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Photograph: Jade Park for Time Out

Music festivals within driving distance of L.A.

Hit up these hometown music festivals, as well as ones within driving distance of L.A., from Las Vegas to the Central Coast

Michael Juliano
Edited by
Michael Juliano
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Whether a day trip or a Metro ride away, there’s no shortage of music festivals near Los Angeles. We’re not just talking about summer music festivals either—thanks to Southern California’s (mostly) persistently pleasant climate, we can enjoy outdoor fests nearly year-round. So lace up a comfortable pair of shoes for these music festivals within driving distance of L.A., from single-day affairs to camping excursions.

Upcoming music festivals near Los Angeles

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  • Music festivals
  • San Bernardino

This springtime spin-off in Insomniac’s Wonderland series takes its whimsical, carnival-like atmosphere to this trance-heavy festival. The dreamy, multi-stage experience includes the likes of Dillon Francis, Flosstradamus, Kaskade, Tiësto, Rusko and more.

  • Music
  • Music festivals
  • Indio

Nearly 125,000 music lovers make a pilgrimage to the Empire Polo Club during each identical weekend of Coachella, whether bound for campgrounds or shuttling over from golf resorts and midcentury modern homes. Though its bespoke dining experiences and hotel party scene may try to steal headlines, Coachella remains about the relaxed desert air euophoria of a well-curated music festival. Coachella’s all-embracing three-day lineup—topped this year by No Doubt, Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat and Tyler, the Creator—consistently crafts the pool of performers from which all other summer music festivals borrow.

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  • Music
  • Indio

Strap on your cowboy hat and make the pilgrimage to country music’s biggest jamboree, taking up residence at Coachella’s digs, the Empire Polo Club. Stagecoach is coming back for a three-day fest; expect the usual mix of contemporary and classic country. Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Morgan Wallen headline the 2024 edition, with additional sets from Jelly Roll, Elle King, Post Malone, Willie Nelson and more.

  • Music
  • Music festivals
  • Redondo Beach

This surf-inflected music fest will once again take over the Redondo Beach coastline for three days in May. Sting, Incubus, My Morning Jacket, Dirty Heads, Seal, Devo, Local Natives, Santigold, Fleet Foxes, Courtney Barnett and Trey Anastasio top this year’s lineup.

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  • Music
  • Rap, hip-hop and R&B

If you grew up around the turn of the millennium, this hip-hop–focused music fest in Las Vegas is like your middle school dance playlist come to life. Lovers & Friends features seemingly every hip-hop and R&B star from the late ’90s and early aughts, including Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Usher, Ludacris, Nelly, Ciara, M.I.A., Ja Rule, Ashanti, TLC, Akon and Ne-Yo. Also, like last year’s edition (which featured Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera, among others) you’ll find a few turn-of-the-millennium boy bands and pop performers like the Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, Gwen Stefani and Nelly Furtado.

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  • Music festivals

Staged along the convention center side of San Diego’s downtown waterfront, the appropriately named Wonderfront includes sets from Kaytranada, JID, Weezer, Dominic Fike, Beck, Mt. Joy, the Roots, Carly Rae Jepsen, T-Pain, Polo & Pan and more. You’ll find Wonderfront from May 10 to 12 at Embarcadero Marina Park North, Seaport Village and Ruocco Park.

  • Music
  • Rock and indie
  • Pasadena

Cake on the eyeliner, cry it off and then dance away the tears at the return of this 1980s-to-aughts goth, new wave and punk fest with Duran Duran, Interpol, Blondie, Simple Minds, Placebo, Soft Cell, Adam Ant, Gary Numan and more. The one-day-only event features dozens of alt obsessions on the golf course next to the Rose Bowl, where it once again returns.

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  • Music
  • Music festivals

On the outskirts of town at the Motor Speedway, Electric Daisy Carnival is pure, condensed Vegas. There is a VIP Ferris wheel. Helicopters shuttle in high rollers. The 135,000-strong crowd is soaked in ecstasy and spray tan. Every millionaire DJ that plays the laser-riddled nightclubs on the Strip is here. EDC introduced EDM as a Day-Glo spectacle for the masses in America, and its lineups in recent years have certainly lived up to the hype (Tiësto, David Guetta, John Summit, FISHER, Kaskade, Diplo, Deadmau5, Peggy Gou play this year’s fest). Once you let the neon and bass wash over you, it is the time of your life.

  • Music
  • Music festivals
  • Desert

Make your way to the desert for the Joshua Tree Music Festival, a gathering of like-minded indie musicians who will be rocking out to a dance-world-electro-funk’n groove. The biannual festival is a four-day party with over 30 bands in a unique lineup of artists who aren’t necessarily household names. There’s free water to all patrons, minimal service charges on tickets and yoga classes aplenty.

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