With spring break just around the corner, many Wilmington Friends Upper School students are getting excited for the warm weather and making plans for the upcoming spring and summer concerts. Tickets are selling out in record time, and anticipation continues to climb as new information regarding concert lineups is released. Many students are looking forward to the more imminent spring break, with their plans set on Ultra, a concert series located in Miami. Ultra is an outdoor music festival, featuring EDM (electronic dance music), house, and dubstep musical groups. Ultra hosts these festivals all over the world, in a variety of countries including South Africa, South Korea, and Argentina. Miami, Florida – a popular spring break destination – will host one of this year’s festivals from March 28 to March 30. It will be located in Bayfront Park, Downtown Miami. This year’s lineup will be no disappointment, as it includes Avicii, David Guetta, Tiesto, MGMT, Zedd, and many more. Electronic music fans are sure to be excited for this electrifying festival.

For those who prefer genres other than solely electronic, Coachella is a perfect opportunity, occurring a couple of months after Ultra. Coachella is a two-weekend music festival that takes place every year in Indio, California. The city is located in Coachella Valley, Southern California and is known by locals as “The City of Festivals.” Indio hosts many music and art festivals, its most successful and widely known being Coachella. The town’s motto is “The place to be,” and it is evident that Indio will be the place to be this April. At last year’s festival, in the spring of 2013, attendance reached an all-time high, as over 100,000 people attended. This year’s musical lineup includes Ellie Goulding, Calvin Harris, Lorde, Skrillex, and Zedd, among many others. Over the course of the two-weekend festival, 150 acts will perform, and it will undoubtedly be a memorable experience for the thousands of fans.

Like many other people living on the East Coast, Kelly Hodge ’15 wishes she had the opportunity to attend the music festival: “Lana del Rey is one of my favorite musicians. Seeing her perform at Coachella would be amazing!” The recently reunited musical group OutKast will also be performing at this year’s Coachella festival. OutKast has received top line billing for the festival, as many are excited to see them back together again. Elijah Jabbar-Bey ’15 feels that the concert will be a great success: “The lineup is unbelievable, with so many of my favorite artists playing. This year it’s going to be held right in the middle of the desert, which is pretty awesome. Though until the day I live out in Cali, I’ll just be going down to Dover for the annual Firefly Fest, which is definitely a lot of fun too.” While many students in Delaware wish to travel to California for Coachella, many more will attend the Firefly music festival to kick off the summer.

Firefly is an outdoor music festival, taking place from June 20 to June 24 in Dover, Delaware. The festival is located in The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway, and thousands flock to experience the atmosphere and incredible lineup each year. This year’s lineup includes the Foo Fighters, The Lumineers, Imagine Dragons, Jack Johnson, and many more. Those who attend the festival are encouraged to camp out for three nights, with music playing from dawn to dusk. Quinn McNeill ’14 describes it as an unforgettable experience. “Music plays at all hours, and the campsites were incredible. Definitely camping out this year!” While the idea of a Delaware student’s parent flying them to a concert in Miami or California may seem far-fetched, we are fortunate to have Firefly music festival nearby. As the heat intensifies and summer break draws closer, high school students can look forward to these concerts and listening to the music that helped them get through the school year, live!