Top Boston Music Festivals For 2023

After a successful premiere last year, the two-day Sound On Sound music festival returns for its second year at Seaside Park, with a reconfigured site layout in response to feedback from the inaugural event. Year two’s lineup includes Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Maye, Alanis Morissette, Trey Anastasio Band, Hozier, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lord Huron, Dispatch, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Mt. Joy, Steel Pulse, Joy Oladokun, Margo Price and more.

The two-day Northlands Music & Arts Festival returns for its second year at New Hampshire’s Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey. The second edition lineup features The String Cheese Incident, Mike Gordon, Twiddle, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Orebolo, among many others.

Circus of the Dead will bring together Dead music cover groups, other diverse bands and DJs to the Washington County Fairgrounds. Gather for three days for performances by Zach Nugent, Sunshine Becker, Roots of Creation, Jen Durkin, Steal Your Funk, Sam Kininger, Bearly Dead, The Englishtown Project, Shred Is Dead and Marcus Rezak, plus more.

The 2023 Mystic River Jam takes over the Mystic Shipyard for two days of music. The lineup consists of Mystic Dead performing both nights, along with The TroubleMakers, Wooly Mammoth, The Pneumatics, American Nomads, Glaucoma Suspect, Subliminals and Chris MacKay and the Toneshifters.

The Green River Festival returns to the Franklin County Fairgrounds. Performers set to appear at this year’s three-day event include Little Feat, The Wood Brothers, St. Paul and The Broken Bones and Sierra Ferrell, as well as Sammy Rae & The Friends, Cory Wong, Rubblebucket, The Felice Brothers, Thee Sacred Souls, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Eilen Jewell and more.

Escape with Kygo to the Palm Tree Music Festival The Hamptons. The tropical-inspired, single-day event being held at the Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach will also see performances by Calvin Harris, Loud Luxury, Sam Feldt and Chantel Jeffries.

The 2023 Rose Arts Festival promises a free weekend’s worth of music packed into a single day. Ripe, Consider the Source, Sophistafunk, Hayley Jane, The Alchemystics, Ward Hayden, Dave Gutter and Taylor Kelly are just a few of the artists headed to Chelsea Parade.

Levitate Music & Arts Festival returns to the Marshfield Fairgrounds for another music-filled three days. Day 1 features Stick Figure, Ripe, Lucius, The California Honeydrops and Collie Buddz. Day 2 has Trey Anastasio Band, Goose, Peach Pit, Celisse, The Elovaters and G. Love & Special Sauce. And Day 3 includes Brandi Carlile, Rebelution, Ziggy Marley, Shakey Graves and Larkin Poe, plus many additional performers.

Make the trek out to Magic Mountain Ski Resort for the 2023 Dead of Summer Music Festival. Spanning two-days, catch performances by Melvin Seals & JGB, Pink Talking Fish, Steely Dead, Bella’s Bartok, Hayley Jane, Dead Man’s Waltz, Damn The Torpedoes – A Tribute To Tom Petty, Deadgrass, Bearly Dead and more.

Rye Bread Music & Arts Festival takes place at Schaghticoke Fairgrounds and coincides with the 50th anniversary of the legendary Watkins Glen Summer Jam. Participants include Duane Betts, North Mississippi Allstars, Oteil Burbridge & Friends, Cool Cool Cool, lespecial, Dogs In A Pile, Couch, DJ Logic & Friends, Brown Eyed Women, Talkpeck Soundsystem, Baked Shrimp and The Seapods, among others.

The storied Newport Folk Festival returns to the picturesque Fort Adams State Park. The three-day event features a typically impressive and diverse lineup including My Morning Jacket, Maggie Rogers, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Goose, Billy Strings, Lana Del Rey, Nickel Creek, Caamp, Mdou Moctar and many more.

SoulFest, billed as “New England’s Christian Music Festival,” celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Moving to a new location at the Topsfield Fairgrounds, SoulFest 2023 will see performances by We The Kingdom, Tauren Wells, Matt Maher, Cory Asbury, Jordan Feliz, Blanca, Jason Upton, KB, Social Club Misfits, Katy Nichole, Ben Fuller, Five Iron Frenzy, Project 86, Blessing Offor and Coy Ro, plus several others.

