Sad Summer Festival, which started in 2019 in the wake of Vans Warped Tour ending, is celebrating its 5 year anniversary this year. With headliners The Maine and Mayday Parade along with The Wonder Years, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, Daisy Grenade, and more, the seventeen day festival has dates ranging from coast to coast. And it’s happening right now.
If you haven’t been to a Sad Summer date yet, this is the year to do it. We attended the festival last year and had a great time. View our coverage here. Whether you are a 16 year old fan being pressed against the barricade for the first time or a 30-something enjoying a margarita in their VIP area, Sad Summer has you covered, especially during their 5 year anniversary celebration.
The Maine’s John O’Callaghan says, “A lot can change in four summers. And for me, a lot has. But a constant throughout the peaks and valleys of the last four summers has been my love for playing music loudly, seeing old faces and making new amigos. This marks the 5th anniversary of the Sad Summer Festival, and I couldn’t dream up a better place to rip gigs and see smiling people lose their heads. But the real question at hand is… Corn dogs or nah?”
Over the years, the touring festival has become a scene staple. Unlike most festivals that feature multiple stages and hundreds of bands each day, Sad Summer opted for one stage and a smaller curated lineup to eliminate any competition and allow exposure for smaller acts.
Sad Summer Fest takes pride in its work with nonprofits, on a national and local level. Each year, they choose nationwide partners that focus on a wide range of issues and causes as well as encouraging and providing table space to local nonprofits at each local date of the tour. Some of their current and past nonprofit partners include Reverb, Headcount, Calling All Crows, Sound Mind, Punk Rock Saves Lives, Keep A Breast, Our Music My Body, and The Ally Coalition.
Mayday Parade’s Alex Garcia says, “For most of my adult life, I’ve associated the summer with music festivals; their open-air venues, the mix of tour bus exhaust and heat radiating off asphalt, and, of course, hearing my favorite music at twilight, lit by the flicker of fireflies – Sad Summer epitomizes this experience. It also serves as a unifying force in our music scene, a place for every emo kid to gather around, connect with fellow fans, and truly be themselves. With this in mind, it is a deep honor to close Sad Summer; the music we’ve poured our hearts and souls into becoming an indelible part of those warm summer nights, where friends and memories are made.”
The touring festival is happening right now with dates until August 9. View the dates here.
ICYMI: The Maine just released a really cool new song called “Touch.” Take a listen below and be sure to catch them headlining this year at Sad Summer!
Knuckle Puck, Diva Bleach, and Mayday Parade are a few other bands playing that have had recent releases… the ‘We Don’t Talk About It’ EP from Diva Bleach is on repeat for us!
