With 180 events taking place anywhere from 8-12 hours each day, some of those events include the well-known Ultra Music Festival, The Electronic Dance Music Awards, and Afterlife at the Miami Marine Stadium. Turquoise waters, white sand beaches, and pool parties claim the territory of Downtown Miami and Collins Avenue on Miami Beach all week, making MMW a sophisticated experience all ravers should experience. 

Planning your event and performance schedule every MMW is incredibly unique to you as you can plan events around the clock for 24-hours according to your favorite artists, organizers, and venues! Visiting some of the most renowned venues in the EDM scene such as Factory Town and Club Space is a bucket-list experience, especially if you’re dying to expose yourself outside of your local scene!  

In general, some B2B sets may reappear on different festival lineups here and there in order to reach the ears and hearts of more ravers. However, Miami Music Week truly curates B2B sets or even B2B2BB2B you can only experience for one and one night only making it a once-in-a -lifetime experience every year.

This week also encourages so many artists to share new music in the form of unreleased tracks, the debut of their record label’s events, or music from their side projects. 

The EDMAs: The Grammy’s of Electronic Dance Music

New ravers: have you ever heard of The Electronic Dance Music Awards (EDMAs)? In short, the EDMAs it’s an exclusive, upscale, and free red carpet event happening during Miami Music Week, look no further! Located at the Eden Roc Hotel, The EDMAs organizes surprise performers and a secret lineup announced just before the event begins.

EDM-enthusiasts can vote for their favrite artists, record labels, and request their favorite artists to appear as the guest performers. Thursday’s pre-party featured Luci, Dev, HAYLA, Sam Blacky and more! Friday's party (and afterparty) showcased deadmau5, Electric Polar Bears B2B Kastra, Tim Clark, and Kaskade! Eden Roc Hotel as a venue creates a close atmosphere for fans to meet their favorite artists as they hop off the small stage next to the Miami Beach shore!

The time to experience your favorite artist in the front row without fighting your way to the front is now and here at the EDMAs. This hotel-turned-venue even sells fresh coconut water with the Eden Roc Hotel logo branded on the coconut–take a walk on the finer, classy side! For a full recap of the winners, visit here. Come celebrate one of the biggest nights of the year in EDM and attend during MMW 2025! 

The Beauty of BLNK CNVS 

If you ever find yourself in Miami, BLNK CNVS curates some of the rarest and hedonistic-good EDM events! In short, good music is the name of the game for this organizer, especially curating 31 events in total for the entire week! Some of the most notable events were Deadbeats vs. Cyclops Recordings, Sidepiece: Kiss & Tell Pool Party, and Rezz - Can You See Me with special guest Dr. Fresch to name a few.

The rare element in BLNK CNVS events during MMW isn’t just their excellent showcase of surprise/secret guest performers but also its underground, experimental nature in lineup curation. One of the most secret lineups during the week was SVDDEN DEATH’s Miami debut of his dark house project Dead Room which featured Smoakland and SVDDEN DEATH himself! This specific event didn’t release a lineup, but SVDDEN DEATH shared the flier and ticket link like an easter egg surprise for those who love his side project!

At Deadbeats vs. Cyclops Recordings, Subtronics was the secret B2B guest artist performing alongside Zeds Dead! Subtronics shared his new remix of “Black Ice” with the crowd and made them feel like they couldn’t hear it anywhere else!

The dance floor was in a frenzy and by the end of the night, the dance floor was glistening with a layer of everyone’s fallen drinks–feral, right? And, if I’m being honest, seeing Marie Antoinette paintings at Mad Club Wynwood during Walker & Royce: Rules Don’t Apply felt like I was transcended into a rich mindset that didn’t include eating cake, but consuming some of the best EDM out there! 

John Summit in His Natural Habitat - Experts Only + Repopulate Mars MMW Opening at Factory Town 

Despite John Summit rising to fame from Chicago, IL, John Summit becomes an entirely different kind of feral animal when performing in Miami! John Summit, one of the biggest names in (tech) house, is the label head of Experts Only which used to be named Off The Grid.

As for Repopulate Mars, Lee Foss is the legend of deep house behind this label. Organized by Link Miami Rebels, this debut event taking place from 7pm-7am: Experts Only + Repopulate Mars was the opening night commencing both labels’ event series as the first of many to surface the EDM scene!

As many know John Summit as a master in house, Experts Only (including Experts Only Radio) allows him to produce anything and everything without creative limits! Don’t believe me? Check out this new unreleased ID taking place that night at Factory Town: John Summit x Tape B x Subtronics remix of Sage The Gemini’s “Gas Pedal”.

If you’re wondering if he screamed in the microphone, “Miami, how the fuck we feeling, baby?”, he indeed did it three times throughout the night. Other than John Summit and Lee Foss, Joshwa, Deeper Purpose, and Jake Shore. Seeing Joshwa B2B Lee Foss B2B Detlef was magic I know I wouldn’t have found anywhere else other than Miami Music Week!  