The famed Newport Jazz Festival is back for three days at the scenic Fort Adams State Park. The impressive lineup features Herbie Hancock, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Kamasi Washington, John Scofield, Jon Batiste, Diana Krall, Thundercat, Charlie Hunter, Christian McBride, Jennifer Hartswick, Julian Lage, Big Gigantic, Nate Smith, The War and Treaty, Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily, Samara Joy, The Soul Rebels, Rakim, Talib Kweli, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau and more.

Guster’s On The Ocean expands to three days this year in Portland, Maine. In addition to performances by Guster, others on the lineup include Shakey Graves, Bahamas, Madison Cunningham, Lucius, The Ballroom Thieves, Brooke Annibale and Oshima Brothers.

The Terptown Throwdown takes over The Spencer Fairgrounds for two days. Scheduled to perform at the music and arts festival are Pepper, The Movement, Tropidelic, Mike Love, Surfer Girl, Arise Roots and Green Lion Crew.

Head out to Hunter Park for the Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival. See top-line bluegrass pickers, Americana artists and others such as Sam Bush, Watchhouse, The Milk Carton Kids, Aoife O’Donovan, Mighty Poplar, Mipso, Peter Rowan, Sam Grisman Project, Foghorn Stringband, Tim O’Brien, Jan Fabricius, Cabinet, Caitlin Canty, Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, Town Mountain, Mr. Sun, Jake Blount, Taylor Ashton, Twisted Pine, Jordan Tice and Michael Daves, and more.

Head out to Dover Elks Fair Ground to Revel In The Meadow with a full day’s lineup of music. Dance along to performances by Stone Dead, The Seacoast, Last Waltz Band, Idlewild: A Celebration of the Allman Brothers Band, Truffle, Ashlyn Bard and Songs For The End Times

Expanding from one to two days, In Between Days returns to Veterans Memorial Stadium with headliners Modest Mouse and Lord Huron. Among the 24 acts playing at the expanded event include Phantogram, Trampled By Turtles, Sunny Day Real Estate, Cautious Clay, Yoke Lore, Blitzen Trapper, Allison Ponthier, Illiterate Light, Slothrust and Fantastic Cat.

Beach Road Weekend three-day music festival returns to the scenic Veterans Memorial Park on Martha’s Vineyard. The eclectic lineup features Bon Iver, Mumford & Sons, Patti Smith, Leon Bridges, Japanese Breakfast, Dispatch, Caamp, Gary Clark Jr., The Head And The Heart, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Kevin Morby, Cory Wong, , widdle and Neighbor, among others.

Wind down the end of summer at the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival. The four-day event at the beautiful Thomas Point Beach will host performances by The Infamous Stringdusters, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, The Dan Tyminski Band, The Seldom Scene, Gibson Brothers and Wyatt Ellis, among others.

Spend Labor Day Weekend at the three-day Rhythm & Roots Festival which takes place at Ninigret Park. The 2023 lineup features the likes of Greensky Bluegrass, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, JJ Grey & Mofro, Robert Cray Band, Dumpstaphunk, The Infamous Stringdusters, Son Little, Dustbowl Revival and more.

The Breakaway festival circuit comes to Boston’s The Stage at Suffolk Downs for two days of dance-driven music. Performing one of his final sets before taking an indefinite hiatus, GRiZ tops Breakway Boston‘s lineup, which also features Lane 8, Porter Robinson, Madeon, Tchami, Elderbrook, Knock2, Evan Giia, Forester, GASHI, Night Tales and Surf Mesa.

The long-running Wormtown Music Festival returns to Camp Kee-Wanee for the first time since 2019. The three-day event’s 2023 lineup features Neal Francis, The Motet, Max Creek, Ryan Montbleau Band, Cool Cool Cool, Bella’s Bartok, West End Blend, Hayley Jane, Sneezy, Creamery Station, DPR, Jabbawaukee, Desert Rain, Rebel Alliance and more.

FreshGrass will once again bring top bluegrass and progressive roots musicians to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams. Expect to see performances by Dropkick Murphys, Lukas Nelson + POTR, Sierra Ferrell, Rhiannon Giddens, The Devil Makes Three, Aoife O’Donovan, Allison Russell, Mighty Poplar, Alison Brown, Bombino, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Buffalo Nichols, Sunny War, Son Rompe Pera, Sam Grisman Project, Arkansauce and Michael Daves.