While still in the midst of Austin’s busy spring festival season, we flip our calendars forward to late summer and pencil in a weekend out at Utopia Fest, which trumpeted an exciting music lineup this morning.
The annual camp-out hosts performances by increasingly elusive local mood muses Explosions in the Sky, slamgrassers Leftover Salmon, super producer RJD2, and experimental pop heroine Tune-Yards. Soul man Charles Bradley, who conjured deep moments at the Festival in 2012, returns to the desolate grounds of Utopia, which also sponsors Philly savants Man Man, durable art freaks Of Montreal, Houston breakouts ther Suffers, and blues and folk songstress Valerie June.
Though a three-hour drive separates Austin and the small hamlet of Utopia, the fest remains an Austin-centric event put on by locals and sufficiently stocked with homegrown artists. This year, that include Wild Child, Chipper Jones, Riders Against the Storm, Holiday Mountain, Sip Sip, Hard Proof, Calliope Musicals, and Sphynx.
An exercise in vibe cultivation, Utopia Fest breaks the mold with a capped attendance (around 2,000), no lines, no fences, no overlapping music, free camping, and BYOB. The seventh annual public gathering runs September 4-6 at the Four Sisters Ranch in Utopia. A limited batch of passes for $149 are available here, and bulk shoppers might jump on their Buy-5-Get-1-Free deal.
For a full lineup, map, and everything else you need to know about the Labor Day weekend outing, visit Utopia Fest’s website.
This article appears in April 24 • 2015.