Welcome to The MFJ 50, our semi-scientific rundown of the hottest festivals on the site. This month we close out the first half of the epic 2012 festival season with 50 of our dearest friends. The big boys like Bonnaroo and Coachella are already on the books leaving room for some smaller festivals to finally get a crack at the list. So slip into something more comfortable and let’s dive into The 50.
1. CBGB Music Festival
2. Lollapalooza
3. 4 Knots Festival
4. Catalpa
5. Outside Lands
6. The Voodoo Music Experience
7. Hard Summer
8. Rock The Bells
9. Electric Zoo
10. Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival
11. Wanderlust California
12. Sunset Strip Music Festival
13. Nerdapalooza*
14. Electric Forest
15. Summerfest
16. The Governors Ball
17. Pitchfork Chicago
18. The Peach Music Festival
19. Camp Bisco
20. Wavefront
21. All Good
22. Wicker Park
23. Austin City Limits
24. Identity
25. Mayhem Festival
26. Fun Fun Fun Fest
27. Paradiso*
28. Bunbury Music Festival
29. Musikfest
30. Burning Man
31. High Sierra*
32. Woodist*
33. Forecastle*
34. North Coast
35. Riot Fest East
36. Gnarnia Festival*
37. iHeartRadio
38. Northside Festival Brooklyn*
39. Xponential Festival
40. Firefly*
41. Vans Warped Tour
41. Orion Music More
42. Barge to Hell*
43. DeLuna Fest*
44. Clearwater
45. Culture Collide*
46. Bonnaroo
47. Wanderlust Colorado
48. Spring Awakening
49. CounterPoint*
50. BamaJam
#1 Spot: Cue the triumphant anthem for a new top dog in The MFJ 50. This smaller first year festival in New York City boasts more buzz than a bumblebee, but don’t expect a long reign. The CBGB Festival debuts this July.
#7 Spot: HARD Events hosts a New Year’s Eve bash, a haunted mansion Halloween rave, and a EDM boat cruise, but what puts them on The MFJ 50 is this annual two-day electronic fest in Los Angeles.
#13 Spot: What do chiptunes, nerdcore hip hop, video game music and nerd rock all have in common? Nerdapalooza. The Nerdocalypse has begun — their words, not ours.
#18 Spot: Here’s a big mover. The Allman Brothers Peach Festival made its first appearance last month in the #46 spot. Festival fans have now shot The Peach up into the Top 20.
#26 Spot: Here’s another list-jumper from Texas. The funnest festival in Austin danced their way from the #48 spot up into the smack dab middle.
#30 Spot: Did you know there’s a Burning Man spinoff in Lithuania? The phenomena is spreading and we couldn’t be happier that the US is now exporting the bizzaro weirdness of Burning Man.
#35 Spot: Riot Fest announced a flurry of shows this month around the country so if you can’t make this Philadelphia show, there’s still plenty of opportunities to fill up on punk this summer.
#40 Spot: Firefly finally flies all up into the MFJ 50. With headliners like The Killers, Jack White, The Black Keys, and Death Cab for Cutie, we thought they would have been here sooner.
#45 Spot: The four day LA block party takes place in October and features indie rocker goodness from all over the world like Of Montreal, Junip, Clinic, and Penguin Prison.
