Avril Lavigne is hitting the Vans Warped Tour for the first time ever. The singer will make her festival debut at the Washington D.C. stop in June.
“This summer I’ll be on the second round of my Greatest Hits Tour, so it worked out perfectly to hit up the Warped Tour in Washington D.C.,” Lavigne said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “So many of the bands I grew up listening to got their start playing this legendary tour and many of my friends are nostalgic for those parking lot summers, so I’m excited to be a part of this new rendition,” she added.
Lavigne will join 3OH!3, Bowling For Soup, Simple Plan, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, among other already-announced artists playing the D.C. stop. That tour stop will be particularly nostalgic for the singer: Simple Plan are also opening for Lavigne on her Greatest Hits Tour more than 20 years after they were an opening act on her first headlining tour.
Lavigne’s Warped Tour debut coincides with the festival’s triumphant return for its 30th anniversary with three two-day festivals in Washington, D.C. (June 14-15), Long Beach, California (July 26-27), and Orlando, Florida (Nov. 15-16), featuring 70 to 100 acts in each city. Since the end of January, Warped Tour has been unveiling its full lineup in a series called “30 Days of Warped,” which will commence on Feb. 26. The unorthodox approach to festival lineup announcements aligns with Warped Tour’s mission to highlight smaller, up-and-coming artists. Additionally, lineup posters will be organized alphabetically in order to give equal representation to every artist. The full list of artists who have been announced can be found here.
Warped Tour is aiming to capture the charm of its heyday for this year’s edition with a mix of iconic acts like Lavigne and up and coming artists. “It’ll always remind you of that parking lot, that backyard party, that’s what Warped Tour was,” founder Kevin Lyman told Rolling Stone when this year’s festival dates were announced.
Lavigne is especially excited for a famous Warped Tour tradition: the post-show barbecue each night where one band cooks for the other bands and crew members. “I already keep a grill under my bus and break it out on my own tours, so I’m looking forward to those after show BBQ’s everyone talks about,” she said.
