Summer Sonic Festival

The Summer Sonic Festival is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up contains many Japanese rock musicians from both major and indie record companies, and also international acts. It also operates the festival Sonicmania, with an EDM focus, since 2011. Producer Creativeman formed a joint venture with Live Nation Entertainment in 2012, and Live Nation bought full control of the venture in 2014.

History

Summer Sonic Festival was founded in 2000 in Japan, with a focus on major national and international acts. Among the first bands in 2000's lineup were 311, Arrested Development, At the Drive-In, Ben Folds Five, and Coldplay.

The EDM section of the festival was later split into Sonicmania, an EDM focused main stage held at a different time, which according to Time Out, "Held as a warm-up for Summer Sonic each year, the all-night Sonicmania party caters to dance kids who aren't so well served by the main festival itself" in 2011.