It’s Raining Dance Moves 

We all know ravers were in for a surprise to find themselves shuffling in murky puddles and trading kandi in plastic ponchos in the rain at Ultra Music Festival. But, what about other events happening at the same time? In MMW’s defense, dancing in the rain always feels cinematic! If you were anything like me, you waited in your hotel room in the hopes of saving yourself from catching a cold. Factory Town and other venues were forced to postpone events for safety reasons just as Ultra Music Festival.

Pool parties were either postponed until weather conditions improved or were moved indoors, so it wasn’t a disaster by any means. But, flight delays soon followed and I decided to stay in Miami for an extra day spending the afternoon on the beach with a coconut–don’t you love happy accidents? Allow this be a cautionary tale to always check the weather before planning your MMW experience! 

Scenic Beaches and DJ-Artists Sightings

After Saturday’s rainstorms, “Happy Miami Music Week” was the message gleamed across the sky of Miami beach shores’ skies from an airplane banner, on the dance floor between never-seen-before performances. Most pool parties taking place on Collins Avenue had exits that lead directly on white-sand paths leading to beach shores on your way to another event. In the best way, I wasn’t used to this as most festival campgrounds lead to forests or deserts! Most DJ-producers are there at MMW to perform, accept an award at The EDMAs, or partake in the experience as well! It’s casual to see artists join their friends on stage for surprise B2B sets or to enjoy the ambiance.

I happened to see Walker & Royce and Nala join the stage to enjoy the vibes during John Summit’s performance at Factory Town! Not only that, I met Wenzday in line at Mad Club Wynwood and she happened to remember when I interviewed her in 2023! It wasn’t long until I saw one of her best friends BIJOU follow behind. It’s seeing your favorite artists in their natural habitat of music that makes MMW magical!  

Thinking about experiencing the magic of MMW in 2025? Visit the official Miami Music Week website here for all information and upcoming updates!

So that's how I approached Get Lucky 2024. I had no expectations, and yet I left excited and inspired with a few new favorites to add to my Spotify library. 

The Lineup

I've heard that there are unique challenges in a smaller festival market that bigger festivals don't often see. One of those challenges is balancing a lineup with enough new acts to make the event feel exciting and fresh for veteran ravers while appealing to a wider market with massive headliners.

This challenge is clear in a lineup like Get Lucky, which balances massive acts that have been around for years—like Dillon Francis, Flux Pavilion, and Destructo—with niche or up and coming artists like Cannabliss or Koven who have been making their way onto lineups at some of the major festivals around the globe. This balance brings together a bit of nostalgia and discovery, and made the overall Get Lucky experience feel easy to navigate. Since each stage kept to one genre throughout both of the nights, you could easily identify which artists you wanted to check out based on who the respective headliners were. 

Then there are the legends. Throughout the two days of the festival I had heard consistent chatter and excitement for the closing set from Chase and Status on Saturday night. Fresh off the win of the coveted Producer of The Year Award at the Brits for 2024, excitement for this DJ set was unavoidable from just about everyone at Get Lucky—and it lived up to the hype. 

I'm not going to say DJ'ing is easy because I don't possess that skill personally, but I will say that when you hear a legendary DJ, you don't forget it. Flawlessly mixing together sounds to build excitement and energy, Saul Milton (one-half of the duo who played at the festival that night) is a master at crowd manipulation. After seeing one of the most memorable DJ sets I've seen in years, it will be hard for other festivals to beat Get Lucky on my list of favorite festivals of 2024. 

The Venue

Salt Lake is small—at least by comparison to larger cities like LA and Miami. There aren't many festival venues available, and there are even fewer venues that will let an event go later than midnight. That leaves The Great Saltair as the preferred venue for events like Get Lucky and other electronic music festivals throughout the year. While it has its drawbacks—like the long drive out to the Great Salt Lake—it's still a beloved venue with enough space to hold a large dance floor. 

Get Lucky did a great job with adding art installments, vendors, and attractions to make the venue fun to explore. No area ever felt too crowded—even at the rail—and there was never a line that was more than a couple of minutes long. 

The Vibe

Even though it's still technically a winter festival, Get Lucky ushered in the start of festival season with positive vibes all around and some fun memories that will be hard to top this year. On Friday Night Dillon Francis brought out a cop onstage to celebrate the release of his new song "Bad Cop" with VINNE, and the crowd's excitement throughout both nights showed that a festival like Get Lucky, which showcases several genres across dance music from house and techno to drum and bass. 

