The northeast is a hotbed of summer music festivals. The following pitch-perfect events are all easy to reach without a car, so there\u2019s nothing stopping you from enhancing your season with the sound of music. You\u2019ll find a medley of musical styles performed in outdoor settings that range from urban to majestic.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Dominion Riverrock The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Governors Ball<\/a> The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Clearwater\u2019s Great Hudson River Revival<\/a> The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Tanglewood The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Festival International De Jazz De Montreal The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Bar Harbor Music Festival<\/a> The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Newport Folk Festival<\/a> The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>Newport Jazz Festival<\/a> The Festival:\u00a0<\/strong>The Wassaic Project Summer Festival<\/a> Photo Credits: Forest Woodward, Hilary Scott, Jean-Francois LeBlanc and\u00a0Ayano Hisa<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The northeast is a hotbed of summer music festivals. The following pitch-perfect events are all easy to reach without a car, so there\u2019s nothing stopping you from enhancing your season with the sound of music. You\u2019ll find a medley of musical styles performed in outdoor settings that range from urban to majestic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":50904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1508,783,761,884,749,747,829,776,770,1038,969,364,322,389,842,325,917,1614,781,778,353,930,748,480],"tags":[116,40,293,143,81,280,483,120,306,142,125,254,130,299,36,20,133,65,269,204,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-50835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-amtrak-getaways","8":"category-barbecue-food-drink","9":"category-beer-activity-2","10":"category-berkshires","11":"category-boat-2","12":"category-bus-2","13":"category-culture-2","14":"category-farms-food-drink","15":"category-food-drink","16":"category-lenox","17":"category-locations","18":"category-maine","19":"category-massachussetts","20":"category-montreal","21":"category-music-culture-2","22":"category-new-york","23":"category-newport-rhode-island-2","24":"category-off-the-press","25":"category-outdoor-dining","26":"category-picnic-food-drink","27":"category-rhode-island","28":"category-richmond","29":"category-train-2","30":"category-virginia","31":"tag-amtrak","32":"tag-art","33":"tag-budget-friendly","34":"tag-bus","35":"tag-concerts","36":"tag-cultural-getaway","37":"tag-family-friendly","38":"tag-family-fun","39":"tag-farm","40":"tag-festival","41":"tag-food","42":"tag-free","43":"tag-green","44":"tag-locally-sourced","45":"tag-metro-north","46":"tag-music","47":"tag-outdoors","48":"tag-park","49":"tag-party","50":"tag-train","51":"tag-weekend-getaway"},"acf":[],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":50904,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/10154971_10153989296475361_3733983667444678832_n-e1431344289467-300x179.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhere:<\/strong> Richmond, Virginia
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>May 15-17, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>Dominion Riverrock\u00a0offers a spirited mix of music and sports against the waterfront backdrop of Richmond, where trail running, cycling and kayaking are just a few of the great outdoor activites on the lineup. An eclectic (and free) range of sounds, from reggae to rock, can be heard.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>Amtrak\u00a0from Penn Station to Richmond in six hours.<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Randall\u2019s Island Park, NYC
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>June 5-7, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>Governors Ball\u00a0is held on gritty Randall\u2019s Island in the East River. Musical genres include rock, electronic, hip-hop and indie. Chow down on delicious edibles from\u00a0Luke\u2019s Lobster<\/strong>,\u00a0Momofuku Milk Bar<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Southernmost Falafel<\/strong>. A silent disco, lawn games and other diversions will accompany the headline entertainment.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>The festival ferry departs from East 35 Street and the FDR Drive. The festival shuttle bus departs from Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. From the Upper East Side, walk or cycle across the East 103 street footbridge to the festival entrance, where you\u2019ll find bike racks.<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Croton-on-Hudson
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>June 20 and 21, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>Seven sustainably powered stages with music, family programming and environmental education are an unbeatable combination.\u00a0Clearwater\u00a0was inspired over 40 years ago by folk legend Pete Seeger\u2019s sustainable vision. In the years since, it has become a symbol of successful grassroots activism. All proceeds go towards protecting the Hudson River and the communities in the river valley.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>Metro-North\u2019s Hudson Line from Grand Central to Croton Harmon Station. Free shuttles will zip you to Croton Point Park.\u00a0 Clearwater prides itself on its commitment to accessibility and a wheel chair van shuttle runs all weekend. Check out Metro-North\u2019s\u00a0One-Day Getaway<\/a>\u00a0package.<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Lenox, MA
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>June 20 through Labor Day weekend, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>As the summer home of the renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra, photogenic\u00a0Tanglewood\u00a0is a music festival with finesse. Classical music may be at its foundation, but pop, rock and jazz are big players. James Taylor is a regular, and a bevy of current celebs (think Lady Gaga) get into the groove.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>Ride the\u00a0Peter Pan\u00a0bus from Port Authority to Lenox in just over three hours.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>When:\u00a0<\/strong>June 26-July 5, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>Get your passport ready and head north to this Canadian city with Gallic panache. Musicians from the worlds of jazz, R&B, soul, funk and more are scheduled.\u00a0Montreal Jazz\u00a0attendees can enjoy hundreds of activities, including street animation, buskers and family programming.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>Amtrak\u00a0from Penn Station to Montreal in nine hours.<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Bar Harbor, Maine
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>June 28-July 26, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>Bar Harbor Music Festival\u00a0brims with variety. From classical string orchestras and opera to bluegrass and jazz, there\u2019s something to suit a full menu of musical appetites. The concerts take place at venues scattered about this scenic coastal town, but the Blackwoods Campground Ampitheatre inside Acadia National Park is an especially spectacular setting.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>It takes ten hours to get to Bar Harbor by bus. See our\u00a0Boston Transportation Guide<\/a>\u00a0to get to Boston\u2019s South Station and transfer to\u00a0Concord Coach Lines<\/a>\u00a0to Bangor. From Bangor, reserve a seat on the\u00a0Bar Harbor Shuttle<\/a>.\u00a0Cape Air<\/a>\u00a0has short haul flights to Bar Harbor from Boston.<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Newport, Rhode Island
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>July 24-26, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>Newport Folk Festival\u00a0was the launch pad for numerous folk giants, including Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. The current lineup prides itself on blending tradition with innovation, so a wide range of musical omnivores should be satiated. The coastal setting is a bonus.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>See oM\u2019s\u00a0Providence Transportation Guide<\/a>. From Providence take RIPTA bus 60 to Newport. The journey clocks in at four hours.\u00a0A water shuttle will take you to the venue at Fort Adams State Park.<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Newport, Rhode Island
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>July 31-August 2, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>As the first outdoor music festival in the USA, prestigious\u00a0Newport Jazz\u00a0is recognized as a cornerstone for jazz in the United States. The vigorous annual lineup packs a punch, attracting enthusiasts from near and far. For a more comprehensive peak, read oM’s feature on\u00a0Newport Jazz<\/a>.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>Same as for Newport Folk Festival, see above.<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Dutchess County New York
\nWhen:\u00a0<\/strong>July 31-August 2, 2015
\nThe High Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>The Wassaic Project\u00a0is an ambitious celebration of music, art and dance is a weekend-long opportunity for artists and performers to collaborate in a rustic setting. Programming is cutting-edge yet family friendly. When hunger strikes, fresh eats prepared with ingredients from nearby farms will keep you satisfied. Admission is free.
\nThe Directions:\u00a0<\/strong>Take\u00a0Metro-North\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0Harlem Line to Wassaic Station. A free festival shuttle meets each train.<\/p>\n