Starting Thursday, downtown Raleigh will be flooded with stages, day parties and acts big and small for the seventh annual Hopscotch Music Festival. Hopscotch brings together local artists from across the Triangle, as well as national and international acts. Throughout the years, the festival has seen impressive growth and line-ups.
Sept. 9-11, 2010
Hopscotch was founded by Greg Lowenhagen, an advertising executive for the Independent Weekly, an alternative Triangle-area newspaper. Lowenhagen was inspired by music festivals in Austin and Chicago, two cities he had lived in prior to moving back to North Carolina.
The first festival featured hip-hop group Public Enemy, Los Angeles band No Age and Raleigh band The Love Language. These were just some of the festival’s 130 bands, spread out across 10 venues.
Sept. 8-10, 2011
The second Hopscotch featured 150 bands, including rock band The Flaming Lips and Chapel Hill band Superchunk.
Sept. 6-8, 2012
The third annual Hopscotch rose to 175 individual acts in 15 different venues. Artists present included The Roots and DJ duo Flosstradamus.
Sept. 5-7, 2013
Hopscotch’s fourth year once again featured 175 bands in 15 venues. Artists at the festival included indie rock band Local Natives, DJ Ryan Hemsworth, synthpop band Future Islands and rapper Earl Sweatshirt.
Sept. 4-6, 2014
Two years ago, Hopscotch had 140 bands in 12 venues, lower than previous years, but with impressive musical appearances from rap group De la Soul, jazzy rock artist St. Vincent, Austin alt-rock band Spoon and heavy metal band Mastodon.
Sept. 10-12, 2015
Last year’s Hopscotch featured many Americana artists, including American Aquarium, X and country pioneer Dwight Yoakam. Australian nine-piece band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard also made an appearance at the end of the festival.
Sept. 8-10, 2016
This year’s Hopscotch will feature 120 performers, including singer Erykah Badu, pop band Beach House and indie Durham duo Sylvan Esso.
In its fifth year, the Hopscotch Music Festival features a variety of local bands and some bigger names such as Spoon, St. Vincent, and De La Soul. The festival was held in downtown Raleigh Sept.