For those who have never attended this 4-day camping festival over Halloween weekend, it may be hard to understand just how special this place is. Between the people, the nature, the music, the art, and the vibes, Hulaween is the ultimate happy place for a festival-lover. Spirit Lake, specifically, creates the heartbeat of Hulaween. The positive energy here is tangible - a buzzing magic that pulses through your entire body with every step as you explore the grounds.

Let me paint a picture for you.

Sun beams peek through spooky strands of Spanish Moss hanging in the trees. Golden hour at Suwannee is a special time - painting the grounds with a warm glow. Magic is in the air.

You walk through the entrance to Spirit Lake - surrounded by Chris Dyer murals and a beautiful arch (projection mapped at night), opening up into the new and improved Spirit Lake stage on your right, with the shimmering lake to your left. Massive trees adorned with Spanish Moss lead your way. You continue on this path, passing tons of smiling faces and dancing people in fun costumes. It’s Halloween weekend, so everyone is dressed up in amazing costumes and radiating positive vibes. 

As you continue your walk, you encounter mind-blowing art installations - including stunning hand-painted murals, a huge witch and her cauldron (climb inside!), a giant wooden spider (yes, you could sit inside the spider butt this year!), the massive Frick Frack Black Jack casino (gambling with the most ridiculous items), the House of Lost spooky outdoor cathedral, and many, many more. The deeper you explore, the more magic you uncover. On the far side of the lake is the Campground Stage, and plenty more art to see.

Spirit Lake is sprawling with hidden gems to explore and spots to sit down and take it all in.

As night falls, lights begin to turn on and you can feel the shift in vibes… it’s time to boogie. Costumes change and the people are ready to dance the night away. Colored lights illuminate the trees, art installations switch from day to night with stunning LEDs, and suddenly, you’re transported to another world. Night time at Hulaween feels like you’re on another planet.

Festival Highlights

The peak moment of the weekend for me was The String Cheese Incident’s iconic Saturday night set. If you’re a Hulaween veteran, you know this is the highlight of the weekend. Everyone in the venue is gathered together at the main stage for the themed set, where Cheese covers iconic songs relating to the festival theme that year. Everywhere you look, spanning the entire, massive field, people are grooving, smiling, singing, being silly, and basking in the pure magic of the moment. A sea of lights, smiles, and beautiful people. The sense of unity, oneness, and happiness bursting from the crowd is palpable, and enough to bring tears to my eyes. This is why I come to Hulaween year after year.

Another mind blowing set during Hula was Of The Trees. My entire festival family was there together and we were absolutely blown away by this performance! High-energy, bass-infused magic permeated the entire crowd.

CloZee and Manic Focus, who continue to bring top-tier energy to Suwannee time and time again, wooed the crowd with radiating, dreamy vibes. Eazybaked delivered a heavy-hitting set full of uptempo bangers, getting everyone at the Amp Stage moving and grooving.

I was really looking forward to J.I.D’s set, since I had never seen him live before. What a beautiful experience! Adding a flair of hip hop into my Suwannee schedule was a huge success and my squad really enjoyed the energy.

The Desert Hearts Takeover won my heart, ending the weekend high on vibes. We got a heavy dose of house and techno infused with the purest love.

The Music

Although I’d seen Mr. Daniel Goldstein plenty of times, this was my first time seeing PRAANA, Le Youth, and CloZee. Due to work, I wasn’t able to catch any of Luzi Tudor’s uplifting house and techno. 

When I arrived at the LASHP, my eyes were overcome by the PRAANA’s cinematic visuals. The duo’s energetic sound kept the crowd warm just as the sun began to set. Next was Le Youth, a name I’ve heard before but never seen. The breeze could have scolded me for forgetting my sweater, but the deep, joyful style sent chills throughout my body. The final guest was CloZee who took me by surprise. I am not well-versed with future bass but the French artist came at me with the right amount of wub and dub to the point where my face could not stop scrunching in approval. 

Now Lane 8, well, he took me on a feelz-trip. I remember how dark I felt when he played “Opium” by Alastor & Jerome Isma Ae and the once flamboyant visuals shifted to a void of black screens and white lasers. Or the rush of euphoria when my friends and I held each other as we tried to sing along to “Don’t Let Me Go” after a couple of whiskies. For three hours, he played every track to its last beat. His long transitions made me feel a sense of closure between each emotional chapter of the Reviver Tour.

When the lights came on after “Little Voices” finished, I thought the show was over before hearing the one song I wanted to share with my friends. But that Daniel is a trickster as he came back on stage for an encore and played “Brightest Lights” mashed up with “My Purple iPod Nano (Salute remix).”

Normally, I would spend a lot of time recording parts of the performance for notes or a future video. But not being on my phone allowed me to be fully immersed as I heard every catalyst, every synth, and the weight of every beat.

