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Montgomery—Alabama Shakespeare Festival: One of the nation's most respected regional theatres, Alabama SF started off producing summer plays in a high school auditorium; today it operates year-round in a state-of-the-art theatre. ASF attracts more than 300,000 yearly visitors from around the world to enjoy classics by Shakespeare, Moliére, George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, and Eugene O'Neill, along with musicals and specially-commissioned works. The company is so good at what it does that it's been awarded the right to fly the flag of England's Royal Shakespeare Company.

Los Angeles—The Hollywood Bowl: Since 1922 the Hollywood Bowl has been a wildly popular summertime venue, a place to share a casual picnic and then listen to great music under the stars. The country's largest natural amphitheater, the Bowl is not only the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but also hosts leading entertainers in jazz, classical, Broadway, world music, and dance. Past greats have included Sinatra, Stravinsky, Heifetz, the Beatles, Fonteyn & Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Fred Astaire, Nat "King" Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Al Jolson, and Judy Garland. More recently: Streisand, Carlos Santana, Diana Krall, John Williams, Willie Nelson, and Herbie Hancock. All that, and you'll be surrounded by authentic Art Deco architecture! More about Los Angeles

San Francisco Blues Festival: Started in 1973, the SF Blues Festival  is the longest continually-running blues festival in the US. Each September some of the biggest names in blues—Ruth Brown, Little Richard, Charlie Musselwhite, Ike Turner, Ruth Brown, Bobby "Blue" Bland, John Lee Hooker, Dr. John—have congregated at Fort Mason, with its stunning views of San Francisco Bay. The festival also offers food, drink, and loads of blues paraphernalia.

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Palm Springs Follies: They said it couldn't be done— but nearly two decades and 3 million patrons later, "they" have been proved wrong! The Palm Springs Follies keeps alive the high-spirited theater arts of the 1920s-1940s through music, comedy, dance, and a touch of vaudeville. It all takes place in a former movie palace, the 1936 Plaza Theatre. The players? Performers of a "certain age," often retired film, music, and Broadway stars like Donald O'Connor, Kaye Ballard, Howard Keel, The Four Aces, Carol Lawrence, and Tony Martin. The costumes are worthy of Liberace at his most glittering. Each year's season starts in the fall and runs to mid-spring, with a yearly Christmas spectacular along the way. Shows change each year (past shows include Tin Pan Alley and Gotta Dance). The 2008-2009 production, Get Your Kicks, celebrates the legend and lore of Historic Route 66.

Onstage Elsewhere in California ~ Summer: High Sierra Music Festival, Lake Tahoe Music Festival, Monterey Bay Reggae Fest, San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival 

Telluride Bluegrass Festival: Started in 1973, the very popular, four-day, mid-summer Telluride Bluegrass Festival is known for its willingness to offer progressive, risk-taking music. The Festival takes place against the splendid backdrop of the San Juan Mountains; held in Telluride's historic town park, festival area is surrounded on three sides by box canyon. Although bluegrass serves as the Festival's foundation, you'll also find a generous sprinkling of musicians from other genres. Performers have ranged from Ricky Skaggs, New Grass Revival, and Sam Bush to  Los Lobos, Chick Corea, and the Dixie Chicks. Music happens on the main stage all day long, and jam sessions in town venues go on into the wee hours.   More about Telluride

»»Buy "Telluride Bluegrass Festival: 30 Years" CD

Orlando—Florida Music Festival: More than 250 bands from across  the US and dozens of Orlando venues partner up in the annual 3-day Florida Music Festival. Held each spring since 2001, this edgier-than-most Festival is a good-time backdrop for musicians and music industry execs to meet, network, and make deals—and a good time, period, for people who just like music. Genres include, from A-Z, acoustic, alternative, country, electronic, folk, hard rock, indie rock, pop, urban/hiphop, and more. Musicians have included Big 10-4, Between the Trees, Dishwalla, Buckcherry, Flogging Molly, Sam Rivers Trio, the Fugees, and Third Eye Blind. Music is the reason most folks come here, but the Festival also has an independent film and video competition and an art exhibition that centers around “music art” in a wide variety of genres.   More about Orlando

