HOLLYWOOD BOWL
June 12-Oct. 8. It's become somewhat de rigueur to pair a pop act with an orchestra (one gets a little extra bombast, the other a little extra edge), and each summer, the Hollywood Bowl plays matchmaker. On June 15 Sting will perform with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra; on July 2-4 Vince Gill will team up with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; on Aug. 13-14 Harry Connick Jr. and his Big Band will do the same; and on Oct. 2 Carrie Underwood will sing alongside the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Other notable bookings: the Playboy Jazz Festival (June 12-13), Femi Kuti and the Positive Force (July 7), Kings of Leon (July 12), B.B. King and Buddy Guy (Aug. 11), and the Neville Brothers (Aug. 18). (323)850-2000, hollywoodbowl.com.
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
Irvine, May 28-31. This electronic- and dance-focused festival began on a much smaller scale - with generators, a couple strings of Christmas lights, a few stacks of vinyl records and a scrum of sweaty fans - in the forests of Southern California. It's now in its ninth iteration, and -legitimacy alert! - includes workshops, panels and art installations. Booka Shade, the Album Leaf, the Very Best, Eoto, Adam Freeland, Apparat, Daedalus and more are scheduled to perform. lightninginabottle.org.
MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL
Monterey Fairgrounds, Sept. 17-19. Part of the allure of this sizable event (500 artists performing over eight stages) is its location: it sets up every year on 20 acres of wooded fairgrounds. This year the jazz veterans Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves, Roy Hargrove, Chris Potter, Christian McBride, Billy Childs, Kenny Garrett and more are scheduled to return; meanwhile Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, Harry Connick Jr. and Nellie McKay will be making their festival debuts. (925)275-9255 (tickets), montereyjazzfestival.org.
WANDERLUST
Squaw Valley, July 29-Aug. 1. This festival-cum-lifestyle-retreat gives its musical guests (Bassnectar, a D.J. set by Moby, Brazilian Girls, Beats Antique, Pretty Lights) and yoga instructors (Shiva Rea, Baron Baptiste, Seane Corn, Annie Carpenter, Ashley Turner, Duncan Wong) equal billing. wanderlustfestival.com.
WORLDFEST
Grass Valley, July 15-18. In addition to a slew of acclaimed world-music and jazz performers - including Ziggy Marley, Keb' Mo', Juan de Marcos and the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Dobet Gnahor, Katia Moraes and Sambaguru, Kusun Ensemble, and Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys - Worldfest offers access to yoga and tai chi workshops, dance and percussion classes, and a World Marketplace stocked with handcrafted artisan wares. (530)891-4098, worldfest.net.
JAZZ ASPEN SNOWMASS
Aspen, June 25-July 3; Sept. 3-5. The nonprofit arts organization Jazz Aspen Snowmass - now in its 20th season - hosts two notable festivals in Colorado every summer. The first, in late June, is jazz focused but not exclusively so; this year's performers include Harry Connick Jr. and his Orchestra (June 25); Christian McBride (June 26); Pink Martini (June 27); and Natalie Cole (July 3). The second, on Labor Day weekend, is always a bit more rock 'n' roll; so far Wilco is scheduled for its opening night. (970)920- 4996, jazzaspen.org.
MILE HIGH MUSIC FESTIVAL
Commerce City, Aug. 14-15. Last year this two-day festival featured a set by the cerebral metal band Tool, but for 2010, it has (mostly) stuck with feel-good pop-rock and jam bands: Jack Johnson, the Dave Matthews Band, Weezer, the Steve Miller Band, Keane, Phoenix, My Morning Jacket, Rusted Root, the Drive-By Truckers, Jimmy Cliff, and the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band will all play. There's a tiny bit of hip-hop sprinkled in too: Nas and Damian (Jr. Gong) Marley, Cypress Hill and Atmosphere are also on the bill. (303)727-3535, milehighmusicfestival.com.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN FOLKS FESTIVAL
Lyons, Aug. 13-15. Folk music - despite being largely acoustic - is still awfully well suited for a picturesque outdoor stage. The Rocky Mountain Folks Festival is a nice mix of new- and old-school strummers: John Prine, Richard Thompson, Ani DiFranco, Jenny Lewis, Tift Merritt, Greg Brown, the Swell Season and more will perform. (800)624-2422, bluegrass.com/folks.
TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS
June 17-20. This bluegrass extravaganza prides itself on coinciding with the summer solstice, meaning fans can soak up as much sunshine as possible while shimmying to sets from Bla Fleck, Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Leftover Salmon, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer, the Del McCoury Band, Josh Ritter, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops, among others. As always the Telluride House Band (this year's lineup: Sam Bush, Bla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, Stuart Duncan) will play a closing set, and informal jams - “nightgrass," in festival parlance - will continue long after the sun finally sinks. (800)624-2422, bluegrass.com/telluride.