The Venue

Surprisingly, this was my first time attending a show at the LASHP. I’m amazed at how deep the stage was in the park and how Goldenvoice set up the perimeter where it would be difficult for someone to try and hear the music outside. The event didn’t sell out, but it felt packed at times, especially on the left side since it was the first area one would see upon entering. The right side was pretty much empty the whole show. So for future reference, the right side has additional (and probably cleaner) bathrooms, various food trucks, and a buck ton of bartenders (saving you about 30 minutes of waiting). 

The Vibes 

It was a mix mash of people wearing Lane 8 merch; people dipped in black techno wear or those few dawning elaborate outfits matching their vibrant personalities. Though I didn’t wear any, I saw several people wearing Kandi and one glover. So, I tip my hat at thee. I suppose this show felt like it was in between a rave and a house concert.

Compared to EDC or Dreamstate, I would say the vibes here aren’t as pleasant, but on par with other house events I've attended. There weren’t many trains rushing to the front, and people were generally friendly, but a few of my friends did get their personal space invaded, which is never ok. Honestly, none of that really mattered anyways because I was surrounded by love and compassion. 

When my friends asked me in July if I wanted to join them, I hesitated since I was unemployed. However, I eventually caved. Despite my reckless decision, rolling the dice on seeing Lane 8 with my friends, whom I’d not seen in ages, was the best decision I’d made all year. Since then, my heart feels full whenever I hear “Sunday Song” and remember the late-night shenanigans that never happened.

Lost Lands, also fondly referred to by its patrons as “Dubstep Disneyland,” is located just outside of Columbus in a small town named Thornville, Ohio. A Mecca of bass music, festival goers gather from across the country to catch the largest names in bass music and to discover the rising stars of our scene.

When it comes to evolving the festival experience at Lost Lands, Excision and his team did not take “baby steps” making big changes. Once a two-stage, 500,000 watts of bass hub of dubstep, Lost Lands in its fifth year back is now home to seven unique stages, bass music encompasses multiple sub genres, and so many watts of bass that they had to stop counting.

The Venue

Everywhere you walk in Legend Valley, there is something to see, interact with, and experience. Dinosaur rangers instructing you on a quest, giant mushrooms, fire-emitting metal sculptures, hammock-filled trees and life-sized dinosaurs as far as the eye can see. The options for festival adventures could easily take up an entire day if you can manage to stay away from all the phenomenal sets playing around you. 

The Music

Artists like Space Laces, Troyboi, Subtronics, and Excision himself smacked us with bass at the massive main stage, the Prehistoric Evolution, while other big names like Kai Wachi, Kill the Noise, Black Tiger Sex Machine, and Illenium threw down at Wompy Woods, the second main stage. Guests got to switch it up amongst the LED lit trees at the Forest Stage with DnB and bass house sets from the likes of Downlink, Modestep, Dr. Fresch, and Stumpi (Wooli’s new house project). Once just used as a bar, SoDown, DirtySnatcha, and Ruvlo (literally) brought the heat at the flame-engulfed Asteroid stage. While at the Subsidia stage, guests were able to catch sets from Excision’s own record label started in 2020 featuring artists like RZRKT, Stoned Level, and Freaky.

The changes this year were most notably found in the space between the main stage, the Prehistoric Evolution Stage, and the secondary main stage, the Wompy Woods. Trees that once lined the sides of the Wompy Woods requiring guests to enter in from one direction were cleared out between the two main stages allowing more space for the crowd at Wompy and a more streamlined path to bounce between sets when the inevitable time conflict arose. The long needed sound bleeding issue between the two stages was also addressed this year allowing guests to be fully immersed into the set they were attending. 

Features

A chapel made from dinosaur bones appeared as the new heart of the village marketplace in the campgrounds this year. It was surrounded by vendors selling flow toys, festival gear and drool-worthy bites, and centered on a stage large enough to be used in the main festival grounds where the pre-preparty started as early as Wednesday night.

The Sound Camps also improved this year, both in the stages where the artists got to perform and, most noticeably, in the increased volume attendants got to experience “after hours.” Guests were treated to sets by artists like Muerte, Bandlez, Wodd, and Emorfik as the days wound to a close each night.

The Vibe

Lost Lands is easily my favorite festival in the world and my fourth year back this year only set it more into stone. If you are a lover of bass music or even think you could get into it, a visit to the Dubstep Disneyland is a must. The vibes of the attendees are hands down the most immaculate out of the countless festivals I’ve attended. We are all one tribe, as the stones placed carefully throughout the venue like to remind us.

This is a festival where lifelong friendships are made with strangers from across the country. This is where we gift one another with toy babies, finger puppets, and dinosaurs. This is where being freely you is not only accepted, but celebrated.

This is Lost Lands.

This is my home.

Green Velvet, Francesca Lombardo, Carlita, and Bakke came to party on July 16. Starting his set around 4 a.m., Green Velvet dropped bangers like Barbee, Jolean, and even a remix of the iconic 1981 track Tainted Love, which had everyone in Club Space grooving. Green Velvet played a euphoric 4-hour set into the early morning hours.

