Upcoming California music festivals

Find upcoming California music festivals with dates, camping availability, venue format, transportation, and practical planning details.

California has the deepest state-level festival inventory on Dryfters right now

Coastal events, Bay Area electronic weekends, Southern California festivals, desert gatherings and major campouts all share the same state but not the same travel plan.

Go deeper with California camping festivals or California electronic festivals.

Qualifying festivals in this collection

  • Joshua Tree Music Festival — Fall 2026 — 2026-10-08 · Joshua Tree Lake Campground · Joshua Tree, CA · camping · planning guide

    A four-night, three-day family-friendly desert campout combining live music with movement, mindfulness, playshops, Kidsville, and a deliberately intimate com…

  • Head Trip 2026 — 2026-10-10 · Empire Polo Club · Indio, CA · camping · planning guide

    Goldenvoice’s one-time-only two-day electronic music festival at Empire Polo Club in Indio, with a single-stage-focused lineup, onsite car camping, shuttles…

  • Escape Halloween 2026 — 2026-10-30 · NOS Events Center · San Bernardino, CA · planning guide

    Two-night Halloween electronic music festival at NOS Events Center with late-night afterparties.

  • Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival 2026 — 2026-11-14 · Dodger Stadium Grounds · Los Angeles, CA · planning guide

    Two-day all-ages music carnival at the Dodger Stadium grounds in Los Angeles.

  • Dreamstate SoCal 2026 — 2026-11-20 · Queen Mary Waterfront · Long Beach, CA · planning guide

    Two-night trance and electronic music gathering at the Queen Mary Waterfront in Long Beach.

  • Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2027 — 2027-04-09 · Empire Polo Club · Indio, CA · camping · planning guide

    Two-weekend destination music and arts festival in Indio with multiple camping tiers, shuttles and large-scale art.

  • Stagecoach Festival 2027 — 2027-04-23 · Empire Polo Club · Indio, CA · camping · planning guide

    Three-day country music festival with a large onsite campground ecosystem at Empire Polo Club.

  • Strawberry Music Festival — Spring 2027 — 2027-05-27 · Nevada County Fairgrounds · Grass Valley, CA · camping · planning guide

    Long-running family-friendly California music campout built around a close-knit community ethos and programming for all ages.

  • Comic-Con 2027 — 2027-07-22 · San Diego Convention Center · San Diego, CA · planning guide

    Comic-Con returns to the San Diego Convention Center July 22–25, 2027, with Preview Night July 21 and programming across comics, film, television, gaming, ar…

Planning intelligence for this festival collection

5 events currently list camping; 4 explicitly list no onsite camping. 5 publish train, bus, ferry, transit, or shuttle language in current transport notes. 5 track at least one participation path such as vendor, volunteer, staff, media, artist, or sponsor.

Transit and shuttle signals

  • Head Trip 2026 — Day parking is free. Preferred parking, Any Time/Any Line shuttles and scheduled shuttles are also sold. Hotel packages bundle lodging with festival and shut…
  • Escape Halloween 2026 — Free general parking is spread across multiple event lots; premier and accessible parking open earlier. City shuttles are sold separately. Street parking is…
  • Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival 2026 — Complimentary shuttles run between Union Station and Dodger Stadium, roughly every 15–20 minutes. Limited festival parking is sold separately; there is no ov…
  • Dreamstate SoCal 2026 — There is no onsite festival parking. Free continuous shuttles run from the Long Beach Convention Center area from 3 PM–7 AM; rideshare and downtown parking f…
  • Stagecoach Festival 2027 — Empire Polo Club is at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio. Free day parking is first-come, first-served; paid preferred parking and valley shuttles are available. Day…

Participation paths tracked

Same-date conflicts

Back-to-back same-state possibilities

These are calendar pairings, not travel-time recommendations.