SnoCore Tour

The SnoCore Tour, occasionally typeset as Sno-Core, is an annual festival tour of the United States. It features performances by some of the most popular groups largely of the alternative rock and metal spectrum. With the exception of 2008, the event has taken place every year since its 1996 inception and is marketed towards the winter sports culture.

History

John Boyle and Rick Bonde established SnoCore as an entertainment opportunity for fans during the year's slow point in live music, the winter season. It would also serve as an excuse for bands to perform for Western mountain resort towns and go snowboarding. SnoCore originally focused predominately on punk and ska groups and routed through ski communities. But as it became a national tour, SnoCore aimed toward hard rock and heavy metal and engaged larger, more traditional concert venues. In late 1997, ARTISTdirect principals Marc Geiger and Don Muller, the former having also co-founded Lollapalooza, purchased the tour from Boyle. They still make a point to schedule dates in a number of resort towns despite having strayed somewhat from its original concept.