Green plant vines were draped across the ceiling and mixed with neon lights to create a dark, rave jungle environment. People danced atop small platforms in the crowd. Through the chaos of Space, club workers swept brooms and mopped the floors under dancing feet. It certainly was a clean club, but watching these workers make their way through the crowd with brooms, mops, and buckets made me chuckle.

After dancing for 7 blissful hours, I walked down the stairs towards the club exit, where the walls were covered with glowing, psychedelic, rainbow paintings. Blue, neon, honeycomb lights shined bright on the ceiling. Downstairs, people lounged on couches, exhausted from an intense night of dancing. The entry and exit way to the street looked like a subway station, and when I stumbled out of the club, morning light hit my face and sweet, tropical sunshine reminded me exactly where I was—downtown Miami.

What a vibe! Looking to attend an event at Club Space? Check out their website for upcoming events: www.clubspace.com.

Held at the Orlando Amphitheater at the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, Florida, Forbidden Kingdom has what Bass Canyon and Lost Lands do not: heat. Both days of the festivals were around ninety degrees with clear blue skies, combated by Insomniac East with plenty of water stations and places to rest in the shade.

With five different stages, the set options—and conflicts—were not lacking. Though primarily filled with the nasty snarls of dubstep and riddim, patrons could add a little…spice to their schedule with artists such as Sodown, Griz, Deathpact, and more.

The lineup was truly art this year with spectacular artists big and small making their way onto the roster. Seven Lions and Excision closed out the larger stages day one after attendees got to enjoy a plethora of solo acts and phenomenal B2Bs like those featuring Getter and Space Laces or Buku and G-Rex.

Day 2

Day two started off strong with up and coming talent such as Muerte. The day didn’t slow down as artist upon artist brought the heat—particularly, Svdden Death who said “goodbye” to his moose mask and “hello” to fire breathing in Voyd 2: Into the Inferno—until the final acts featuring Subtronics and Rezz, who both ended their individual sets with their track together, “Puzzle Box.” Was this planned? We may never know.

The festival grounds themselves were just the right size of being large enough for attendees to not be crowded, but small enough that you didn’t need to spend fifteen minutes trying to get to another stage. There were plenty of places for photo ops with setups featuring castles, dragons, and more.

VIP was a special experience providing its own special photo locations, a swing set, kandi and glitter bars, flushable toilets, bars and food trucks, and spray sunscreen and deodorant for those who forgot theirs. At night, the VIP concierge placed out wearable glow sticks and LED necklaces. The jewel of the VIP section was hands down the area carved out of the pit so VIPers could walk right up to the rail and dance close to the stage without being over crowded.

The festival’s theme of an enchanted medieval kingdom inspired many guests to dress up as dragons, and it’s color scheme was reflected by black and red portrayed time and time again. There were several dragons spotted roaming through the grounds

If you are into the heavy wubs, Forbidden Kingdom should most certainly have a place on your Festival Bucket List. From its fire lineup to a theme everyone could play a part of, FK is a festival I would be happy to attend year after year. Thank you, Insomniac East, for putting together a weekend that allowed for countless happy memories to be made for myself and so many others. Until next time.

Local star Mr. Brooks kicked off the celebration with a high octane set that had everyone dancing like we were in the final hours of a festival. I was already flirting with the limitations of my deodorant by the time Ruben de Ronde took over. Despite it being hot as balls and my body being covered in dried sweat, I could not stop grooving to the melodic music coming from the Dutchman. Luckily, I was able to catch my breath when Ruben slowed the tempo with Above & Beyond’s “Can’t Sleep” ft. Ashley Tomberlin.

After Ruben was Gabriel & Dresden. The California duo blew my mind with a set blurring the boundaries between trance and progressive. Between mashups of “Tracking Treasure Down” and “Heaven Scent” mixed in with remixes from names such as Layton Giordani and tracks from Cristoph, G&D hard flexed their prowess as both DJs and producers.

Cosmic Gate also took me down a rabbit hole filled with hard synths, distorted horns, and plucking claps threaded together by a powerful kick drum. It was a musical journey of past and present as I heard “Retrospection,” ft. Greenhaven DJs, and their iconic “Exploration of Space.” Their set was so dark that management had to turn on the lights!

So, Armin. Honestly, it was effin’ awesome! The man of the hour opened with a few new IDs, including his new song promoting peace and love. There was a live performance from Kazi Jay, intense 3D visuals accompanied by lasers upon lasers, and fireworks! His set took me on a roller coaster of emotions when I heard my song “Airport Shivers,” a mashup he did with Photographer.

