This weekend, Jersey City — not our beloved New York City — becomes the main attraction for the biggest musical event of the summer. The first (hopefully annual) All Points West music and arts festival will invade Liberty State Park with three days of concerts by 45 artists, as well as audience amusements such as a Sony PlayStation tent and the TRASHed Recycling Store, where attendees can trade in recyclable goods for merchandise. All Points West was conceived by Goldenvoice, the promotional company responsible for establishing the legendary Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. In years past, New York has seen imitators of that festival, such as the Field Day concert of 2003, fall flat, but with backing from Goldenvoice, and with help from the Highline company (which also runs the Highline Ballroom in Chelsea), officials hope that APW can grow into the East Coast’s answer to Coachella.

While the usual suspects of the touring festival scene, including Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, and Trey Anastasio, serve as headliners, it’s the lesser-known and independent artists that will benefit from this large stage. New York-based electro-pop duo Chromeo, featuring Dave 1 (David Macklovitch, also a Ph.D. candidate in French literature at Columbia University) and P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel), released their second album, “Fancy Footwork,” last year, suffusing danceable, sophisticated beats with humourous quirks on songs such as “My Girl Is Calling Me (A Liar)” and “Bonafied Lovin'” (Chromeo performs on Saturday). Also performing among the list of electronic artists is CSS, a São Paulo, Brazil-based band whose name is an abbreviation for “cansei de ser sexy,” which in Brazilian Portuguese translates into “I got tired of being sexy.” The band isn’t too tired, though, of releasing countless online remixes of songs by other artists, a habit that has made it a Web log favorite. CSS, of course, also records its own hit singles, including “Alala,” released earlier this year (CSS performs on Friday).

The concerts take place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on three separate stages, with gates opening at noon every day. The festival’s Web site (apwfestival.com) does not list individual set times for artists, but it does state that concerts are expected to end at 11 p.m. each night — so work backward if you want to figure out when a specific artist is playing (the Web site has a comprehensive FAQ section; read it before buying tickets or traveling to the park).

If you’re traveling from the city, a ferry from Pier 11 on Wall Street will carry passengers to and from the festival each day until all attendees have left the grounds at night. To purchase tickets, visit the festival’s Web site. Attendees can also take NJ Transit trains from Penn Station into the Hoboken Terminal, and then transfer to NJT’s Light Rail system to get to the park. For complete scheduling information, visit njtransit.com. Driving is an option, but the festival only offers parking if groups buy a car-pooling package.

An important note: One-day passes for Saturday are sold out. In order to see Saturday’s performances, you must either purchase a three-day pass or explore the festival’s VIP or car-pooling packages. For what’s shaping up to be a legitimate rival to Coachella, though, it is definitely worth the investment.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, gates open at noon each day, Liberty State Park, Jersey City, $89 for single-day tickets, $258 for three-day pass. For complete information, visit apwfestival.com.