News & Politics

The Warped Tour Is Coming Back Next Year—and It’s Headed Straight for DC

Touch up your eyeliner and kiss your Pete Wentz poster for good luck, because presale starts October 24.

A 2019 edition of the Vans Warped Tour in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Photograph by Corey Perrine/Getty Images.

Huge news for any Washingtonian who spent a questionable amount of time in Hot Topic as a teenager: The Vans Warped Tour will return next summer after a six-year hiatus, and it’s kicking off its three-city run at the RFK Stadium grounds in DC.

The traveling pop-punk music festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2025, and it’s set to grace the District the weekend of June 14-15. The scale will look a little different this time, according to an announcement from festival organizers: Instead of playing dozens of shows across the country, the tour will hit only three cities—DC, Long Beach in July, and Orlando in November—and stay for two days each.

Organizers say the lineup, which has not yet been announced, will include 70-100 artists. “We’re getting very, very selective in trying to find some unique twists to the lineup,” founder Kevin Lyman told Rolling Stone last week. Previous acts include emo greats like Blink-182, Green Day, Paramore, and Fall Out Boy. Perhaps we’ll get some repeat performers from this year’s HFStival revival—Jimmy Eat World, Incubus, and Lit are also Warped Tour alums.

Back in 2017, Lyman announced that the 2018 Warped Tour would be the last. During an appearance on the Inside Track podcast in 2019, Lyman said he pulled the plug on the festival due to an eroding “sense of community” among pop-punk fans. He did, however, bring the festival back for a limited 25th-anniversary run the same year. Whether this is another fleeting return or a new era for the tour remains to be seen—Lyman did tell Rolling Stone that organizers will “look to the future to do more” dates, should the 2025 festival be a success.

If the Warped Tour comeback has you not okay (you promise), ticket presale starts this Thursday, October 24, at 9 AM.

Kate Corliss
Editorial Fellow