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: Mahalia Jackson, perhaps the greatest gospel singer ever, headlined the first New Orleans JazzFest way back in 1970, along with jazz genius Duke Ellington (not to mention Clifton Chenier and Fats Domino). JazzFest hasn’t slowed down a whit. The 10-day cultural feast, held at the city’s Fair Grounds Race Course, welcomes more than half a million people for food, artisanal crafts—and regional indigenous music, including blues, R&B, gospel, Cajun, Zydeco, Afro-Caribbean, folk, Latin, rock, rap, country, bluegrass, and jazz in both contemporary and traditional flavors. The wide mix of performers has included Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan (pictured), Dizzy Gillespie, Santana, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, B.B. King, the Allman Brothers Band, Joni Mitchell, Al Green, Linda Ronstadt, Sonny Rollins, James Brown, Celia Cruz, Willie Nelson, Burning Spear, LL Cool J, Abbey Lincoln, Youssou N’Dour and many, many others.

Yep—it's Dylan, all right!

The Berkshires—Tanglewood Music Festival: Each summer the Boston Symphony Orchestra moves to a 300-acre musical complex in the Berkshire Hills, drawing happy crowds to what has become known as, simply, "Tanglewood." Stretched beneath a star-kissed summer sky, patrons are entertained by the world's leading conductors, musicians, and singers— everyone from Jessye Norman to Frank Sinatra, with stops along the way for Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Moody Blues. The Berkshires, by the way, contain both Shakespearian and Opera companies, the Norman Rockwell Museum, The Mount (a knockout estate-and-gardens duo once owned by Edith Wharton), and many Federal houses now become charming B&Bs.

Branson: It's not everybody's cuppa, but more than 7 million visitors a year flock to Branson. One thing's for sure: with 40 theaters and 80 musical, comedy, magic, and large-production shows, it's an ideal location for honeymooners with a taste for country crooning who want to be dazzled by show biz legends like Andy Williams, Loretta Lynn, Glen Campbell, Wayne Newton, and Mickey Gilley. Branson is also home to the world's largest museum devoted to the Titanic (the building is shaped like the ship, and you enter through an iceberg). Nearby: scenic lakes offering great fishing, boating, jet skiing, swimming, and parasailing; ten golf courses; and the rolling Ozark Mountains.

Peterborough—New England Marionette: This critically-acclaimed company, composed entirely of marionettes, produces major operas  like The Barber of Seville, Macbeth, and Porgy & Bess. This form of theater has a long and noble tradition in Europe, but is little-known in the States. Started in 1992, the New England Marionette Company performs at home and throughout the world.

Santa Fe—The Opera Company: Since 1957, the Santa Fe Opera has been a major summertime destination for the world's opera enthusiasts. Events are staged in a modern amphitheater perched atop a hill and backdropped by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It's a beautiful setting, and the performances, with first-rate performers, match the surroundings. Past operas have included stalwarts like Mozart's Così fan tutte and Puccini's La Bohème, as well as modern gems like Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul. The area provides a bounty of pleasures, including nearby Indian Pueblos and 10,000-year-old archeological ruins, 13,000-foot mountain peaks, 650-foot canyons, lakes and deserts; world-class art galleries and restaurants; and a wide array of hotels, spas, and B&Bs. »»Take a road trip on New Mexico's Historic Route 66

New York City—Broadway: The Broadway of legend, centered around 45th Street, is perhaps the most highly-concentrated entertainment district in the world. It's also the absolute pinnacle of America's great theatrical tradition, home to more than 40 theaters, dazzling stage stars, famous playwrights, and gala opening nights. Nearby is Madison Square Garden, a performance/sports center attracting more than 5 million people yearly. At Broadway's intersection with Columbus Avenue sits Lincoln Center, a six-building complex featuring performances by its outstanding resident companies (New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Metropolitan Opera) and visiting companies from around the world.

