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    Coachella, photographed by Raph_PH

    Music Festival Tickets

    Pick the tier and days first · most passes ship as wristbands

    A festival ticket buys a pass, not a seat, so the tier, the days and the camping plan decide the experience before the lineup does.

    Music festivals

    AfrikaBurn participants standing by a burning artwork
    Festival

    AfrikaBurn

    How AfrikaBurn tickets, transfers and vehicle passes work, the drive into the Tankwa Karoo, and what self-reliance means at the burn.

    Tankwa Karoo, South Africa
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing AfroFuture
    Festival

    AfroFuture

    The Accra festival once called Afrochella: when it runs, who has headlined, how GA and VIP compare, and how to plan a December trip to Ghana.

    Accra, Ghana
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Aftershock Festival
    Festival

    Aftershock Festival

    Sacramento's four-day rock and metal festival: headliner history, single-day vs. 4-day passes, VIP and Capital Club, camping at Cal Expo, and transit.

    Sacramento, CA
    Bud Light stage with the Austin skyline in the background
    Festival

    Austin City Limits Music Festival

    How ACL Fest weekends, 1-day and 3-day passes, GA+, VIP and Platinum work, plus kids policy, shuttles and bag rules for Zilker Park.

    Austin, TX
    the guy who went before Paul van Dyck @ Beyond Wonderland 03.20.10
    Festival

    Beyond Wonderland

    Which Beyond Wonderland edition to pick, how GA, GA+ and VIP differ, camping at The Gorge and the Midwest, and the SoCal age rules.

    San Bernardino, CA; George, WA; Chicago area
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Bonnaroo
    Festival

    Bonnaroo

    Bonnaroo explained: Great Stage Park, GA to Platinum tiers, camping and 1-day passes, headliner history, packing and the 2027 break.

    Manchester, TN
    Boston Calling Music Festival stage in 2014, City Hall Plaza
    Festival

    Boston Calling

    Boston Calling's 2027 return, past headliners, single-day vs. 3-day tiers, getting to Allston on the Red Line, and the bag and kids rules.

    Boston, MA
    BottleRock 2016 Main Stage
    Festival

    BottleRock Napa Valley

    BottleRock Napa Valley explained: Memorial Day dates, GA, VIP and Skydeck tiers, headliner history and how to get to the Expo.

    Napa, CA
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Broccoli City Festival
    Festival

    Broccoli City Festival

    Broccoli City Festival explained: D.C.-area venues by year, headliners from Solange to Megan Thee Stallion, ticket tiers and planning tips.

    Washington, DC
    Temple du Burning Man
    Festival

    Burning Man

    Burning Man explained: how its ticket sales, low-income program and vehicle passes work, face-value resale rules, and what surviving the playa takes.

    Black Rock City, NV
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Camp Bisco
    Festival

    Camp Bisco

    Camp Bisco explained: the Disco Biscuits' jam-meets-electronic camping festival, its Scranton years, past headliners and its status since 2019.

    Scranton, PA
    Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2018. The free pre- concert given at Greenmarket Square
    Festival

    Cape Town International Jazz Festival

    Cape Town International Jazz Festival explained: CTICC stages, day and weekend passes, headliner history and the free Greenmarket Square concert.

    Cape Town, South Africa
    Coachella, photographed by Raph_PH
    Festival

    Coachella

    How Coachella passes, VIP and camping work, which weekend to pick, and how to get to the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

    Indio, CA
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Electric Forest
    Festival

    Electric Forest

    Electric Forest explained: GA vs. Good Life passes, camping and RV packages, arrival days, the rules and two decades of headliners.

    Rothbury, MI
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Lights All Night
    Festival

    Lights All Night

    Lights All Night explained: the Dec. 30–31 dates at Fair Park, GA vs. GA+ vs. VIP, hours, getting there and what you can bring.

    Dallas, TX
    Miley Cyrus no palco do Lollapalooza Brasil
    Festival

    Lollapalooza

    Lollapalooza explained: Grant Park dates, headliner history, passes and wristbands, CTA and Metra access, and the bag and re-entry rules.

    Chicago, IL
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing New Orleans Jazz Fest
    Festival

    New Orleans Jazz Fest

    Jazz Fest explained: the two-weekend schedule, how day tickets and VIP tiers work, stage strategy, the shuttle and what you can bring.

