Every year, colleges across the country host huge music festivals for their students. Typically occurring at the end of the academic year, they give students an opportunity to let loose before they leave campus. Sure, they are no Coachella or Lollapalooza, but many of these festivals host some of the biggest acts in the country.<\/p>\n
Here are a few of the best college music festivals.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ivies Weekend<\/a> is a 157-year-old Bowdoin tradition. Beginning all the way back in 1865, students celebrated the first \u201cIvy Day\u201d by planting an ivy outside the College Chapel. The event also included a public address and the reading of a poem inside the chapel. Over the years, Ivy Day grew into a cherished tradition and, ultimately, into one of the major social events at the college. The college began hosting live music for Ivy Day in 1928. In its early years, Ivy Day featured some of the legends of jazz, including Duke Ellington (1928, 1932), Louis Armstrong (1936, 1967) and Miles Davis (1963). As Ivy Day changed with the passing generations, the festival developed into a full Ivies Weekend of celebrations, and continues to host some of the biggest names in popular music.<\/p>\n Spring Fling<\/a>, which is billed as the largest college music festival on the East Coast, attracts over 10,000 attendees every year for free food and music throughout the day and into the night. The event was hosted in the university Quad until just 2018, when it was moved to Penn Park\u2019s South Field in an effort to increase turnout. In the festival\u2019s 45-year history, it has featured everyone from Wyclef Jean to Sonic Youth. The most recent edition, which took on a \u201cthrowback\u201d theme, brought in the All-American Rejects to perform some pop punk hits from the early 2000s.<\/p>\n Every spring, Ohio University students celebrate the changing of the seasons with weekly block parties. Each weekend, one of the major streets in Athens hosts a \u201cfest,\u201d culminating in #Fest<\/a>, a music festival that takes place on a big plot of farmland off campus. The festival has included some big names in recent years. The most recent was headlined by EDM artist Marshmello and Lil Uzi Vert.<\/p>\n UMD\u2019s Art Attack<\/a> first occurred in 1985, featuring both student and contracted musicians, who performed in the UMD McKeldin Library. Over the years, it has featured legends like the Fugees, the Beastie Boys and funk icon George Clinton. The 2018 edition was headlined by Lil Yachty and Vince Staples. In 2018, Art Attack also hosted a Battle of the Bands event, which allowed six student acts to compete for an opening slot at the concert.<\/p>\n For the past three decades, UCLA has been hosting JazzReggae Fest<\/a>. The festival stands out for its focus on genres that are generally underrepresented in college music festivals. The festival primarily stages artists that are outside of the mainstream, but it has also hosted some of the biggest names in jazz and reggae, including Erykah Badu, the Roots and Damian Marley. JazzReggae Fest also showcases visual artists from the greater Los Angeles area, some of whom perform live painting. JazzReggae Fest is also notable for its commitment to sustainability; as a result, it was named one of the top four most sustainable music festivals by VH1 and DoSomething.org.<\/p>\n Named after the Sun God<\/i> statue located on the UCSD campus, the Sun God Festival<\/a> has occurred every spring since 1990. Over the years, the festival has hosted a who\u2019s who of artists spanning multiple genres. It has included the likes of N*E<\/a>*R*D<\/a>, Diplo, Roy Woods, Silversun Pickups, Damian Marley, and countless others. The festival\u2019s most recent edition also gave student performers the opportunity to perform. Every year, the Sun God Festival also organizes a program to help the local San Diego community. In 2018, the festival collaborated with the Triton Food Pantry to organize the first ever Sun God For A Cause<\/a> Food Drive.<\/p>\n Probably the most unique college festival out there, Crawfest<\/a> is a cross between a music festival and an old-fashioned cajun crawfish boil. Every year, the festival, which is open to community members as well as students, brings over 20,000 pounds of crawfish and thousands of pounds of veggies to Tulane\u2019s Uptown Campus. While Crawfest may not attract the blockbuster names that some of the other fests on this list do, there are two stages of live music featuring national and local acts. In 2018, the festival was headlined by the jam band Papadosio, the Baha Men (of \u201cWho Let the Dogs Out\u201d fame), and Brooklyn-based funk-electronic duo Brasstracks. For Tulane students and children under 12, the festival and bottomless crawfish are completely free.<\/p>\n Every year in the heart of Music City, Nashville residents coordinate with Vanderbilt University students to put together Rites of Spring<\/a>. The yearly festival began in the 1970s as a part of an \u201copen campus\u201d initiative to integrate the university with the local community. As a result, it is open to both Vanderbilt students and the Nashville public. The festival typically features local Nashville musicians, some small acts from around the country, and a couple of big name artists. In 2018, the festival was headlined by Gucci Mane. In previous years, Rites of Spring featured the Red Hot Chili Peppers (all the way back in 1989), Phoenix, Spoon, Drake, the Flaming Lips and others.<\/p>\n 10. Ivies Weekend — Bowdoin College<\/b><\/h2>\n
9. Spring Fling — University of Pennsylvania<\/b><\/h2>\n
8. #Fest — Ohio University<\/b><\/h2>\n
7. Art Attack — University of Maryland<\/b><\/h2>\n
6. JazzReggae Fest — University of California, Los Angeles<\/b><\/h2>\n
5. Sun God Festival — University of California, San Diego<\/b><\/h2>\n
4. Crawfest — Tulane University<\/b><\/h2>\n
3. Rites of Spring — Vanderbilt University<\/b><\/h2>\n
2. Slope Day — Cornell University<\/b><\/h2>\n