When he played “Great Spirit,” everyone started jumping- from the floor to the stands to the security in the back. Even I, a man with bad knees surviving the night on $20 pizza and a Rockstar, had the rebel ignited inside of me (***wink*wink***). Gareth Emery made a surprise appearance during the encore when Armin featured their new collaboration with vocals from Owl City.

ASOT was a dang good time, but let me tell you about MaRLo. The Australian burst onto the stage with his track “Visions,” followed by Planet Funk’s “Chase the Sun” and a mashup of Gareth Emery’s “Saving Light.” His uplifting sound filled with big room drops set to the background of vibrant orange and red flashing from the ginormous LED screens was a vibe, and I was there for it.

My favorite moment of the night was when Triode and LA singer Linney joined MaRLo on stage to debut their new project. When Linney got on top of the decks and began singing Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” my heart skipped a beat.

“I didn’t know until that morning that I would be called on stage to join MaRLo and Linney, who did such an incredible performance,” Triode told me. It was a dream come true for the Bay Area DJ when MaRLo played two of their collabs back-to-back: "Wake Me Up” and “Castles In The Sky.” “I was thinking as I was walking off stage: seeing a huge crowd react so positively to a song you made on your laptop is a producer's dream come true.”

ASOT reminded me of my love for trance. A shoutout to all the DJs who filled my heart with an endless combination of percussion and melodies, each with its own rhythm. A shoutout to all of the passion, empathy, and respect I felt at the show elevating me to another level. And a shoutout to my bank account since I maxed out my credit card, but it was all worth it because my love for A State of Trance has no limit.

1000/10 will def do again!

Get Lucky is a two-day festival jam packed with some of the hottest electronic music artists from around the world. This year the lineup featured two main headliners, Kaskade and Seven Lions. Kaskade replaced Fisher after a last-minute cancellation, which was a fun surprise since it's always a good time to see Kaskade.

The 2020 Get Lucky was canceled the day before the event back when we all thought we would be taking a two week hiatus. Now, finally, after being able to return once again, Get Lucky came back stronger than ever and the vibes were amazing with a stage production that did not disappoint.

Author @sarinababy_raves
Photo: Chatterz

The Music

Get Lucky’s original headliners were Fisher and Seven Lions, but due to a personal matter, Fisher was unable to make it out. Luckily, V2 Presents had Kaskade in their back pocket, to which he delivered an amazing set. The event also hosted some other artists such as Jason Ross, Kill The Noise, Rusko, Valentino Kahn, John Summit, and some of Salt Lake City’s local legends and up and coming DJs.

Some of my favorite sets were Rusko, John Summit, Seven Lions, and Gem and Tauri. Each artist had delivered a unique set and exceeded all expectations. You could vibe inside to some house music at the Celtic Palace, or head out to the Tent Of Gold, to experience heavier bass. I highly recommend checking out both stages since they are so close together, you won’t miss hardly any time walking between sets.

V2's spring and fall events are usually a bit more laidback than their summer festivals, making them a great intro to the rave scene if it's your first time attending a festival.

Photo: DAAR Creative

The Venue

The Great Saltair is a beautiful venue with a lot of history dating back to the early 1870s, and has since been rebuilt a number of times. Since it's right on the Great Salt Lake, the venue has pretty unbeatable sunset views and is one of the more scenic festival spots in the US.

The Saltair was advertised as the world's largest dance floor back in those early days and hosted nearly half a million people annually. It is a very interesting place to read about since it has so much history and it’s kind of cool to think about how much has happened at this exact venue. It's definitely one of the more historic dance floors in the United States. You can read about the history here.

Get Lucky is fairly close to Salt Lake City, as it is only about a 20 minute drive and there are hotels as close as 10 minutes away from the venue. The venue also has shuttle buses to and from to make it more convenient for people who are not familiar with the area. Uber prices tend to vary, but I would recommend scheduling one ahead of time since the pickup process can be hectic.

Photo: Chatterz

Overall

Get Lucky has always been one of my favorite events here in Utah, and over the years we have seen it grow to a much larger scale. If you have been thinking of going but have not made the trip yet, I would highly recommend checking it out. The people here are very nice and welcome all newcomers with open arms. Like I said, it's a great spot for your first rave or festival.

V2 Presents has a few upcoming festivals if you missed your chance to attend Get Lucky. Check out the event called Get Funky, which is an all house music and is a one stage, one vibe kind of festival happening May 27th and 28th. Das Energi Festival, which is Utah’s largest festival, is happening this summer August 12th and 13th, for its 10-year anniversary.

Oh, and try the chicken strips.

CRSSD takes place in San Diego's Waterfront Park, which is just off of Little Italy and within walking distance of the downtown area. The spring and fall, which is when each version of CRSSD takes place, is a great time to be in the area since it's usually warmer than other parts of the country. It's a great getaway festival if you want to escape cold weather and enjoy some time in the sun.

