Today, October 17th, saw the official announcement for the 2025 return of the ‘Vans Warped Tour‘ roll out. While an official press release spelled out the dates, price point and overall plans for this 30th anniversary return of the event, a subsequent interview with founder Kevin Lyman has confirmed a few extra details.
That feature was published on Rolling Stone today and found Lyman offering some hints at the potential future of festival tour, and why it will only be hitting 3 cities for its big return. Reflecting on the absence of the tour making the heart grow fonder, Lyman offered, “People start remembering once something’s gone that it was important, it was fun — and I’m hoping to recapture a lot of that again.”
As for once again skewing away from the the traditional traveling tour format that made ‘Warped Tour‘ famous (a 2019 25th anniversary celebration saw the trek limited to a handful of stops as well,) Lyman simply offered, “My body won’t take riding around on a tour bus for 40 cities.”
While the financial realities of staging festivals and tours in recent years have presented numerous challenges, Lyman did mention that if these dates are successful, there is a potential for more cities in years to come. He stated of the future, “If it works, we’ll look to the future to do more.”
Around 70 to 100 artists are being booked for each stop of the trek, with past fan favorites from the tour and up and coming artists being lined up. Lyman revealed he’s been aiming for some “unique twists” on the roster, stating, “We’re getting very, very selective in trying to find some unique twists to the lineup.” He also doesn’t intend to bank solely on nostalgia, adding, “I’ve always felt we need to pay homage to the past, but we’re looking to the future of the artists and the community.”
A wave of weekly lineup announcements are expected to be made leading up to the fest. Lyman also confirmed that the inflatable daily setlist spelling out the running order for each day of the festival will once again greet attendees as they enter.
The confirmed dates for the festival include:
06/14-15 Washington, DC – Festival Grounds at RFK Campus
07/26-27 Long Beach, CA – Shoreline Waterfront
11/15-16 Orlando, FL – Camping World Stadium Campus
Pre-sales will be launching next Thursday, October 24th. See vanswarpedtour.com for more details.
