay and the “Pumped Up Kicks” rockers Foster the People; cosmopolitanlasvegas.com.


New Jersey


ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES Asbury Park, Sept. 21-23. The most sought-after ticket in the Northeast keeps its cachet by arranging special curators for each event. In turn, these artists perform headlining sets and bring their preferred avant-garde, rock and hip-hop acts along for the ride. This fall the festival’s emissary is the alternative rock stalwart Greg Dulli, who will perform with his cult-favorite rockers the Afghan Whigs. Not surprisingly, Mr. Dulli has excellent taste; his hand-culled roster includes the garrulous post-rockers Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the alternately playful and searing R&B group the Roots, the indie-folk poet José González, the gorgeously sensitive singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten, the peppy rockers the Antlers and the acerbic comedian Louis C. K.; atpfestival.com/events/ibymusa2012.php.


New York City


CATALPA FESTIVAL Randalls Island, July 28-29. The first Catalpa Festival (which shares its name with a flowering vine) shows a clear blues, hip-hop and world-fusion emphasis. The Black Keys and Snoop Dogg (performing his debut album, “Doggystyle”) headline atop a varied bill that includes TV on the Radio, AraabMuzik, Matisyahu and Felix da Housecat; catalpanyc.com.


CBGB FESTIVAL July 5-8. The legendarily squalid punk club CBGB — once the formative playground of Blondie, the Ramones and Patti Smith — closed in 2006, but its spirit is remembered in this four-day rock carnival that includes about 300 bands and three dozen locations around New York. Guided by Voices, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Cloud Nothings headline the largest free show on July 7 at SummerStage in Central Park; cbgb.com/festival.


CELEBRATE BROOKLYN Prospect Park Bandshell, June 5-Aug. 11. Beautiful as it is, Prospect Park just feels incomplete in the fall and winter months; it truly comes alive in summer, when this festival brings dozens of free and benefit shows to its bandshell. This year delivers 32 concerts — 25 are free, including the reggae legend Jimmy Cliff (June 5), the British folk scribe Laura Marling (June 14), the world dance partiers Balkan Beat Box (June 16), the Arabic folk traditionalist Simon Shaheen (July 7), the swing greats Arturo Sandoval and Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (July 21), the Swedish synth-poppers Little Dragon (Aug. 10) and the folk chameleon Lyle Lovett & His Large Band (Aug. 11); bricartsmedia.org/cb.


CITY PARKS FOUNDATION’S SUMMERSTAGE June 6-Aug. 30. Of all the bountiful summer music offerings in our metropolis, none feel as quintessentially New York as the SummerStage festival. The 27th installment includes over 100 performances held across the five boroughs, with the most high-profile staged in the beautiful Central Park space at Rumsey Playfield. Participants in Central Park include Bobby Womack and Willis Earl Beal (June 7), Joey Arias (June 15), Dawes and Kurt Vile and the Violators (June 16) and Alabama Shakes and Diamond Rugs (June 24); benefit concerts on the same stage include Foster the People and Tokyo Police Club (June 11), Childish Gambino and Danny Brown (June 25), Norah Jones (July 3), Beach House (July 23) and M83 (Aug. 8); summerstage.org.


ELECTRIC ZOO Randalls Island Park, Aug. 31-Sept. 2. Now that electronic dance music and its ultra-bright fashions reside squarely in the mainstream, the best-kept secret in rave culture will face an influx of new devotees, too; the top-shelf crop of D.J.s all but assures it. The dubstep giant Skrillex, the pop crossover David Guetta, the celebrity spinner Steve Aoki, the Dutch institution Tiesto, Axwell of Swedish House Mafia and A-Trak of Duck Sauce lead the glowstick cavalry; madeevent.com/ElectricZoo.


GOVERNOR’S BALL MUSIC FESTIVAL Randalls Island, June 23-24. One of the city’s most underrated festivals, Governor’s Ball scores a booking coup this year: the long-awaited return of the singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, who played a spate of modest club shows in New York this year to prepare for this major gig. She joins a savvy, largely electro-rock roster that includes Beck, Passion Pit, Modest Mouse, Explosions in the Sky, Santigold, Duck Sauce and more. Equally important: The local food trucks here are second to none; governorsballmusicfestival.com.