CRSSD Spring 2022

After its highly-anticipated return, CRSSD Spring 2022 was off the charts for amazing house, techno and some live acts! This year's Spring festival was jam packed with so much good talent that it was extremely hard to choose which sets to go to. Between the three stages, over the two days, they had some heaters jam packed all day, and all night.

Some of my favorite sets were Sara Landry, Adam Beyer, Sofi Tukker (live), Get Real, and Sam Paganini. Sam Paganini was the first techno artist I had ever seen live over 9 years ago, and that’s when I fell in love with this type of music.

The vibes at CRSSD Spring 2022 were immaculate. Everyone seemed to be in a happy and friendly mood. This festival was the perfect way to start off the spring festival season. If you have ever been to a CRSSD festival before, this is usually the case as there are positive vibes all around! After almost two years without big festivals, getting back into the usual spring festival schedule with CRSSD to kick it off felt just right.

The Venue

Waterfront Park is always top notch and always feels like you’re in the perfect atmosphere for a vacation festival. The festival is right next to the ocean, surrounded by palm trees and beautiful antique ships right next to Downtown San Diego. You can never go wrong with this venue. It’s location is one of my favorite venues as it is so close to so many hotels and there is so much to do around the area.

The Food

The food & drink choices were always so accommodating to everyone’s eating and drinking habits. There were a lot of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options throughout the entire festival. Their drink menu also seemed to have a lot of local breweries that were some of my favorites!

Overall I have been going to CRSSD for a few years now and it has always treated me well! I don’t know many people who have gone to CRSSD and had a bad time ever. I highly recommend checking out this festival, even if you don’t know the artists. You will be sure to fall in love with some amazing acts by the end of it!

CRSSD Fall 2022 has not been announced yet, but you can bet it's going to be just as amazing as the Spring 2022 event was since festivals have been gone for so long. Keep an eye out for news about the Fall 2022 festival here.

Because the event was held smack-dab in the middle of LA, there was not much space. The North Stage, which was home to tech-house DJs such as Lee Foss and Sonny Fodera, and the South Stage, the savage land of techno with the sounds of Loco Dice and Marco Carola, was connected by a narrow walkway where people swam upstream to catch the end of a DJ set. There were plenty of volunteers helping the traffic flow, but trying to herd cattle would have been easier.

Toilets were conveniently located at the entrance of both stages. There were enough port-a-potties for you to take a wee if your group is making the journey to the next DJ. The South Stage had a rest area with food trucks for anyone’s dietary needs. Unless you don’t care about diet, you could take a bite out of the Cinnabon truck. My pick of the night was the Billionaire Burger Club.

If there were any complaints about the night, it would have to be the design choice for the North Stage because there was absolutely no room for dancing. The sides of the stage were cluttered with bars and people trying to bulldoze to the front. Not as many people went on Sunday as they did on Saturday, so the spacing issue wasn’t as bad.

The highlight of my weekend was seeing two of Naples's best techno DJs (IMO) of today: Anfisa Letyago and Deborah De Luca. Holy moly, their set was absolutely mental. Their sets were a barrage of dark 808s, acid riffs, and unexpected remixes. It was strong “Britney'' energy. I knew I was in for a treat Sunday when I turned to my friend at the end of Letyago’s set and asked, “Yo bro, is she playing psytrance?!”

All in all, Skyline was a good time. I hope Insomniac can allocate more room for dancing and travel in the future if they decide to bring the festival back to LA. The music was great, the food was great, and the friend lineup was stacked. Plus, seeing Luca and Letyago was the sweet, sweet cherry of the weekend.

10 out of 10, will probably do again.

Lightning In A Bottle 2016 was hosted at the San Antonio Recreation Area in Bradley, CA May 25-30, 2016. Selling out at just about 35,000 people, the event was filled to the brim with attendees. There were a lot of areas I explored my second year at LiB that were new discoveries to me, and I’m sure there’s still a ton more to see. No matter how much you prepare, there’s simply not enough time to check out all of the awesome activities going on, though I do think this year I was able to make a lot more of my festival weekend.

One thing I discovered this year was there are so many more places to listen to music than the main stage. Call me a snob, but anyone who didn’t make it further than the three main stages of LiB and claimed to have a “life changing experience” has not experienced what LiB is about, and truthfully probably just went to party. Not that there’s anything wrong with what’s going on at the main stages, there’s definitely a lot happening there, but if that’s the only place you went all of LiB…I question your experience.

This year, overall I spent very little time at the three main stages. The various micro-environments played music all day long, and even some of the yoga areas turned into really fun DJ sets after hours. Saturday night dancing in one of the yoga tents was a highlight for me since it has soft floors and you had to take off your shoes.

