Mark your calendar for these 2022 Arizona music festivals, PHXLIGHTS to Country Thunder

Festival season got off to an early start in 2022 when the Maine's third edition of 8123 Fest rolled into Margaret T. Hance Park in downtown in late January.

Two months later, we've already made it through a number of the higher-profile Valley music-festival perennials.

Innings Festival brought Foo Fighters, Tame Impala, St. Vincent and more to Tempe Beach Park while M3F (or the festival formerly known as McDowell Mountain Music Festival) raised funds for local charities with Leon Bridges, Kaytranada and more.

But there are still plenty of festivals headed to metro Phoenix, from Punk in Drublic to PHXLIGHTS and Country Thunder.

More music news: Don't miss these local artists playing metro Phoenix in March

Ostrich Festival

The 32nd annual Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival has rolled out its headliners one at a time. For now, we know who's playing on four of the seven dates. The Band Perry and Uncle Kracker will open the festival on Friday, March 11, with country star Walker Hayes playing the following night. Nelly returns to the Valley on Saturday, March 19, with the Temptations and Four Tops bringing the festival to a close with a Sunday Motortown Revue.

Details: Friday, March 11-Sunday, March 13; Thursday, March 17-Sunday, March 20. Tumbleweed Park, 745 E. Germann Road, Chandler. $15 a day and up; March 11-13; $10 and up March 17-20. ostrichfestival.com.

Punk in Drublic

Brew Ha Ha Productions' Punk In Drublic Craft Beer & Music Festival brings NOFX, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, the Bouncing Souls, Lagwagon, Authority Zero, the Last Gang and the Venomous Pinks to Bell Bank Park in Mesa. The festival sprang from the minds and livers of NOFX frontman Fat Mike and craft beer fanatic/festival promoter Cameron Collins of Brew Ha Ha Productions.

It's named for NOFX’s classic "Punk In Drublic" album, which has sold more than one million copies.

Details: Noon, Saturday, March 19. Bell Bank Park, 1 Legacy Drive, Mesa. $45 and VIP tickets start at $99 plus fees. 480-994-2297, brewhahaproductions.com.

KNIX Barbecue and Beer Festival

Now in its 13th year, the KNIX Barbecue and Beer Festival is Arizona’s largest barbecue event with more than 20 BBQ pit masters, a variety of family-friendly activities and live performances by multi-platinum recording artists Lee Brice, Parker McCollum, Kameron Marlowe and Jacob Morris. The festival also features a Dock Dogs Competition, X-Game Skateboarding, BMX stunt shows, a kid’s zone and much more.

Details: Noon-10 p.m. Saturday, March 26. Tumbleweed Park, 745 E. Germann Road, Chandler. General admission; $20 in advance, $30 day of festival. VIP: $225. https://forty8live.com/chandlerbbq/

PHXLIGHTS: Altered Orbit

Phoenix Lights, Relentless Beats' first foray into creating marquee events, has been rebranded as PHXLIGHTS: Altered Orbit as it moves into its new home — Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, 20 minutes outside downtown Phoenix.

GRiZ, RL Grime. Liquid Stranger, Zomboy, Rusko, Flosstradamus, Champagne Drip, Jantsen, Smoakland, Leotrix, Proper and SAAS will perform.

The festival also marks the return of the superstructure stage, first introduced during Relentless Beats’ 2021 summer concert series and Goldrush.

Details: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 1-2. Phoenix Raceway, 7602 Jimmie Johnson Drive, Avondale. GA $65 and up; GA+ 99 and up; VIP $159 and up. phxlightsfest.com.

Vort-I-Fest

Presented by Wild Thyme Restaurant Group, the Vort-i-Fest Music Festival & Experience, returns to the Sedona Airport's Mesa Area One with live performances by Southwest artists decker., XIXA, the Stakes, Red Light Cameras, Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold, Sci-Fi Country and Rivers Run Wild.

The day-long outdoor event also features more than 35 local artisans, independent businesses and a variety of foods from local eateries, set against the backdrop of the iconic red rocks.

Details: Noon, Saturday, April 1. Sedona Airport's Mesa Area One, 135 Shrine Road. GA: $44. VIP: $100. vortifest.ticketleap.com/vortifest2022/

Country Thunder Arizona

Country Thunder Arizona has lined up some of country music's biggest stars for 2022. Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line and Riley Green are headlining the four-day festival's return to Canyon Moon Ranch near Florence.

They're joined by Hardy, Gabby Barrett, Randy Houser, Chase Rice, Lindsay Ell, Michael Ray, Tracy Lawrence, Jameson Rogers, Blanco Brown, Sawyer Brown, James Barker Band, MacKenzie Porter and more artists to be added closer to the date.

In a news release, Country Thunder Music Festivals CEO Troy Vollhoffer said, “It has always been customary for us to begin our festival run in Arizona. It’s the perfect place to start on a high note — the weather is perfect, the fans are stoked and it really sets the stage for another exciting year of music festivals."

Details: Thursday through Sunday, April 7-10. Canyon Moon Ranch, 20585 E. Price Station, Florence. $185 weekend pass. countrythunder.com/az.

Deadbeats Arizona

This EDM festival is topped by Zeds Dead, as always, with NGHTMRE, Dimension, Dion Timmer, Rossy and 2Soon. This is the local stop on a global tour called Deadbeats Tour: The Revival whose name refers in part to the Canadian headliners' label and in part to the fact that they haven't been able to do it for a while because of COVID-19.

Details: 7 p.m. Friday, April 22. Phoenix Raceway, 7602 Jimmie Johnson Drive, Avondale. relentlessbeats.com.

