The Biggest Music Festivals in the World [Updated For 2024]

By MFW Staff / March 28, 2024

It’s loud. It’s messy. It’s Lollapalooza. You got to hand it to Perry Farrell, the bizarre and quirky visionary who reinvented the American music festival with Lollapalooza, first taking it on the road in the last century and then putting down stakes in Chicago. Despite a firm homebase in the Windy City, Lolla hasn’t forgotten its traveling roots with editions in South America and Europe.

The Electric Daisy Carnival brings all the glitter and glam of Las Vegas to this three-day celebration of electronic music. Now a worldwide phenomenon, there's no place like home for the flagship version of EDC, which shows off hundreds of performers set to the backdrop of a full-sized carnival.

The festival formerly known as Przystanek Woodstock has transformed once again into Pol'and'Rock! One of the largest free music festivals in the world, this Polish institution has been rocking out for twenty-five years. It's one of the most unique events on the European fest calendar and well worth the trip.

Named after the venerable PBS series, the Austin City Limits Festival heads into its second decade stronger than ever. The traditional lineup announcement leads to a flurry of praise and criticism from the hip kids, but the love for this festival is so strong that ACL added a second weekend and continues to sell out.

Welcome to the Island of Freedom! Every August thousands of festival fans around Europe descend on Budapest for one of the most unique festivals in Europe. Cross the bridge from downtown onto a 250+ acre idyllic island for a week-long celebration with artists from around the world. Need a break? Head into Budapest and explore the city.

The Dutch capital of Amsterdam goes off in mid-October when ADE comes to town. 300 parties, 80 venues, and 2000 DJs makes this the electronic event of the season. Amsterdam Dance Event began life as a conference back in 1996 and the daytime events are stuffed with industry professionals and panels. At night, the showcase festival moves into the wild clubs and stages of Amsterdam for non-stop entertainment.

Officially billed in the Guinness Book of World Records as The World's Largest Music Festival, this lakeside festival lasts for a staggering three-weekend stretch and entertains nearly a million fans. Taking place along the shores of Lake Michigan right in downtown Milwaukee, this massive festival is also one of the most budget friendly music events of the summer.

When you have a festival that stretches over two weekends, it's going to have a massive lineup, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival is no exception. With 12 stages of music and an alumni list that stretches past 22,000 performers since 1970, Jazz Fest has hosted some of the greatest artists of the last half century.

Known as 'the party with a purpose.' Essence Music Festival got its start in 1995, celebrating the 25th anniversary of its namesake magazine Essence. Taking place in the heart of New Orleans, attendees can choose to purchase tickets for the series of concerts at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome or partake in the free daytime activities around the city.

One of the top electronic music festivals in the world, Tomorrowland in Belgium should be on the bucket list of every festie. It's known for epic stage production along with its insane fireworks displays, and is one of the few festivals in Europe so popular that they hold two editions over two consecutive weekends.

Welcome to the City of Rock. The biannual Rock in Rio is Brazil's signature mega-festival with two weekends of massive artists from around the world.

Like a barometer always reading a temperature of awesome, the traditional kickoff to the summer festival season is dominated by Coachella. The glitz and glamour of Los Angeles migrates east to the Indio desert for back to back weekends of the biggest names in music. What started as a small electronic festival in the desert has transformed into a cultural touchstone for the festival season.

The Donauinselfest has become one of the largest open-air festivals in Europe and each year attracts visitors from around the world. Performances take place on the festival area at a length of 4.5 km on numerous open-air stages and tented areas around the island.

It's a jazz festival in Montreal!

For those of you seeking a music festival and a taste of old world charm, check out the mammoth Quebec City Summer Festival. Stretching for an astounding eleven days, historic Quebec City is overrun by an astounding 1.5 million fans. There’s plenty of other activities happening in Canada’s French-iest city. As they say on their website: “During the Festival, the whole city is celebrating!”