Games at Frontierville, a micro-environment

Frontierville, one of the micro-environments, became a favorite spot of mine this year as well. Beyond the funky music they played all day and night, there were lots of other fun little things going on that you could just wander upon. One night we played some carnival games, where you could win fun prizes– from a lucky rabbit’s foot to a bottle of whisky. On Sunday we witnessed the LiB Revival, complete with a “reverend” and a “baptismal bath”.

The characters that wandered around Frontierville making it feel authentic were super entertaining to watch, but even more fun to join in with. Each of the micro-environments encourages participation, and it’s definitely a lot of fun!

It’s really incredible the structures that are built around the festival for each of these micro-environments. Some were two stories, allowing attendees to climb to the top for different views. One really cool spot was the Thunder Hotel at LiB. The outside looked like an old frontier hotel, where once the doors opened each night at 10pm, there was a lot of buzz. A lobby boy with a French accent yelled at guests, asking for their reservations. People yelled back saying they had a VIP suite for 3, or booked a room two nights ago and were on the list. It didn’t take us long to realize it was all a show, and people were BS-ing their way into access to the closed doors of the hotel.

Acro Yoga in front of the Woogie Stage

Once inside, it was like a fun house. There were multiple rooms set up you could wander through, with scavenger hunt clues hidden throughout. This was truly so surprising to find in the middle of nowhere, built up so well. 

Beyond the micro-environments, there were also fun activities and lectures I tried. One morning we gave acroyoga a shot, something I’ve never done before. This was super hard, but the awesome thing was that no one was judging my lack of balance, but instead there were people helping me learn.

I felt just as welcome attending lectures and classes on topics I’d never heard of before. I spend a lot of time this year in the Village, especially at the Ancestral Arts tent and Permaculture Hub, two areas I really wanted to learn about.

At the Permaculture Hub I made seed bombs, mud mixed with seeds wrapped in clay, that we threw into the river bed to hopefully grow new wildflowers. This class was led by Natalie Flores, who talked about the guerrilla gardens she is creating all over Venice, CA with the seed bombs she creates.

I also found it really interesting to learn about Ancestral Arts. Saturday I attended a class on Salmon Skin Tanning with Benjamin Pixie. Who knew that salmon skins could be turned into leather? 

The Lucent Temple of Consciousness was not only a great place to escape from the hot sun, but an awesome place to listen speakers on a wide range of topics. We wandered in from time to time some for specific lectures but also just to see what was going on. On Friday we fell into The Liberators: Freedom Expression Session, which had so much fun energy. This lecture was done via small activities that made the gathered crowd  interact with each other in ways from handshake games to animal howls that left the room with permanent smiles.

This year we also explored some of the kids / teen activities. I’ll admit I was entranced by the children I saw romping around Lightning In A Bottle. There were all ages, from tiny toddlers waddling around, to 9 and 10 year olds going on adventures in packs. While some people might think that festivals are not a place for children, I did find that the activities and areas designated for children did offer a great experience for these kids. 

Dr. Solar’s Good Time, Traveling Medicine Show was definitely a crowdpleaser for the children. I don’t know which was more fun to watch, Dr. Solar’s show, or the children watching Dr. Solar’s show. It was magical to see the way the kids were mesmerized by his mysteries.

Then each night, as the sun set on LiB in Bradley, CA, a whole new festival began to take shape. Those hiding from the sun all day in tents or lectures begin to fill the open spaces of the grounds while the air cooled down.

LiB is unique in all of it’s LED fashion and flow arts. No festival I’ve been to has as much creativity as I’ve seen at here. Perhaps this is because most festivals and raves ban the use of hoops, gloves, poi, and any LED items, whereas LiB celebrates these arts, and lets creativity flow through the night in neon waves of color.  

The stages gleam with lasers and colorful displays, while the attendees dot the landscape with their flow arts or unique outfit pieces they have adapted to glow through the night.

The LED community that is displayed around LiB is intoxicating, and this year, I got the chance to ride the Ferris wheel, where I was able to get a full view of the night lights. I think  during the day would be a different experience to see the tents stretching far across the festival grounds, and hopefully I get to take in that view next year.

There’s clearly so much effort that goes into all of the amazing details of LiB. From the cool two-story structures that are built to exist for just a few days each year, to the colorful stages that contrast the stark dryness of the lakebed. It is easy for me to feel more connected to nature in this environment, where you find people sitting around each day to watch the sunset. 

While Lightning In A Bottle is definitely larger in number of attendees than last year, I never felt cramped in any area, which is a testament to the layout of the grounds. It’s also due to the nature of the attendees. It’s so nice how I can walk through the crowds in front of a stage because people don’t pack around to worship a DJ. Instead, people leave space around their groups so everyone can dance and have fun, because that’s what the music is about.

Lightning In A Bottle is easily still my favorite festival, there’s no experience quite like it. I look forward to seeing what adventures are in store next year for me.