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New York City—Central Park SummerStage: Central Park's No. 1 outdoor concert venue, SummerStage brings an enormous variety of performance arts to people of all ages and tastes. Artists truly cover the expanse of American culture, from soul, opera, and indie-rock to dance and theater—and beyond. The first season (1986) was kicked off by Sun Ra and the years since have seen performers as diverse as Quentin Crisp, Patti Smith, the Indigo Girls, Arnie Zane Dance Company, films from Brazil, comedy by the Upright Citizens Brigade, dance from the Middle East, George Plimpton hosting a 50h anniversary celebration of The Paris Review, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Celia Cruz, DJ Spooky, Joni Mitchell, Sonic Youth, Toni Morrison, Arlo Guthrie, Billy Bragg, Curtis Mayfield, Studs Terkel, gospel singer Marion Williams... Oh! And did we add that it's all mostly FREE?

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Saratoga Springs—Music and Dance: Located in a beautiful 2200-acre park in Saratoga Springs, each summer the Saratoga Performing Arts Center hosts the Lake George Opera, the New York City Ballet, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. During performances in the outdoor amphitheater, patrons enjoy picnic suppers on the sloping lawns. Dance-lovers will want to explore the nearby National Museum of Dance & Hall of Fame, beautifully housed in a 1918 Arts & Crafts-style bath house. Situated in upstate New York, Saratoga makes for a great base for exploring the Hudson River Valley, Vermont, the Berkshires, and Connecticut.

Portland—Chamber Music Festival: Each July, during Chamber Music Northwest, great performers come to do what they do best—and to also try something new. Artists create a flexible "repertory ensemble" of strings, winds, piano and voice. The result: a wide variety of chamber music spanning four centuries.  A world-renowned flutist will play in a Baroque sextet one day and be half of a contemporary duo the next. A cellist will shine with an Impressionist composition and follow it up with a piece that is pure classic.

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Ashland—Shakespeare Festival: Tony award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival has celebrated the Bard since 1936. Although the once-simple site has expanded over the years, you can still enjoy Shakespeare under the stars in the hemisphere's oldest full-scale Elizabethan theatre. You'll also find many other dramatists besides Shakespeare, free outdoor lectures, music, dance programs, and backstage tours. The Festival—which performs 11 plays during an 8½-month run each year—is extremely popular, so reserve far ahead.

Newport—Jazz Festival: Started in 1954, the yearly Newport Jazz Festival—considered by many to be the world's most important jazz event—has attracted all the greats, including Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Tony Bennett, Tito Puente, Miles Davis, Harry Connick Jr., kd lang, Muddy Waters, Diana Krall, Wayne Shorter, Ray Charles... If you love jazz, this is a place you've got to be sometime in your life. Why not now?

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Newport—The Music Festival: Consisting of more than 60 concerts each July, the Newport Music Festival is all about classical performances in ultimate classic settings. Imagine chamber music played in the kind of intimate, princely surroundings for which it was written: in, for example, the acoustically-perfect seafront drawing room of a "cottage" built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II at the last century's turn. While the Festival specializes in music of the Romantic Era, it offers plenty of diversity: an evening of Russian composers, or nautical music, or a musical tour of the Baltics.

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Milwaukee—SummerFest: Called Big Gig by devotees, the yearly 11-day SummerFest is held on the shores of Lake Michigan, from late June to early July—about 1 million people attend. According to the Guinness World Records, it's the largest music festival in the world. Although known primarily for its music (e.g., Bob Dylan, Mary J. Blige, Nine Inch Nails, Christina Aguilera, Toby Keith [photo], James Taylor), you'll find much more, including food from local restaurants, comedy acts (Bob Hope to Jon Stewart), magic acts, fireworks extravaganzas, and lots more.