10 Best Summer Music Festivals You're Not Seeing

It's not great that the esurance logo mucks up otherwise perfectly quirky retro posters and ads or that Kokanee beer, Honda(HMC) and Verizon(VZ) leave their stamp on the fest as well, but it's tough to argue the result. The four-day pass is $315, but is offered with $170 to $375 upgrades that include better stage access, showers and views of the Columbia River Gorge. Sounds expensive, but even the base price gets fans more than $130 worth of acts including Jack White, Beck, Bon Iver, Feist, The Shins, Metric and a Portlandia live show.

CMA Music Festival
Date: June 7-10, Nashville, Tenn.
Corporate backers: General Motors, American Airlines(AMR) and Anheuser-Busch Inbev(BUD)

This is about as big as country music festivals get, and the 65 acts that fans get for their $135 four-day ticket (the last available) are pretty formidable. That corporate subsidy gives fans a view of contemporary stars such as The Band Perry, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Lady Antebellum and Brad Paisley, but also includes legends including Kenny Rogers, Glen Campbell, the Oak Ridge Boys and Mel Tillis.

Bonnaroo
Date: June 7-10, Manchester, Tenn.
Corporate backers: Ford(F) , Dell(DELL) , Garnier Fructis and MolsonCoors(TAP)

Those 150-plus acts and headliners such as Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish and the Beach Boys (yep, Bonnaroo went back to its softer, hippier roots this year) don't come cheap. The least expensive remaining tickets are $259, with RV upgrades costing between $180 and $1,399. They'd cost a lot more if not for Garnier Fructis salons, Dell computer labs, Miller Lite water misting tents and State Farm Insurance's bag check.

River's Edge Music Festival
Date: June 23-24, Harriet Island, Saint Paul, Minn.
Corporate backer: Citi(C)