    New Orleans, LA
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Palm Tree Music Festival
    Festival

    Palm Tree Music Festival

    Palm Tree Music Festival explained: its rotating stops, GA vs. GA+ vs. VIP vs. Palm Club tables, age limits and how to get to each site.

    Multiple locations
    Abstract event ticket illustration representing Ultra Music Festival
    Festival

    Ultra Music Festival

    Ultra Music Festival explained: Bayfront Park dates, GA and VIP passes, age rules, Metromover access and the clear-bag policy.

    Miami, FL
    By the Good Seats editorial teamUpdated How we research

    What a festival ticket actually buys

    A music festival ticket is a pass to a site, not a seat. You choose a tier (the level of access, such as general admission or VIP), a length (one day or the full weekend) and, at camping festivals, a place to sleep. Those three choices shape the experience more than any single set on the lineup, and they are where buyers most often overspend or underbuy.

    The format suits a large and growing audience. Outdoor venues such as parks, pavilions and amphitheaters drew more arts attendees than any other venue type in the National Endowment for the Arts' 2022 survey, and 21 percent of U.S. adults attended an outdoor festival performance. Interest is still climbing: Luminate reports that U.S. festival attendance intent rose to 23 percent of respondents in early 2026, and the share calling festivals a good or great value grew from 74 percent to 82 percent between mid-2024 and early 2026 (Luminate, Live Music 2026). Intent is not attendance, but the direction is clear.

    GA, VIP and camping tiers compared

    Names vary from festival to festival, but most large events sell some version of the same ladder.

    • General admission (GA) covers entry to the grounds and every stage. It is how most attendees go, and at a well-run festival it is enough.
    • GA+ or an upgraded GA tier, where offered, adds a separate entrance, shaded lounges and better restrooms without the full premium tier.
    • VIP typically adds dedicated viewing areas near the main stages, private bars and food, and air-conditioned restrooms. It is worth the most at hot, crowded, multi-day festivals, and the least at a single-day city event you plan to spend moving between stages.
    • Tables and premium hospitality sit above VIP at some boutique festivals. Palm Tree Music Festival, for example, sells a Palm Club table section with raised views.
    • Camping is sold separately at destination festivals: tent sites, car camping (sleeping next to your vehicle) and prebuilt glamping tents or RV spots at the top end. Coachella added camping in 2003.

    Buy the camping pass at the same time as the festival pass. Camping often sells out separately, and a festival pass without a place to stay can force a long daily drive from the nearest town.

    Single-day vs. weekend passes

    Weekend passes are the default product at most destination festivals, and some sell nothing else at first. Single-day tickets, where offered, usually go on sale after the daily lineup is announced.

    • Choose a weekend pass when you are traveling, camping or interested in artists spread across several days. The per-day cost is usually lower than buying days separately.
    • Choose a single day when one headliner is the reason you are going, when you live nearby, or when the festival runs over two weekends and one day fits your schedule better.
    • Check which weekend. Coachella and New Orleans Jazz Fest each run across two weekends. Coachella repeats essentially the same lineup on both, while Jazz Fest posts a separate schedule for each day, so a Jazz Fest day ticket is tied to that day's performers.

    How festival resale works

    Festival resale has quirks that seat-based events do not.

    • Wristbands, not barcodes. Many large festivals ship passes as RFID wristbands (bands with an embedded chip scanned at the gate), mailed weeks before the event, or deliver them for pickup on site. A resale order is fulfilled when the band reaches you, so delivery timing matters more than for a mobile ticket.
    • Registration and activation. Many festivals ask you to register or activate the wristband online before the gates open. Do not cut, loosen or remove a band once it is fitted; a tampered band is usually voided at the gate.
    • Tier and day are fixed. A GA band does not get you into VIP, and a Saturday band does not work on Sunday. Read the listing for the exact tier, day and any camping or parking add-on.
    • Price movement. Prices often climb after a strong lineup announcement and can soften in the final days for festivals that did not sell out, but weather forecasts and sold-out camping can push them either way.

    Price remains the main barrier. Luminate found that the share of Gen Z live music attendees citing ticket cost as a barrier fell from 75 percent in early 2024 to 57 percent in early 2026, and that Gen Z attendees going to two concerts a year grew from 29 to 37 percent. Every GoodSeats order is backed by a 100% guarantee.

