The Warped Tour is a traveling rock
festival that has toured the United States
(including 3 or 4 stops in Canada) annually each summer since 1995. It is the
largest traveling music festival in the
United States, and the longest-running
touring music festival in North America. The first Warped Tour took place in
1995, and the skateboard shoe manufacturer Vans became the main sponsor of the tour starting with the second
tour in 1996, when it became known as
the Vans Warped Tour.Although Vans
has continued to be the main sponsor
and lend its name to the festival, other sponsors have also participated, with
stages or other aspects of the festival
sometimes being named after them.