Festival season will be here before you know it! Before booking your tickets, consider which states take their festivals seriously. You may want to head here for the best festivals in the nation.
Most Festival Obsessed States
Fashion retailer Boohoo sought to determine which states care the most about their music festivals. They analyzed data from Google Trends to see where people are searching for festival-related terms the most.
These states love their festivals.
Wisconsin
It’s no surprise that the home to one of the most iconic music festivals in the US ranks at the top of the list. Wisconsin received the most overall points, achieving a high score of 602.
Wisconsin residents search for “festival” and “festival near me” more than residents of any other state. They may be trying to get the most out of their summers after the long, cold winter.
Ohio
The Buckeye state ranks second, searching for the plural “festivals” and “festivals near me” more often than their Wisconsin counterparts. Perhaps Wisconsin residents have a particular festival in mind, while Ohioans enjoy whatever’s happening.
Louisiana
Louisiana’s claim to fame hosts many of the best festivals in the nation, so it’s no surprise residents of the Pelican state are festival obsessed. They’re also obsessed with wearing trendy threads to the festivals, scoring second in the number of searches for “festival outfits.”
Louisiana had far fewer searches for seasonal terms such as “fall festival” and “Summer festival,” but the state is warm and hosts festivals year-round, so residents don’t have to worry about changing seasons.
Illinois
The prairie state ranked in the top ten for most of the studied search terms and achieved an overall score of 549. Residents are more likely to search for “festivals” and “summer festivals” than any other term, ranking third and fifth overall for each term, respectively.
Illinois’ proximity to Wisconsin could factor into the higher ratings, as could the largest city in the state, Chicago, which is renowned for its music scene.
Indiana
Illinois Neighbor to the East tied for fifth, achieving a total score of 546. Indiana residents dread winter, scoring highest in the number of searches for “fall festival.”
The seasonal trend doesn’t follow the whole year, as the state only scored 39 in the number of searches for “summer festival.”
Kentucky
Kentucky tied Indiana for fifth place, also achieving 546 points. Bluegrass state residents love music festivals, as this was their most highly searched term. They ranked second in the number of searches for “music festivals” overall.
Kentucky residents also regularly search for fall festivals and the best festival outfits.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania residents want to find the best festivals close to their homes, ranking third overall in searches for “festivals near me.”
They also search for “fall festivals” and the singular “festival” far more than most other state residents.
Maryland
With a total score of 540, Maryland ranks 7th on the list. Residents match their northern neighbor in search terms, preferring phrases like “festivals near me” and “festival,” though they also rank either in searches for “festival outfit.”
Vermont
Vermont is the only state to outpace Kentucky in the quest for musical festivals, scoring 100 points for this search term. Vermont residents also took first in the search for summer festivals, possibly as a change in pace from the cold winters.
Green Mountain state residents don’t care about how they look at the festival. The state scored the lowest for “festival outfits” of any other state in the top ten.
Michigan
Like their northern brethren, Michigan residents typically search for “summer festivals.” The state ranked in the top ten for searches of the singular “festival,” “music festivals,” and “festivals near me.”
You’ve got to hand it to the Wolverine state; they joined their midwestern friends in the top ten!
Colorado
Colorado rounds off the top ten, even though it’s technically number 11 due to the tie at position five. The tenth most festival-obsessed state scored a total of 528 points, which is 23% higher than the national average.
Residents ranked in the top five for searches for “festival,” “festivals 2023,” and “festival outfits.”
Where Does Your State Rank?
Did your state make the top ten? If not, here’s the complete list so you can see where it landed! Keep Clicking to see the states least obsessed with festivals and to learn how Boohoo compiled the data!
1 Wisconsin 602
2 Ohio 594
3 Louisiana 587
4 Illinois 549
5 Indiana 546
5 Kentucky 546
7 Pennsylvania 541
8 Maryland 540
9 Vermont 534
10 Michigan 532
11 Colorado 528
12 Virginia 522
13 West Virginia 520
14 Georgia 518
15 Delaware 509
16 North Carolina 505
17 Florida 503
18 Tennessee 493
19 South Carolina 473
20 Rhode Island 464
21 New Jersey 462
22 Minnesota 460
23 Oregon 459
24 Nevada 437
25 Missouri 432
26 Connecticut 425
27 Alabama 424
27 Arizona 424
29 California 409
30 Massachusetts 401
31 New Hampshire 395
32 Alaska 393
33 Maine 391
34 Iowa 386
35 New York 384
36 Arkansas 381
37 Washington 378
38 Kansas 374
39 Montana 366
40 Idaho 365
40 Mississippi 365
42 Utah 350
43 Oklahoma 345
44 Texas 341
45 South Dakota 335
46 New Mexico 331
47 Nebraska 313
48 Hawaii 299
49 Wyoming 284
50 North Dakota 189
Least Obsessed State
People in North Dakota do not care about festivals. They scored 56% lower than the national average overall and had the lowest amount of searches for a number of the terms, including “festivals” and “festivals 2023.”
North Dakota residents don’t even search for some of the terms, scoring a big fat zero for “summer festival” and “festival outfits.”
Methodology
Boohoo studied Google trends data for nine festival-related search terms: Music festivals, festivals 2023, festival, festivals, fall festival, summer festival, festivals near me, festival near me, and festival outfits.
Google Trends gives scores from 0 to 100 based on interest over time. A score of 100 means the term is most popular, while a score of 0 means there’s not enough data to score interest. The score can be anywhere between o and 100.
When you break down a search query by state, each state receives a score between 0 and 100, indicating where that term is most popular.
Boohoo took the Google Trends search score for each term and added them together. Because there were nine total terms, the maximum score could reach 900.
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