Festival-Obsessed States

By Editorial Staff
February 13, 2024 11:30am

 

Whether it’s music or theater, beer or food, Americans sure love to celebrate. With this in mind, we carried out some research to determine which states are the most obsessed with festivals. 

Winter Is Here – Time for a Festival!

We were inspired to carry out this study because Google search interest around the term “Winter Fest” has increased a whopping 284% between 2013 and 2023. This shows that people really do appreciate a good winter festival these days compared to just 10 years ago. So, with multiple festivals fast approaching, the team at PennStakes.com decided to find out which states are most obsessed with these types of events.

Our Methodology

We analyzed Google search trends to see which states had residents seeking out the top 10 most popular types of festivals. The categories were arts, beer, comedy, film, folk, food, harvest, music, religious and theater. 

We then allocated a score to each state from 0 to 100 – the more searches there were by that state for a particular type of festival, the higher the score. In other words, the higher the score, the more obsessed the state!

Finally, we added together the individual scores for each state to reveal which state is the most festival-obsessed overall. Will Pennsylvania be at the top of the list? Let’s find out. 

Top 5 Festival Obsessed States

Here at PennStakes.com, we love coming together with friends and family to celebrate a festival, so we had great fun collating this search data for all 50 states. We won’t go into detail for each one, as we’re going to focus on the Top 5 states that can’t seem to say no to a good old festival. 

Obviously, we wanted Pennsylvania to come out as No.1, but that wasn’t the case. Still, we can’t complain about where we rank on this list, as it reflects our state’s passion for celebrating the good times. 

Here are the top 5 festival obsessed states, along with their overall scores (out of 1,000):

  1. Colorado: 554 
  2. Pennsylvania: 527
  3. Vermont: 513
  4. Rhode Island: 502
  5. Wisconsin: 502

Breaking down the data,  we found that Pennsylvania’s highest score was for arts festivals. This doesn’t come as a surprise, as we’re a cultured and sophisticated bunch, if we do say so ourselves. Meanwhile, Colorado rates highest for beer festivals (cheers!), Vermont for music festivals (rock on!), Wisconsin for harvest festivals (wishing you a harvest of blessings!), and the people of Rhode Island are also highly engaged in the arts.

Top 3 States for Different Types of Festivals

Hungry for more stats? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Here’s a breakdown of each festival type and its top 3 states.

Arts festivals

  1. Rhode Island
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. Iowa

Beer festivals

  1. Colorado
  2. Hawaii
  3. Michigan

Comedy festivals

  1. Nebraska
  2. Delaware
  3. Vermont

Film festivals

  1. Utah
  2. New York
  3. California

Folk festivals

  1. Montana
  2. Alaska
  3. Rhode Island

Food festivals

  1. New Jersey
  2. Nevada
  3. Delaware

Harvest festivals

  1. Wisconsin
  2. Vermont
  3. New Hampshire

Music festivals

  1. Idaho
  2. Vermont
  3. Illinois

Religious festivals

  1. Kansas
  2. Arkansas
  3. Nebraska

Theatre festivals

  1. Oregon
  2. Utah
  3. Massachusetts

Winter Festivals in Pennsylvania

Now that the weather is chilly, it’s time to put on our wool hats and celebrate the winter season. There are so many fantastic winter festivals coming up in Pennsylvania, so we’ve rounded up a few of the very best for you to explore.

IceFest

Founded more than 20 years ago, today IceFest is the largest ice festival in Pennsylvania. That’s not surprising when you consider that it uses 30+ tons of ice! Presenting a giant ice throne, incredible ice sculptures, food, art, and a whole lot more for the entire family to enjoy, IceFest was a bit hit in Downtown Chambersburg from Jan. 25-28.

Ice ‘N Spice Festival

The 7th annual Ice ‘N Spice Festival went off Jan. 26-28. Boasting a wide variety of events and activities, there was plenty to see and do between the 400 and 700 blocks of Penn Ave in West Reading. (STOP HERE) 
Nationally- known pumpkin carver Danny Kissell led a talented group of local sculptors. Multiple businesses got involved, too, so there were many discounts for customers.

Fire & Ice in the Park

Surely, heat sources and frozen water don’t mix. Normally that’s true, but not when it’s the Fire & Ice Festival in the beautiful surroundings of McCahill Park in Pittsburgh! Also held on Jan. 28, it  mesmerised visitors young and old, with lanterns guiding you through the park toward magnificent ice sculptures of local animal species.

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Author

Editorial Staff
Editorial Staff

The experts at PennStakes who bring you the latest updates in Pennsylvania sports betting and online casinos. We pull together decades of experience to give you analysis as well as comparisons of the best PA online gambling apps.

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