After its big return was announced and promoted during the When We Were Young Fest last year in Vegas, preparations for the 30th anniversary of Warped Tour have begun.
Since 1995, Vans Warped Tour, founded by Kevin Lyman, has been a staple name in the alt, pop-punk, emo, and rock communities. During the summer, the fest would tour the US with bands and artists both big and small. At the time, bands like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Black Veil Brides, and more were up and coming.
But what made Vans Warped Tour so universally loved and known for? What put it on the map? Well, not only was the festival known for its music, but it was also known for having some other iconic and memorable things. It was interactive and had activities to do on the side. The festival was known for having waterslides, a skating ramp, music lessons, reverse daycare for parents, battle of the bands, and much more, all for the price of $65 or less at the time. The festival also had some big name sponsors like Journeys, Samsung, Monster Energy, Ernie Ball, and of course, the biggest sponsor, Vans.
Band interactions were one of the biggest parts of Warped Tour. It was huge for fans. If your favorite band was on the lineup, high chances are that you’ll be able to catch them before or after their set for a free meet and greet, or just selling their own merch at the tent. Or even just catching them strolling around the festival and catching another band’s set.
Warped Tour was also known for helping out communities and organizations. Some organizations that Warped Tour helped out in the past were Music Saves Lives, Keep A Breast Foundation, A Voice For The Innocent, To Write Love On Her Arms, and many more. Warped gave a place for these organizations to spread their message and help out younger and older attendees to learn about what they had to say, and maybe help out if they could.
Warped also did a cool thing at each tour date where attendees were encouraged to bring as many canned foods as possible. By bringing at least 3 cans, a cellphone, or even just $5, you get a “Skip The Line” pass and get into the fest 30 minutes before regular attendees. These donations went to Feed The Children NOW., who also had a tent inside the fest.
Vans Warped Tour had always made it loud and clear that its purpose was to help out when and where possible and get important messages across, all with music being the sole purpose of bringing together.
As great as Warped Tour was with all the bands, stages, meet and greets, skateparks, etc. It did come to a close in 2018 for a reason. Many reasons. Some being that the hype and ticket sales for the fest had decreased and that founder, Kevin Lyman, was burnt out from running the fest for so long, but the main reasons people know are due to band drama and the amount of sexual misconduct allegations from bands.
Warped Tour started to be known for these negative things. During tours, there would usually be a band or 2 on the lineup involved with some new type of drama or fighting or some pretty serious allegations. Warped gained a huge bad rap, which made bands no longer eager to be a part of or associated with it and forced it to come to a close.
But it’s been 7 years since its last full tour run, and during When We Were Young Fest in Vegas, fans noticed that, whilst touring the city, ads and promotions started to pop up on signs announcing the return of Vans Warped Tour to celebrate 30 years. Fans were shocked and excited, with many posting and sharing on Twitter and even questioning if the announcement was real.
It seemed like the emo/pop-punk nostalgic factor of WWWYF struck Kevin Lyman. The people wanted and missed their iconic Warped Tour and flocked to When We Were Young Fest to catch it, but Kevin might’ve seen this as an opportunity to give Warped another try to a maybe newer and bigger crowd. (And Warped alumni, of course.)
Vans Warped Tour, now with the help of Livenation, was set to come back to 3 locations for a 2-day fest. Orlando, Florida, Long Beach, California, and Washington, D.C., and presale for tickets went on sale almost a week after When We Were Young. and both presale and regular tickets sold out almost immediately. With a big controversy at the time had fans asking, “Why would you buy tickets without a lineup?”.
From January 27th, 2025, to the end of February, the Warped Tour Instagram announced bands and artists joining the lineup, usually 4-7 band announcements a day. Fans have had a lot to say about this, with many complaining about being unhappy about the lineup. Some even threatened to sell their tickets. Many went to the comments of these announcements to complain about the “lack of big bands”. While Warped Tour has always been big on giving the stages to small up-and-coming bands, it was also big on staging staple bands like The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Blink-182, Pierce The Veil, and many more.
Fans were looking for these big announcements instead of the small ones, with many saying that for the price of tickets, they should be getting their money’s worth. However, on February 25th, the Vans Warped Tour Instagram announced that they were going to release the remaining lineup the following day (February 26th). Many were thinking it was a spur-of-the-moment move and assuming this new decision was due to fan complaints and a spike in ticket selling/cancellations.
As of now, the festival has some iconic bands like Chiodos, Cobra Starship, A Day To Remember, Falling In Reverse, Avril Lavigne, and more. They’ve also announced some up-and-coming bands like Honey Revenge, Hot Milk, and Royal & The Serpent, which fans recognize from opening for bigger bands in the past and are excited for them to get this chance to play at the fest.
With all this being said, some fans still have hope. There are still a few empty slots remaining on the lineup, which Warped has hinted to being bigger bands. Many are constantly making theories and researching which bands could possibly fit the lineup, and many are excited to see the old Warped Tour amenities and opportunities return.
I am a photographer, musician, and cosplayer, based in Austin! I spend a lot of time traveling around for events, and am constantly creating things, listening to music, playing bass guitar, or finding new hobbies to indulge in. I love being surrounded by music, and you can almost always catch me listening to some emo or pop-punk music.