GATHERING OF THE VIBES
Seaside Park, Bridgeport, July 29-Aug. 1. It should surprise no one that a festival called Gathering of the Vibes is a peaceful, jam- friendly event. Although past lineups have been steeped in 1960s rock nostalgia, this year Primus - a self-proclaimed “psychedelic polka" act, led by the quirky, virtuosic bassist Les Claypool - will headline, along with Damian (Jr. Gong) Marley and Nas. Also on the bill: Jimmy Cliff, Galactic, Mix Master Mike, Umphrey's McGee, Little Feat, Dark Star Orchestra and more. (203)908-3030, gatheringofthevibes.com.
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND IDEAS
New Haven, June 12-26. This eclectic and far-reaching arts festival always offers up an interesting roster of global sounds. This year's lineup includes the Iraqi-American jazz trumpeter and composer Amir ElSaffar (June 15), the Brazilian bossa nova singer Joyce Moreno (June 16), the West African ensemble Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba (June 17), the Blind Boys of Alabama (June 19), the 12-piece salsa orchestra La Excelencia (June 20) and a closing night performance by the children's singer Dan Zanes. (888)278-4332, artidea.org.
CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL
Grant Park, June 11-13. Every year organizers of this city-hosted festival honor a legendary blues musician (the tradition - and the festival - began in 1984, the year after Muddy Waters died), and there may be no better place to pay earnest homage to wailing, electric blues. This year there's a panel dedicated to Howlin' Wolf, who relocated to Chicago from Mississippi in the early 1950s, and alumni of his band (Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang with Jody Williams, Sam Lay, Henry Gray, Abb Locke, Corky Siegel and - of course -Hubert Sumlin) will also perform. Other highlights: David (Honeyboy) Edwards, Larry Hoffman with Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Bobby Parker and the Blues Night Band. chicagobluesfestival.org.
LOLLAPALOOZA
Grant Park, Chicago, Aug. 6-8. In 1991 Lollapalooza - the brainchild of Perry Farrell, the frontman of Jane's Addiction - was created to celebrate alternative rock and outsider art, peripheral genres (by definition) that were suddenly gaining commercial footholds. Those footholds are far less tenuous these days, but the festival, now stationed permanently in Chicago, always pieces together an interesting lineup; this year notables include Lady Gaga, Soundgarden, MGMT, Green Day, Arcade Fire, the Strokes, Phoenix, the National, Spoon, Devo, Grizzly Bear, Erykah Badu, the Dirty Projectors, and an unexpected appearance by the Chicago legend Mavis Staples. (888)512-7469 (tickets), lollapalooza.com.
PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Union Park, Chicago, July 16-18. This year Pitchfork is hosting two titans of indie rock: Modest Mouse, whose breakthrough LP, “The Moon and Antarctica," is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and the freshly reunited Pavement. Joining them are Broken Social Scene, Panda Bear, Big Boi, Robyn, Wolf Parade, LCD Soundsystem, Titus Andronicus, St. Vincent, Washed Out and others. pitchforkmusicfestival.com.
ABBEY ROAD ON THE RIVER
Louisville, May 27-31; Washington, Sept. 2-6. Beatles adoration is, apparently, bottomless. As this tribute festival's Web site insists (somewhat depressingly): “I have seen the future of rock 'n' roll ... and it is still the Beatles." Accordingly, nearly 70 Beatles cover bands from across the globe -Norway, Germany, Slovakia, Japan, Russia and beyond - gather at Abbey Road on the River (held Memorial Day weekend in Louisville, and Labor Day weekend in Washington) to play, dance and swoon like it's 1964. (216)378-1980, abbeyroadontheriver.com.
HULLABALOU
Louisville, July 23-25. Churchill Downs might be known for inciting frantic whoops and desperate sobs, but Hullabalou, a new three-day festival, is more likely to facilitate a polite head bob. With five stages - including one exclusively showcasing bluegrass - the lineup is fairly inclusive, provided you're not looking for anything too brash: it covers earnest pop-rock (Bon Jovi, Train, the Dave Matthews Band); Nashville country (Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans, Dierks Bentley); slightly-less-Nashville country (the Zac Brown Band, the Avett Brothers, Gloriana); easy listening (Michael McDonald, Huey Lewis and the News); somewhat-classic rock (the Doobie Brothers, the Steve Miller Band, Taj Mahal, 38 Special); and a smattering of rhythm and blues and soul (Gladys Knight, Al Green, the O'Jays). (800)745- 3000 (tickets), hullabaloufest.com.
