Major Music Festivals October–December 2026 (U.S. Guide)

Summer may get most of the attention, but festival season doesn’t pack up when September ends. Q4 shifts the whole thing into a different gear — desert campouts, Halloween weekends, destination festivals, and a run of events that can carry you to the holidays.

Below is our curated, chronological guide to the major U.S. music festivals happening October through December 2026 — confirmed, current, and worth having on your radar.

All dates, lineups, and details below are accurate as of publishing and are subject to change. Always check the official festival website before booking travel or making final plans.

October 2026

Aftershock

October 1–4, 2026 | Discovery Park, Sacramento, CA

October comes out swinging. Aftershock is the West Coast’s massive four-day rock, punk and metal weekend, taking over Discovery Park with more than 100 bands and enough heavy music to make this feel less like the start of fall and more like one last full-volume summer blowout.

Confirmed artists (selection): My Chemical Romance, Tool, Limp Bizkit, Queens of the Stone Age, The Offspring, Wu-Tang Clan, Sublime, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Stone Temple Pilots.

Austin City Limits Music Festival

October 2–4 & October 9–11, 2026 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

Two weekends, one enormous Austin tradition. ACL takes over Zilker Park with more than 100 performances and a lineup that jumps comfortably between pop, rock, electronic and everything in between. Weekend One and Weekend Two overlap heavily, but each has a few exclusives — so check the schedule before choosing your weekend.

Confirmed artists (selection): Charli XCX, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Twenty One Pilots, Lorde, The xx, Skrillex (Weekend 1), Kings of Leon (Weekend 2), Turnstile, Labrinth, The Chainsmokers, Parcels, The War on Drugs.

Poolside Vibes

October 10–11, 2026 | Sandbar Pool at Red Rock Resort, Las Vegas, NV

This one is going straight onto the Pink Bear calendar because I’ll actually be there. Poolside Vibes brings two nights of reggae and SoCal sound to the Sandbar Pool at Red Rock Resort — basically a poolside weekend built around bands that already live heavily in the Pink Bears Closet world.

Saturday belongs to Dirty Heads, The Hip Abduction and Tropidelic, while Sunday brings Slightly Stoopid, The Elovaters and DENM. Eli-Mac joins both days for a special performance. Doors open at 5 PM with music beginning at 6 PM.

Confirmed artists: Slightly Stoopid, Dirty Heads, The Elovaters, The Hip Abduction, DENM, Tropidelic and Eli-Mac.

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III Points

October 16–17, 2026 | Mana Wynwood, Miami, FL

Miami gets weird in the best possible way at III Points. The sprawling Wynwood festival sits at the intersection of electronic music, live acts, underground club culture and visual art, with late-night energy baked into the entire experience.

Confirmed artists (selection): Four Tet, Underworld, Blood Orange, Charlotte de Witte, Adam Port, Kelela, Lil’ Kim, PAWSA, Parcels, KI/KI.

Mission Bayfest

October 16–18, 2026 | Mariner’s Point Park, San Diego, CA

Now we’re on home turf. Mission Bayfest plants three days of reggae, rock and SoCal sound right on Mission Bay at Mariner’s Point — water all around you, grass underfoot, and a lineup that looks like somebody spent a lot of time inside my playlists.

For Pink Bears Closet, this one is about as natural a fit as it gets, and we’ll be there too.

Confirmed artists (selection): Rebelution, Kolohe Kai, The Offspring, Steel Pulse, The Movement, Common Kings, SOJA, The Interrupters, Goldfinger, The Expendables, Surfer Girl, Joe Samba.

Hulaween

October 22–25, 2026 | Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, Live Oak, FL

Hulaween has always lived in its own universe — part jam festival, part electronic playground, part Halloween fever dream, all buried in the woods at Spirit of the Suwannee. Four days of camping, art and music make this one of the most immersive weekends left on the U.S. calendar.

Confirmed artists (selection): The String Cheese Incident, Pretty Lights, My Morning Jacket, Excision, STS9, Warren Haynes, Lettuce, Green Velvet, Of The Trees, Big Gigantic and Gramatik.

Escape Halloween

October 30–31, 2026 | NOS Events Center, San Bernardino, CA

If Halloween means lasers instead of campfires, Escape is the SoCal answer. Insomniac’s two-night Psycho Circus takes over NOS Events Center with more than 80 artists, six stages and an entire world built around costumes, dark carnival energy and after-hours dance music.

Confirmed artists (selection): Zedd, Ice Cube, Excision, Richie Hawtin, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Galantis, Steve Aoki, Benny Benassi, Alok, Nina Kraviz

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November 2026

EDC Orlando

November 6–8, 2026 | Tinker Field, Orlando, FL

Three days under the Electric Sky, Florida edition. EDC Orlando brings the full Insomniac world to Tinker Field — giant stages, art, rides, bass, house, techno and enough glow to make daylight seem optional.