HUDSON RIVER PARK’S RIVERROCKS Pier 84 at Hudson River Park, July 12-Aug. 9. The free, bimonthly RiverRocks festival is a bucolic experience: located along the Hudson, steps from the decadent food offerings of the West Side and with headliners timed precisely for sunset. Its adventurous roster highlights several worthy independent artists: the Baltimore electronic scrabbler Dan Deacon (July 12), the lo-fi rock artist Oberhofer (July 26) and the byzantine electro-pop chanteuse Grimes (Aug. 9); riverrocksnyc.com.


LINCOLN CENTER This highbrow hub has enticements almost every day on its elegant summer slate. The Midsummer Night Swing fiesta spans June 26-July 14 and welcomes dance instructors to demonstrate their skills alongside peppy bands like Johnny Colon & His Orchestra, Orquesta Broadway and Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band. Lincoln Center’s free Out of Doors Festival runs July 25-Aug. 12, and standout events include performances from the Stooges Brass Band and Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats (July 26), the OurLand celebration of Irish culture with members of the Mekons and Cracker (July 29), the Bad Plus’s New York premiere of its new work, “On Sacred Ground” (Aug. 2), and the 29th annual Roots of American Music Festival with Nona Hendryx, Aloe Blacc and more (Aug. 11-12). Also, on July 20, diverse artists from the rock, hip-hop and jazz spheres (including Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, Mavis Staples and Dr. Lonnie Smith) join the Impressions to honor the 70th birthday of the late R&B poet Curtis Mayfield; lc.lincolncenter.org.


LOWDOWN HUDSON BLUES FESTIVAL World Financial Center Plaza, July 11-12. Buddy Guy, the noble statesman of Chicago blues (and occasional jam partner with President Obama), anchors this second annual free riverside fete. He is supported on the first evening by Quinn Sullivan and John Mayall; the soulful singer-songwriter Neko Case headlines the second night with support from Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires and He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister; artsworldfinancialcenter.com.


MAD. SQ. MUSIC: OVAL LAWN SERIES Madison Square Park, June 20-Aug. 8. Come for the Shake Shack burgers, stay for the excellent folk and jazz. The Madison Square music series supplies a serene oasis in the Flatiron district with free performances on Wednesday evenings. The 2012 installment includes the cabaret chameleon Gretchen Parlato with Gregory Porter (June 27); the jazz drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts (July 18); the jazz-folk violinist Regina Carter (July 25); the singing-songwriting family act of Suzzy and Maggie Roche, Lucy Wainwright Roche and Sloan Wainwright (Aug. 1) and the soul singer Bettye LaVette (Aug. 8); madisonsquarepark.org/music.


NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL Brooklyn, June 14-17. The plucky, independently minded music festival enters its fourth year with likewise sessions focused on art (June 15-17) and film (June 18-21). Its music offerings remain enticing: Of Montreal, Ceremony, Tinariwen, Kool Keith, the Felice Brothers, Screaming Females and GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, who will perform his album “Liquid Swords” (Geffen) with backing from the Grammy-winning Latin funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma; northsidefestival.com.


RIVER TO RIVER, June 17-July 15. The downtown staple of avant-garde and rock opens with the beautiful calamity of the Bang on a Can Marathon, 24 hours of exceptional experimental music. This year’s participants include David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth (June 17). The series’ other lovely, free events include performances by the salsa bandleader Eddie Palmieri at Rockefeller Park (June 21), Roomful of Teeth with Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards and William Brittelle at World Financial Center Plaza (June 30), the chamber-pop singer-songwriter Patrick Watson at the South Street Seaport (July 6) and an unprecedented free retrospective performance by the Philip Glass Ensemble in Rockefeller Park in celebration of the composer’s 75th birthday (June 20); rivertorivernyc.com


VISION FESTIVAL Manhattan and Brooklyn, June 11-17. This adventurous gathering aims to push the limits of appreciable jazz with a focus on experimental and avant-garde strains. The week includes sets by the Mark Dresser Quintet (June 11); the Thing and Joe McPhee (June 13); the Hamid Drake Ensemble (June 14); Jason Kao Hwang and his ensemble performing the recently commissioned piece “Burning Bridge” (June 16); and Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber and Holy Ghost & Fire (June 17); visionfestival.org


New York State


CAMP BISCO Mariaville, July 12-14. It’s a festival 11 years in the making. When the trance-rock jam band the Disco Biscuits started their manic annual festival upstate, they were the electronic outliers in their own diverse lineup. Finally, in 2012, mainstream taste has shifted to their beloved electronic dance music, and the band is celebrating with a lineup that reflects it: headliners include Bassnectar, Skrillex, Amon Tobin, Porter Robinson and A-Trak, with assistance from hip-hop acts like Big Boi and Atmosphere and pop-rock artists like Crystal Castles and Portugal the Man; campbisco.net.


