Music festivals within driving distance of L.A.

Local events producer Future Primitive has put together a lineup of house and techno acts for a series of shows in and around Downtown L.A. This summer’s slate includes Rumors (May 6), DJ Guy Gerber’s block party along Chinatown’s Gin Ling Way; All Day I Dream (May 20), DJ Lee Burridge’s party at Pershing Square; Paradise in the Park (June 3, 4), a two-day affair again in the DTLA park from DJ Jamie Jones; and the debut of Astra Club (July 15), a collaboration between DJ Tennis and Carlita in Chinatown.

It’s been at L.A. State Historic Park and Coachella, but pan-Asian music and media collective 88rising’s music fest has seemed to settle on the grounds outside the Rose Bowl for its summertime home. The 2023 edition’s headliners include DPR Live, DPR Ian, Jackson Wang, NIKI, Rich Brian, Rina Sawayama, XG, YOASOBI and Zedd.

EDM juggernaut HARD Summer has hopped around Southern California in recent years, but after a decade it’s heading back to L.A. proper. No matter the location, its dedication to bringing the biggest names in the hip-hop and electronic scene has stayed the course—though this year’s lineup is still to come. This year’s two-day event will be spread across the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Exposition Park and BMO Stadium.

Say goodbye to dusty thoroughfares and violent porta-potties: Splash House takes the music festival concept off of sweltering desert land and places it poolside. Movers and shakers at this multi-location getdown are shuttled between the Saguaro, the Margaritaville and the Renaissance (with after-hours programming at the Palm Springs Air Museum) to lap up big-name dance acts and DJ sets. With the added comforts of AC rooms and critically acclaimed restaurant fare just steps away from the party scenes, the experience will make you question whether to bother with more punishing locales come next year’s festival season.

The fest’s August edition includes sets from ODESZA, Chris Lake, Tchami, Channel Tres, Aluna, DRAMA, LP Giobbi, veggi and Classixx, among others.

The vibes are still beachy but expect the lineup to go a little bit country for this offshoot of BeachLife Festival. Jack Johnson, the Doobie Brothers, Brad Paisley, the Avett Brothers, Cody Jinks and Midland top the 2023 edition of this three-day fest on Redondo Beach.

Bask in the glow of the blinking Las Vegas lights during this beautiful mess of a music festival. Eighteen city blocks become a playground for music lovers of all types at the genre-spanning Life is Beautiful. Embrace all of the things that are both wonderful and awful about Vegas trips and you’ll be rewarded with what’s typically a fantastic lineup.

The lineup of guitar players in this two-day event may very likely make you fall to your knees as Eric Clapton assembles dozens of axe-wielding musicians at the Crypto.com Arena. The lineup includes the likes of Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy, H.E.R., Los Lobos, Taj Mahal, John Mayer Trio, John McLaughlin, Robert Randolph, Robbie Robertson, Santa, Gustavo Santaolalla, Stephen Stills, ZZ Top and more (plus Clapton himself on both nights). Tickets are sold for individual days (no two-day passes) and benefit the Crossroads Centre Antigua, a substance abuse rehab on the Caribbean island.

Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival once again lands at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, and the Pearl Jam frontman will once again be on the lineup. The Killers, HAIM, Eddie Vedder, the Chicks, Foo Fighters and Pretenders top this year’s fest, which goes down September 29 to October 1. The rest of the lineup includes the likes of Father John Misty, Japanese Breakfast, the War on Drugs and more.

The fest’s name comes from the Hawaiian concept of family, and as such the beachfront festival will give back to its own community by donating a portion of proceeds to the San Onofre Parks Foundation and the Doheny State Beach Foundation, among others.

Desert Daze is your antidote to the typical desert gathering (think a noisier, more indie lineup than Coachella and less dirt than Burning Man). Though it’s close enough to L.A. to go just for the day, the fest caters to campers with easy access to hiking trails and a bazaar of mystics and wanderers.

The second outing from this nostalgic fest shifts ever so slightly from emo-pop toward the sort of “shut up, mom” style of pop-punk that dominated the turn of the millennium. Green Day and a freshly reunited Blink-182 headline this Las Vegas fest, with additional sets from the Offspring, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, Sum 41, Simple Plan, New Found Glory, Rise Against, Something Corporate, Motion City Soundtrack, Saves the Day and 30 Seconds to Mars (yep, the Jared Leto band).