Popular Iowa Music Festival Announces Big Changes in 2025

It's going to be an incredibly busy weekend in St. Charles! The 2025 Hinterland Music Festival is on its way August 1st through 3rd, and this year's festival will look a bit different than it has in years past.

What's Hinterland?

Hinterland is an annual indie music festival held in St. Charles, Iowa that got its start back in 2015. According to Wikipedia, it is the largest music festival in the entire state, and continues to grow bigger every year! The very first festival was only two days long and drew in around It drew a crowd of 14,000 people. A new article from KCRG reports that, this year, Sunday's headliner has already sold out, with 25,000 tickets sold. In 2024, "festival producer Sam Summers said the event welcomed 21,000 people."

To give you an idea of what types of artists play Hinterland, here are some of the acts from previous years that you may recognize:

• Bon Iver
• Brandi Carlile
• Chappell Roan
• Chvrches
• Dwight Yoakam
• Elle King
• Glass Animals
• Hozier
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
• Lake Street Dive
• Leon Bridges
• Maggie Rogers
• Noah Kahan
• Old Crow Medicine Show
• Orville Peck
• Phoebe Bridgers
• The Red Clay Strays
• Sturgill Simpson
• Tanya Tucker
• Turnpike Troubadours
• Tyler Childers
• Vampire Weekend
• Willie Nelson
• Zach Bryan

Who's Performing This Year?

There are two stages at Hinterland: the Main Stage and the Campfire Stage. The shows on the Campfire Stage take place before and after the Main Stage concerts. Here is the 2025 lineup for the Main Stage (headliners are listed first):

• Friday, August 1st
  • 'Tyler, The Creator'
  • Clairo
  • Remi Wolf
  • Royel Otis
  • Rebecca Black
  • Good Neighbours
  • INJI
  • Scowl
• Saturday, August 2nd
  • Kacey Musgraves
  • The Marias
  • Still Woozy
  • Role Model
  • Glass Beams
  • Gigi Perez
  • Willow Avalon
  • hey, nothing
• Sunday, August 3rd
  • Lana Del Rey
  • Bleachers
  • Sierra Ferrell
  • Wyatt Flores
  • Michael Marcagi
  • Evan Honer
  • Orla Gartland
  • Sam Austins

READ MORE: 2025 Concerts & Comedy Shows Coming to Iowa [LIST]

What Are Some of the Changes in 2025?

Because of some issues in 2024, including extreme heat, overcrowding, and difficulty accessing water, Hinterland is changing things up a bit for this year's event. A July article from the Des Moines Register says that festival-goers will notice some of these changes right away, like the new festival layout. There's more space... a LOT more space.

The Register reports that organizer Sam Summers purchased more land, expanding the festival grounds from 300,000 square feet to 1.075 million square feet. The article goes on to say that "the grounds — from parking and camping sites to the main stage and concourse — now take up roughly 250 acres." Festival-goers will also notice that the amphitheater has moved and that there are new walking paths, making for easier navigation and better visibility.

As far as the issues of heat and water go, the festival now has 13 watering stations across the grounds, and new water lines mean better water pressure at those stations. There's also a new refund policy for ticket-holders called the "90 Degree Guarantee." The website reads:

"If on Tuesday 7/29 at 10am CT, the weather.gov forecast for 8/1, 8/2, or 8/3 has a true temperature of 90° or higher for the 50240 zip code, ticket purchasers will have the option to request a return of their festival admission ticket for that day.

To qualify for a return, ticket holders must fill out the 90° Guarantee Ticket Return Request Form at hinterlandiowa.com/tickets prior to 1pm CT on Tuesday 7/29. The form will only go live if the forecast meets the above criteria. Returns will be processed within as little as 10 days."

Here are some of the other new features in 2025, courtesy of the Hinterland website:

• The "Free Look Return Policy" for VIP and SAINTS ticket holders
• The 'White Claw Hammock Hang'
• Improved shuttles from Windstar Shuttles (air conditioning, more space, and luggage storage)
• Pedicab rides to the festival entrance (start at $15 - cash, card, Venmo, and PayPal all accepted)
• ADA improvements
• More food vendors (including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options)
• More trees and shade structures
• Misting fans on the concourse

For more information about Hinterland 2025, visit the official website HERE.

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Read More: A Giant List of August 2025 Events in Eastern Iowa