More than 32 million Americans attend at least one festival each year, according to Billboard. That’s more than the total population of Texas, and those numbers are on the rise.
With so many events to choose from (and ticket prices in the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for some festivals), it can be hard to decide where to spend your time and money. That’s why 10Best teamed up with a panel of festival experts to nominate the top events across six categories: music, general food, specialty food, film, cultural and emerging (founded in the past five years).
We need you to help crown the best fests in North America by voting for your favorites once per day until voting ends on Monday, March 2 at noon ET. You can vote once per category, per day.
Click on each category below to vote:
Best Cultural Festival
Cultural festivals range from artsy to irreverent — Photo courtesy of iStock / Oleg Elkov
Raucous or restrained, artistic or irreverent, our 20 nominees for Best Cultural Festival are each travel-worthy in their own right. And each offers the chance to broaden horizons, try new things and connect with others from around the continent and the world.
Vote: Best Cultural Festival »
Best Emerging Festival
New festivals are popping up all the time – which is the best? — Photo courtesy of iStock / bernardbodo
Each year, more and more festivals join the calendar across North America. From music festivals to food festivals, these 20 events represent some of the most promising to emerge in the last five years.
Vote: Best Emerging Festival »
Best Film Festival
These festivals celebrate the art of cinema — Photo courtesy of iStock / AlexanderLipko
Move over Cannes! The film festival circuit in North America is packed with fantastic events, from heavy hitters like Sundance to up-and-comers screening tomorrow’s biggest names in cinema.
Best General Food Festival
Treat your taste buds to one of these top food festivals — Photo courtesy of iStock / Aleksandr_Vorobev
Mouthwatering tastings, live cooking demos, beautiful venues, celebrity chefs and sommelier-paired wine lists – these 20 North American food festivals each offer a totally travel-worthy epicurean adventure.
Vote: Best General Food Festival »
Best Music Festival
Where do you go to feel the rhythm? — Photo courtesy of iStock / skynesher
As temperatures begin to creep up, music festival season is fast approaching, and each year, more and more events are joining the lineup, expanding and diversifying the music festival circuit in North America. Our panel of music festival aficionados has hand-picked 20 essential festivals from coast to coast where music fans can see dozens of artists in one place.
Best Specialty Food Festival
Celebrate your favorite foods at these specialty festivals — Photo courtesy of iStock / Aleksandr_Vorobev
These 20 festivals across North America celebrate specific foods – often local specialties grown or produced in the region.
Vote: Best Specialty Food Festival »
Remember, you can vote once per day in each category. The 10 nominees with the most votes in each category will be announced on 10Best.com on Friday, March 13.