CLEARWATER’S GREAT HUDSON RIVER REVIVAL Croton-on-Hudson, June 16-17. This benevolent festival supports the nonprofit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, which was founded by the folk singer Pete Seeger and aims to clean up the waterway. Each year he enlists scores of his famous friends to assist in the ecological mission: this year, Ani DiFranco; Béla Fleck; Arlo Guthrie & the Guthrie Family; Martin Sexton; Joan Osborne & the Holmes Brothers; Deer Tick; the Punch Brothers with Chris Thile; Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band; and Dawes will perform alongside bountiful artisan food and earth-friendly craft vendors. It’s an optimistic, family-friendly retreat; clearwater.org/festival.


MOUNTAIN JAM Hunter Mountain, May 31-June 3. This hilltop retreat is a rare holdout in the music-festival circuit; it sticks staunchly to its jam-band origins, resisting incorporation of more mainstream pop artists. The result is a hazy, psychedelic playground for lovers of noodling guitar solos. The 2012 lineup promises Steve Winwood, Gov’t Mule, Michael Franti & Spearhead, the Roots, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ben Folds Five, Lotus, the Word, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Gary Clark Jr. and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe; mountainjam.com.


North Carolina


HOPSCOTCH Raleigh, Sept. 6-8. The incredibly diverse festival pulls its talent largely from its neighborhood — not a difficult task, considering the flourishing independent music scene of the region — but also keeps a sharp eye for genre diversity. This year offers the shoegaze progenitors the Jesus and Mary Chain, the prolific R&B/hip-hop collective the Roots, the punishing rockers Built to Spill, the art-pop experimentalists Deerhoof, the scabrous doom-metalers Sunn O))), the voluble rapper Danny Brown, the electro-cobbler Dan Deacon, the local heavy metal troupe Corrosion of Conformity, the keening dark-rock singer Zola Jesus and many more; hopscotchmusicfest.com.


Pennsylvania


MUSIKFEST Bethlehem, Aug. 3-12. The family-friendly sprawl features dozens of free shows of varied genres. The headlining concerts include Young the Giant with Portugal the Man, MGMT with Atlas Sound, Joe Cocker with Huey Lewis and the News, Sheryl Crow and Boston; fest.org.


Rhode Island


NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL July 28-29. Even 47 years after Bob Dylan chose its stage to “go electric,” the Newport Folk Festival remains an up-to-the-minute cohesion of trendy rock tastemakers and earthier traditional folk acts. This year My Morning Jacket and Jackson Browne headline a solid bill that boasts fast-ascending singer-songwriters (Tune-Yards, Sharon Van Etten), soulful balladeers (Iron & Wine, Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark Jr.) and roots-bluegrass contemporaries (Punch Brothers, Guthrie Family Reunion); newportfolkfest.net.


NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL Aug. 3-5. The jazz institution, established in 1954, continues to pack a particularly impressive array of talent into the pristine Fort Adams State Park. This year’s most notable participants include Dianne Reeves, Jenny Scheinman and Bill Frisell, the Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet, the James Carter Organ Trio, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks and the Dafnis Prieto Sextet; newportjazzfest.net.


Tennessee


BONNAROO Manchester, June 7-10. Once an amiable, niche jam-band bohemian paradise, the Bonnaroo festival has swelled into one of the country’s most vibrant pop culture experiences. Its bookers are unparalleled at providing the boldface rock, country, funk and hip-hop artists of the moment; the film and comedy are excellent to boot. Small wonder that Ben and Jerry’s devoted a coffee-and-caramel flavor to the endeavor (Bonnaroo Buzz) and that the Beach Boys are headlining this year alongside with Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish, Bon Iver, Black Star, Skrillex, the Shins and many more. (800) 594-8499; bonnaroo.com.


