Taking the kids: 16 summer festivals guaranteed to please

Music or food? Indoors or outdoors? Mountains, beaches or cities?

If you plan smartly, you can enjoy both at summer festivals all over the United States (and beyond) this summer. Not only can you find them closer to home, but many are free, so they won’t bust the budget.

Wherever you find yourself on vacation, see if a local festival, fair or outdoor concert is taking place. Make a festival the centerpiece of your vacation this summer whether you are celebrating music, food, culture, or all of them. Some last just a day or a weekend, others a week or longer.

All summer, there are free outdoor concerts in San Francisco’s parks and neighborhoods, including Golden Gate Park’s “Illuminate LIVE” concert series at the bandshell and the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.

This month, there are pride festivals across the country including Pride in Bloom on Saturday, June 21 at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. This year, there are family events during the day and an evening concert celebration for adults.

How about free pancakes and plenty of cowboys? Some 250,000 people converge in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the 10-day-long Cheyenne Frontier Days. (This year, it runs from July 18 to 27.) It’s the largest outdoor rodeo in the world and also includes a concert series, carnival, parade and vendors showcasing Western-themed items. Volunteers cook up tens of thousands of free pancakes three days during the festival (July 21, 23 and 25). Get there early! Breakfast starts being served at 7 a.m. but is over by 9 a.m.

If rodeos are your thing, there’s also the famous Calgary Stampede (July 4 to 13) in Canada with local volunteers hosting events across the city. Besides the rodeo, Grandstand Show, concerts, parade, midway, Kids’ Zone, kids and adults participating in agricultural competitions, there is also the Dog Bowl with a new Wild, Wild Woof! Show with local Calgary dogs showing off their tricks and funny moves.

The popular Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival starts June 20 and runs through Aug. 31. Did you know it is the Year of the Snake? There will be giant lighted sculptures with steel frames and wrapped in colorful silk, including the 200-foot-long dragon with brand-new giant lantern displays, more than 1,100 sculptures (take a trip through the enchanted forest). There will also be live stage performances, Asian cuisine, Philly Mini Golf, the Parx Liberty Carousel and the Franklin Square Fountain Show with daily performances every 30 minutes, starting at noon.

This summer, Martha’s Vineyard, the original location that famously became Amity Island, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the hit movie “Jaws”. To coincide with the film’s opening on June 20, 1975, National Geographic and Amblin Documentaries present the premiere of Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. Until Sep. 7, 2025, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum will exhibit memorabilia from the film’s production. The Jaws 50th Anniversary Events include outdoor fairs and public art installations, and even guided “Jaws” location tours.

July means the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan, (June 28 to July 5) complete with carnival rides, pie-eating contests and more.

Lobster lovers join locals in Portland for the Maine Lobster Festival (July 30 to Aug. 3). It started in 1947 as a way to revive pre-WWII summer festivals. There’s everything from a sea goddess coronation, a parade, 20,000 pounds of lobster, a seafood cooking contest, arts and crafts, a road race, dog show and the Great Crate Race. (Can you race across a string of floating wood lobster crates?)

Crested Butte, Colorado, is as famous for its wildflowers as its expert slopes and hosts an annual Wildflower Festival (this year July 11 to 20) complete with adventure photography workshops, “follow the bloom” walks, butterfly hikes and more. There’s nothing better than hiking amid the wildflowers.

Bonney Lake’s Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire brings together pirates, elves, fairies and knights just outside of Tacoma the first three weekends in August.

Lollapalooza takes over Chicago’s Grant Park for four days and nights of music July 31 to Aug. 3. A month later, the free Taste of Chicago, a Windy City tradition, will also take place in Grant Park Sept. 5 to 7. Along with all the food vendors, there will be live music and dancing – everything from flamenco to hip hop and line dancing, kid-friendly area with interactive games, Eli’s giant 1,000-pound cheesecake and neighborhood park pop-ups.

Shakespeare lovers gravitate to Ashford for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 90th season with nine productions across three theaters until the end of Oct. They include “Julius Caesar,” “As You Like It,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and other productions, including Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods”.

Classical music lovers, meanwhile, head to Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as popular artists, including Jon Batiste (June 28) Jame Taylor July 3 and 4 and John Legend (Sept. 5 to 7).

Each summer, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is home to the massive and kid-friendly Smithsonian Folklife Festival (this year July 2 to 7) The festival is free and focuses on “Youth and the Future of Culture.” The programs are designed to display how young people influence and innovate cultural practices and traditions, including youth-led projects, young musicians, entrepreneurs, skaters and artists.

Civil War buffs, meanwhile, will want to head to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for the 162nd Gettysburg Civil War Battle Re-enactment at the Daniel Lady Farm July 4 to 6. There is a different battle each day, as well as living history demonstrations and an annual Kid’s Mustering on July 6.

Enjoy!

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The fourth edition of The Kid’s Guide to New York City and the third edition of The Kid’s Guide to Washington D.C. are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)