Festival season is here, and whether you are craving a woodland escape, a sprawling arts extravaganza, or a beguiling electronic underworld, lovingly curated getaways abound to ensure your curiosity will be rewarded. Here, in chronological order, are our favorite destinations in North America and Europe—from the strange to the spectacular, the grand unifier to the cult maker.
Just Like Heaven
Pasadena, CA; May 13
Featuring: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, Fever Ray, Peaches, Azealia Banks
The mid-2000s time warp that is the Just Like Heaven festival returns for its third edition this year at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Future Islands, and MGMT (playing their era-defining 2007 debut, Oracular Spectacular, in full) leading the lineup. The 2023 edition features some curveballs—namely, Azealia Banks—and several acts with new material ready to play, including Fever Ray, M83, and Ladytron. But the true draw remains in Just Like Heaven’s strangely appealing nostalgia-core: where else are you seeing Peaches, the Walkmen, and Strfkr on the same day? –Eric Torres