Hinterland Music Festival 2023

Hinterland is a very popular music festival held annually at the Avenue of Saints Amphitheater in St. Charles Iowa. The festival typically last 3 days. In 2023, the dates are August 4th through the 6th.

Hinterland is currently the largest and most popular music festival in Iowa. The first Hinterland festival was held in 2015. In 2015, the festival only lasted two days and featured 11 bands and artists. Now, for 2023, the festival will last for 3 days and will feature 23 different bands and artists, including a kids artist. Hinterland features many different musical talents throughout the days of the festival. Each year the festival has main headliners that play on each of the days. In 2022, popular headliners were Glass Animals and Phoebe Bridgers, very well-known artists. Senior Alicyn Vogel stated, “I really only went to see Phoebe Bridgers.” She was the main headliner for 2022. The 2023 headliners will include Bon Iver, Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers. Most of the artists that play at Hinterland are typically indie rock or folk country-type style musicians.

Tickets go on sale months before the actual festival, usually sometime in the November before. Tickets for the 2023 festival are already on sale. A general admission ticket to get into Hinterland costs $250, which gives you access to all three days but does not include parking or camping. Tickets can go all the way up to $1,500. This level includes a lot more, as the price is much higher. For example unlimited free drinks, free parking, access to all VIP areas and a lot more are included in these tickets.

Sophomore Maren Manning attended the festival for the last two years. She said, “It’s very crowded because a lot of people from different states come down with campers for the festival.” The festival draws a lot of attention from other states, not just Iowa. Manning also stated, “There’s a lot of energy because of all of the different types of people that attend Hinterland.” Another sophomore, Claire Sargent also attended the festival last year. She stated, “It was really crowded, but that didn’t take away from the fun.” Most people that attend Hinterland say that it is a rewarding experience and that it would be worth it to go back next year. All together, Hinterland is an exciting music festival that is a space for all types of people to come together and enjoy their favorite music artists.