Confirmed artists (selection): David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Hardwell, Alesso, Kaskade, Steve Aoki, Alison Wonderland, Afrojack, TroyBoi, SLANDER, Meduza.

Beyond Existence

November 6–8, 2026 | Valkyrie Ranch, Paige, TX

For anyone who likes their festival experience a little smaller, stranger and more immersive, Beyond Existence belongs on the radar. This independently owned Texas gathering is built around bass music, community and creativity — two stages, serious sound systems, lasers, art, workshops, local vendors and the kind of atmosphere that feels much more personal than a giant mega-fest.

Confirmed artists (selection): Mersiv, Caspa, The Widdler, Taiki Nulight, Jaenga, Lumasi, Phrva, Ashez, Chef Boyarbeatz and G-Space.

Seismic Dance Event

November 13–15, 2026 | The Concourse Project, Austin, TX

Smaller footprint, serious booking. Seismic is Austin’s boutique house-and-techno weekend, built specifically for people who would rather have a focused underground lineup than another giant everything-for-everybody festival.

Confirmed artists (selection): Above & Beyond, Porter Robinson, Sara Landry, SG Lewis, KI/KI, Chris Lorenzo, Max Styler, Layton Giordani, horsegiirL.

DUSK Music Festival

November 13–14, 2026 | Jácome Plaza, Tucson, AZ

DUSK feels like a natural Pink Bear pick — music, art, food and culture dropped right into the heart of downtown Tucson. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2026, the festival brings more than 40 performances across multiple stages along with large-scale art, Tucson food experiences, local vendors and plenty happening beyond the music itself.

Confirmed artists (selection): BigXthaPlug, Knock2, Fetty Wap, horsegiirL, Phantogram, 54 Ultra, HOL!, Ship Wrek, Sudan Archives and The Aces.

Darker Waves

November 14, 2026 | Huntington Beach City Beach, Huntington Beach, CA

One day, one beach, and a lineup that lands squarely in the punk, new wave and alternative side of the Pink Bears Closet world. Darker Waves brings a deep mix of classic and modern acts to Huntington Beach for a full day on the sand — proof that a festival doesn’t need to run all weekend to earn a spot on the calendar.

Confirmed artists (selection): Morrissey, The Smashing Pumpkins, Simple Minds, Bad Religion, Adam Ant, The Psychedelic Furs, Soft Cell, The Damned, Gary Numan, Buzzcocks, Circle Jerks and Marky Ramone.

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December 2026

December may be lighter on the festival calendar, but there are still a couple of strong weekends worth traveling for — especially if your taste runs toward bass or the heavier side of the Pink Bear playlist.

Cyclops Cove 4

December 4–6, 2026 | Sunset Cove Amphitheatre, Boca Raton, FL

Bass music takes over the waterfront for three days when Subtronics brings Cyclops Cove back to Boca Raton. Presented with Bassrush, this is an 18+ weekend built around dubstep, bass and some seriously heavy production — a destination festival for anyone who likes their December warm and their sound systems anything but subtle. The event is officially confirmed for all three days at Sunset Cove Amphitheatre.

Confirmed artists (selection): Subtronics, RL Grime, Seven Lions, Peekaboo, TroyBoi, Crankdat, Hedex, ALLEYCVT, Level Up, Taiki Nulight, Ravenscoon and Getter.

Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Denver

December 4–5, 2026 | Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO

For the heavier side of the calendar, Decibel Magazine brings its Metal & Beer Fest back to Denver for two nights at the Fillmore. This one leans unapologetically into metal, hardcore, doom and thrash — pairing the music with a national lineup of independent breweries and meaderies. It gives the Q4 guide a welcome hard-rock/metal edge instead of letting December become entirely electronic.

Confirmed artists: Suicidal Tendencies, Down, Pig Destroyer, Cro-Mags, Kylesa, Wayfarer, Black Breath, Intronaut, Haggus and In the Company of Serpents.

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Plan Your Festival Season

Fall and winter festivals take a different kind of planning than summer. Desert temperatures swing, Halloween weekends mean costumes and night gear, and destination events can turn into full travel days before you ever reach the gate.

Once your dates are locked, get the practical stuff handled early — hydration, portable power, weather backup, concert-bag essentials, long-day comfort and whatever your particular weekend is going to throw at you.

And before you pack, run through the destination festival packing list →

Give yourself at least 10 days before your festival to get everything in place. Shipping and last-minute scrambling take the fun out of it fast — handle it early, then go enjoy the music the way it’s meant to be enjoyed.

Shop Festival Essentials → all your festival needs, in one soulful shop.

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