HARD Summer Music Festival, hosted by Insomniac Events, took place this past weekend on July 31- August 1, 2021. It was a much-needed festival and left me with a broken neck and happy heart, figuratively speaking.
HARD Summer took place at San Bernadino’s National Orange Event Center in the heat of the California desert. It's a far drive for anyone that doesn't live in the area, but that did not stop over 100,000 people from raging to their favorite electronic and rap artists. With headliners like Rezz, Future, Kayzo, DJ Snake, Malaa, and many other talented artists, HARD Summer gave off immaculate vibes for a wide variety of music tastes. I was able shuffle and speed dance at Bijou’s set, then run over to vibe out and bounce around at Blunts and Blondes wobbly set, sing along to my favorite hits by Future, then break my neck and mosh at Kayzo’s closing set. It was so fun to be able to experience all of these different vibes in one festival experience.
The festival ran from 2pm to midnight each day and had a super cool layout for all of us ravers to explore. HARD Summer had five different stages, Hard, Harder, Pink, Green, and Purple, which each had a special environment set up for it. The Hard and Harder stages were where the main headliners performed, and they had impeccable setups with fireworks, pyrotechnics, and beautiful visuals broadcasted onto gigantic screens. The Green stage was one of my favorite places to watch performers throughout the weekend, as you had to walk up stairs then enter down into a raceway to reach a stage that was decorated with illuminating green lights. The Purple and Pink stages were also quite fun. The Purple stage showcased one of my favorite visual setups of the event during Don Tolivers set, as glowing inflatable mushrooms swayed on stage with hypnotizing patterns in the back.
HARD Summer also had a number of other installations and vending options to explore. Options included vegan food trucks, tents of aquas frescas, taco shops and chicken tender stands, along with bars and water stations on every corner. These options were among many other choices which provided options for any type of appetite or diet that a festival-goer would want to follow. In the middle of the food vending options and stages there was ferris wheel for people to ride and enjoy the view of the entire festival. Next to the ferris wheel was a cute little pond with a giant inflated flamingo, which made an appearance in the back of many attendees photos.
Exploring the NOS Event center and the grounds of HARD Summer was one of my favorite parts of the weekend, as there was always something new to find and kind people to meet at every spot. It was wonderful to be back with everyone's smiling faces and I was able to talk to lots of really cool ravers from all around the globe. We all came together to listen to our favorite music and be together after a long and stressful time away. Hopefully HARD Summer is just the beginning of this return to festival season, and I will get to continue to rage with you all from event to event the rest of this year!