    The major U.S. festivals at a glance

    • Coachella (Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival) has been held since 1999 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, over two consecutive three-day weekends in April. The 2026 headliners were Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Karol G and Anyma.
    • Lollapalooza was founded in 1991 by Perry Farrell as a touring festival and settled permanently in Chicago's Grant Park in 2005. It runs four days in late July or early August and draws an estimated 400,000 people.
    • Bonnaroo has been held since 2002 at Great Stage Park, a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, typically over four days starting the second Thursday in June. It is a camping festival at heart. The 2025 edition was canceled partway through because of severe weather and flooding.
    • Ultra Music Festival is a three-day electronic festival held in late March at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, alongside Miami Music Week. It has admitted only fans 18 and older since 2014.
    • New Orleans Jazz Fest (the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival) has been staged since 1970 at the Fair Grounds Race Course, across the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May. It covers jazz, blues, gospel, zydeco, Cajun and brass band music, and it is run by a nonprofit foundation.
    • Palm Tree Music Festival is a boutique series from Palm Tree Crew staged in destination towns. Its 2026–27 calendar lists Napa and Montecito in October 2026 and Aspen in February 2027.
    • Electric Forest is an electronic and jam-band festival at the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, Michigan, held in late June on the site of the earlier Rothbury Festival. The 2026 edition, June 25 to 28, is the 14th.
    • Lights All Night is a two-night electronic dance music festival at Fair Park in Dallas, held in late December. The 2026 edition, December 30 and 31, marks its 16th anniversary.

    Planning the trip and using the festival guides

    Festivals are travel events. Luminate reports that music tourism is rising, as traveling to see an artist in another city can cost less than a hometown show. Book lodging when you buy the pass, plan for shuttles or rideshare zones rather than close parking, and expect bag, hydration-pack and chair rules that differ by festival and change from year to year. Check the festival's current policy before you go.

    Each GoodSeats festival guide covers where and when the event is held, its lineup history, the ticket tiers it sells, getting there and camping, what to bring and the current policies, each dated. For first-timers, the guide to going to your first concert covers the basics that carry over: hearing protection, a charged phone with your tickets ready, and a meeting point if your group splits up. Official lineups and policies are published on each festival's own site, such as Coachella.com.

    More festivals with their own guides

    Several more festivals have their own Good Seats guides. In the US, Austin City Limits Music Festival runs two weekends each October in Zilker Park, BottleRock Napa Valley fills Memorial Day weekend in Napa, Boston Calling returns in June 2027 after skipping 2026, Aftershock Festival brings rock and metal to Sacramento each fall, Beyond Wonderland runs electronic editions in Southern California, at The Gorge and in the Chicago area, and Broccoli City Festival presents hip-hop and R&B in the Washington, D.C., area with a format that changes from year to year. Camp Bisco, the jam and electronic weekend in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has not been held since 2019.

    Further afield, Burning Man builds Black Rock City in the Nevada desert each summer, and its ticketing rules are unlike any other event on this list. AfrikaBurn is its South African counterpart in the Tankwa Karoo, AfroFuture (formerly Afrochella) takes over Accra, Ghana, in late December, and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival has been a two-night fixture since 2000. The guides on festival ticket types and what to bring to a music festival apply to most of them.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the difference between GA and VIP festival tickets?

    GA covers entry to the grounds and all stages. VIP typically adds dedicated viewing areas, private bars and food, and better restrooms, which matter most at hot, crowded, multi-day festivals.

    Should I buy a single-day or weekend festival pass?

    A weekend pass usually costs less per day and suits travelers and campers. A single day makes sense when one headliner is the draw or you live close enough to come and go.

    Are festival tickets delivered as mobile tickets?

    Many large festivals ship RFID wristbands by mail before the event or hand them out at pickup, and many require online registration. Check the delivery method on the listing.

    Do I need a separate camping pass?

    At camping festivals such as Bonnaroo, and for camping at Coachella, the campsite is usually sold separately from the festival pass and can sell out on its own.

    Is the Coachella lineup the same on both weekends?

    Yes, Coachella presents essentially the same lineup on both of its April weekends, so the choice usually comes down to dates and travel. Jazz Fest is different, with a separate schedule each day.

    Are there age limits at music festivals?

    Some festivals set them. Ultra Music Festival has admitted only fans 18 and older since 2014. Check each festival's current age policy before you buy.

    Sources

    Card and header photos come from Wikimedia Commons contributors under Creative Commons or public-domain terms. Artist and license for each one are listed on the photo credits page.