98KUPD UFEST

Arizona’s top-rated rock station, 98KUPD, brings its long-running annual music festival to Ak-Chin Pavilion with Rise Against, Coheed & Cambria, Pennywise, Highly Suspect, Atreyu, DED, Plush and Dropout Kings. UFEST will also feature retro video games from Starfighter’s Arcade and more activities to be announced.

In a press release, Larry McFeelie, the station's brand and content director, said, “Some of the best shows I’ve ever seen have been at Ak-Chin Pavilion, and being able to bring UFEST back to this venue is very exciting!”

One dollar from the sale of each regular price ticket will benefit the United Phoenix Firefighters Charities.

Details: 2:35 p.m. Sunday, April 24. Ak-Chin Pavilion, 2121 N. 83rd Ave., Phoenix. $32.50 and up. 602-254-7200, livenation.com.

Pure Imagination Festival

The inaugural edition of this festival, produced by Candace Devine of Prescott-based Americana artists Ponderosa Grove, could not be more eclectic. The bill is topped by mainstream country royalty (Wynonna Judd & The Big Noise), a legendary conscious rapper (Talib Kweli) and folk-rock standard-bearers Dawes.

They're joined by Grammy-winning blues artist Fantastic Negrito, world-folk band Rising Appalachia, indie-rockers Atlas Genius, Nashville singer-songwriter Katie Pruitt, Americana-Soul music collective Ponderosa Grove, indie rockers Sarah and the Sundays, Tucson glam revivalists Chateau Chateau and Tempe reggae-rock veteran Walt Richardson.

Details: Noon, Saturday, May 21. Watson Lake Park, 3101 Watson Lake Park Road, Prescott. GA: $55 and up. VIP: $137.50 and up. Premium VIP; $220 and up. pureimaginationfestival.com.

The festivals below this point have already come and gone in 2022 but many are likely to return in 2023 in case you want to get a head start on next year.

8123 Fest

Delayed a year by the pandemic, the Maine's third 8123 Fest will celebrate the Tempe rockers' 15th anniversary with five days of events, from Jan. 20-24, including several sideshows and a themed afterparty. The main event is a multi-band blowout at Margaret T. Hance Park in downtown Phoenix.

The Maine will obviously headline, joined by State Champs, 3OH!3, Tessa Violet, the reunited Summer Set, Derek Sanders (of Mayday Parade), Beach Weather and the Maine's John O'Callaghan doing a solo set as John the Ghost. They'll also have a local stage with This Wild Life, Breakup Shoes, Weathers, Doll Skin, the Color 8 and Sundressed.

Details: 12 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22. Margaret T. Hance Park, 1218 N. 2nd St., Phoenix. $55 and up. 81-23.com.

Innings Festival

How was Innings Festival? 10 Best acts we saw at Innings Festival, ranked

The baseball-themed festival is definitely swinging for the fences this year with a lineup topped by Foo Fighters and Tame Impala

The two-day event will feature 20 bands on two stages, including performances from the War on Drugs, St. Vincent, Billy Strings, Black Pumas, Caamp, Fitz and the Tantrums, Dashboard Confessional and local rocker Sydney Sprague, as well as curated food vendors and baseball-related activities. My Morning Jacket was originally scheduled to perform but dropped off "due to unforeseen logistical circumstances."

Fans can look forward to numerous appearances by Major League Baseball greats including Roger Clemens, Jake Peavy, Dave Stewart and Rick Sutcliffe, as well as the return of Off the Mound with Ryan Dempster, an on-site talk show featuring MLB players and musicians.

Details: 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 26-27. Tempe Beach Park, 80 W. Rio Salado Parkway. $105 a day; $159 for weekend pass. inningsfestival.com.

M3F

How was M3F? Here's our running live blog covering almost every act that played

In keeping with tradition, the festival formerly known as McDowell Mountain Music Festival has assembled a diverse array of talent. There's EDM from Kaytranada, ZHU and Jungle, soul from Leon Bridges, jam-rock from Arizona's own Spafford, electro-pop from A R I Z O N A and hip-hop from Bryce Vine. Other highlights include Whethan, Elderbrook, Two Feet, Cautious Clay, Surf Mesa, Goth Babe, Bea Miller and Franc Moody.

Conceived as a team-building exercise for its producers, WESPAC Construction, the festival has raised $3.2 million for charity since launching in 2004, including $1.1 million donated in the last two years alone.

Details: 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 4; 1 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Margaret T. Hance Park, 1218 N. 2nd St., Phoenix. $75 a day; $125 for a weekend pass. m3ffest.com.

Body Language

This is the first year for this three-day festival designed to cater to the growing demand for house, techno and underground music from the folks at RBDeep, a Relentless Beats sub-brand. And it's off to an amazing start with marquee names including Carl Cox, Boris Brejcha, Adam Beyer and Kaskade. Other acts announced so far include Dombresky b2b Noizu, Drezo, Eats Everything, Hannah Wants, Kasablanca, Kyle Watson, Malaa, Rebūke, Shiba San, Sohmi, Teenage Mutants, Township Rebellion and Wax Motif.

Details: 3 p.m Friday, March 4-Sunday, March 6. Rawhide, 5700 W. North Loop Road, Gila River Reservation. $229 for a weekend pass. 480-502-5600, relentlessbeats.com.

Glendale Folk & Heritage Festival

The 32nd annual Folk & Heritage Festival will continue the celebration of folk music, its history and culture at historic Sahuaro Ranch Park. This free event is set to feature hundreds of performers from all over the country sharing their talents through music, poetry, art and workshops. Details are sparse by now but we will update as more details are announced.

Details: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, March 5-Sunday, March 6. Sahuaro Ranch Park historic area, 9802 N. 59th Ave., Glendale. Free. glendaleaz.com.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Top Arizona music festivals in 2022: Country Thunder, PHXLIGHTS, more