5 Food-and-Music Fests We're Looking Forward to This Summer

The chef-as-rock-star trend may have played itself out, but here’s a new spin: star chefs plus music icons. And no, they aren’t just sizing up each others’ tattoos. At a handful of events from coast to coast, our country’s top toques are catering alongside the most anticipated stage shows of the summer. Below, a few that we’re especially excited about.

The Great GoogaMooga (May 19-20, Brooklyn)

New York’s first food-and-music fest makes its debut in a big way, with 73 chefs (including David Chang, April Bloomfield, Marcus Samuelsson, and Daniel Boulud) and 150+ wineries all aboard. As for music, expect The Roots, Hall & Oates, and Preservation Jazz Hall Band. And the best part? It’s free to enter and open to the public—though you may want to splurge on ExtraMooga, with culinary demos and tastings by industry greats like Ruth Riechl and Anthony Bourdain.

Bonnaroo (June 7-10, Nashville)

Last year’s "Food Truck Oasis," which saw trucks come in from as far as Miami, is making an amped up comeback—and we’ve heard murmurings of contributions from New York’s own M. Wells and Blue Ribbon. Musical acts will include Radiohead, Phish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Foster the People—an unsurprisingly top-notch lineup for this legendary summer event.

Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival (July 22, Atlanta)

At JCT Kitchen’s fourth-annual event benefiting Georgia Organics, the chefs do take the stage with their guitars. But so do The Spazmatics—a local favorite known for their amusing takes on 80’s covers. The main event sees the Southeast’s best chefs—Hugh Acheson, Kevin Rathbun, Jay Swift, and Ford Fry, to name a few—go head to head in a tomato-centric cook-off that’ll feed 1,400 local foodies.

Lollapallooza (August 3-5, Chicago)

You know to expect great music at Lollapallooza—and this year’s no different, with Florence + The Machine, The Shins, Black Sabbath, and Jack White all on board. Graham Elliot has signed on to organize the culinary efforts for a second year, and though details haven’t yet been released, we’re happy with the promise of Grahamwich sandwiches and pulled pork from Smoke Daddy. And that’s before chef Elliot teases us with his official lineup.

Outside Lands (August 10-12, San Francisco)

30 winemakers will be joining 55 chefs and restaurants from the Bay Area—including Flour +Water, Pacific Catch, 4505 Meats, and American Grilled Cheese Kitchen. But they’ll have to share the spotlight with an equally impressive musical lineup that runs the gamut from Stevie Wonder to Skrillex.

Nikki Goldstein is an editorial assistant at Travel + Leisure.