The Warped Tour, one of the seminal traveling festivals of the United States and Canada, is calling it quits after its 2018 run. Kevin Lyman, who founded the festival back in 1995, posted a lengthy statement about life on the road and the impact of Warped Tour. Although 2018 will be the last official run of the Warped Tour, it sounds like there might some sort of event to commemorate the 25th anniversary in 2019.
Well before the current music festival bubble engulfed North America, Warped Tour was already out there with the idea that music lovers would show up to see dozens of bands over the course of one very long day. Blink-182, Sublime, L7, No Doubt, Pennywise, Social Distortion, NOFX, Bad Religion, The Descendants, Less Than Jake, Dropkick Murphy’s, The Bouncing Souls, Rancid, Flogging Molly, Anti-Flag and The Offspring were just a few of the bands that hit the road during those years.
The real legacy of Warped Tour is that while it hit all the major cities like New York and Chicago and Los Angeles, it often went to places that saw little live music, let alone a full festival, in cities like Scranton in Pennsylvania, Council Bluffs in Iowa, or Nampa in Idaho. And even more important, it led kids experience a music festival at an affordable ticket price.
The final journey for Warped Tour kicks off June 21, 2018, in California and will run until August 5, 2018.
Location: North American Tour
Year Started: 1995
Reason For Cancellation: Founder Kevin Lyman is calling it quits after nearly 25 years.
Chance of a Return: We think while the Warped Tour has a 0 out of 10 chance of returning, we wouldn’t be surprised to discover Kevin Lyman to pull a Lollapalooza type of move and put on a fixed festival.