C.M.A. MUSIC FESTIVAL Nashville, June 7-10. It would scarcely be Nashville without this dedicated celebration of the Country Music Association. The four-day affair kicks off with a triple-header of crossover stars — Glen Campbell, Lady Antebellum and Jason Aldean — and continues through the weekend with genre favorites like the Band Perry, Blake Shelton, Brantley Gilbert, Faith Hill, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts and Alan Jackson; cmaworld.com/cma-music-festival.


Vermont


WANDERLUST Stratton Mountain, Bondville, June 21-24. The rapidly expanding commune boasts later installments in Copper, Colo. (July 5-8); Lake Tahoe, Calif. (July 26-29); and Whistler, British Columbia (Aug. 23-26). A zen state is stressed for each occasion. Yoga instructors are billed in bold alongside the musical artists Ziggy Marley and Ani DiFranco, and theatrical performers and spiritual speakers round out the pacifist roster; stratton.wanderlustfestival.com.


Washington


SASQUATCH George, May 25-28. Each year the Northwest juggernaut packs a heady, rock-centric lineup that seems to perfectly summarize the year’s musical climate. Its 10th anniversary season is no exception: Jack White, Bon Iver, the Shins, the Roots, Feist, Metric, Explosions in the Sky, Fun., St. Vincent, Beirut, Spiritualized, Alabama Shakes, Zola Jesus. Independent hip-hop also gets an appreciative nod in the form of Childish Gambino, Shabazz Palaces and AraabMuzik. The cult-favorite comedy stage features Portlandia, Todd Barry, John Mulaney and Nick Kroll; sasquatchfestival.com.


Wisconsin


ROCK FEST Cadott, July 19-22. Emotive types, enter at your peril: Rock Fest proudly specializes in boisterous, outsized rock decadence. This year it offers a dose of Aqua-Netted nostalgia with the closing-night doubleheader of Def Leppard and Poison. The other headlining acts — including Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Godsmack, Papa Roach and Shinedown — are a touch more contemporary in their amplified fracas; rock-fest.com.


SUMMERFEST Milwaukee, June 27-July 1 and July 3-8. This Midwest extravaganza handily outdoes the Coachella festival with its two long installments. Not surprisingly, organizers trumpet it as “the world’s largest music festival.” Seemingly all genres are represented, and then some, in the headliners alone: electronic dance music (Tiësto, July 3), country (Rascal Flatts, June 27, and Lady Antebellum, June 30), rock (Aerosmith, July 7), boy-band pop (Big Time Rush, July 6), heavy metal (Iron Maiden, July 4) and classic pop (the Beach Boys, July 1). Hundreds of other bands hold court in the near-dozen smaller stages to offer true sensory overload; summerfest.com.


Tours


FIONA APPLE June 19-July 29. The mercurial singer-songwriter has emerged from solitude to enjoy a hero’s reception at her scant live performances. She’ll ratchet up her performance schedule with a national summer tour to promote her new album, “The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do” (Epic); fiona-apple.com.


THE BEACH BOYS May 2-July 15. Though Brian Wilson still isn’t much of a surfer, he can be proud to ride this wave: the 50th-anniversary tour of one of the greatest pop bands of the 1960s. The founding members Mike Love, Al Jardine and Mr. Wilson reunite for the first time in decades, along with classic-era members Bruce Johnston and David Marks, for a nostalgic spin through the sounds of summer; thebeachboys.com.


THE HIVES June 19-30. In support of their self-produced and self-released fifth album, “Lex Hives,” these maniacally catchy Swedish punks will make a quick sprint across the United States. Their recent get-ups of tuxedos and top hats guarantee a top-notch affair; thehivesbroadcastingservice.com.


ONE DIRECTION June 13-Aug. 8 The apple-cheeked boy band du jour has a radio smash on its hands with “What Makes You Beautiful,” the lead single from their album “Up All Night” (Columbia).The record’s instantaneous success cemented them as the first British group to enter at the top of the Billboard charts with a debut album; the British-Irish gaggle is the slick product of Simon Cowell, who signed them after the amateur group competed on the British version of “The X Factor.” For more information, consult your preteen daughter; onedirectionmusic.com.


WARPED TOUR June 16-Aug. 5. The preferred stomping grounds for young, reckless punk bands and their fans, the Warped Tour has been a crux of rebellious teenage summers since the mid-1990s. This year the melee stops in 41 cities with the Used, Rise Against, Of Mice and Men, Yellowcard, Anti Flag, New Found Glory and others; vanswarpedtour.com.