Music festivals
Burning Man Organizers Backpedal After Criticism for Mandatory Vaccination Comments
After falsely claiming that the state of Nevada requires proof of vaccination at large-scale events, the organizers of Burning Man have backpedaled and addressed concerns from the festival’s community. According to the New York Post, the counter culture community lambasted CEO Marian Goodell after an April 8th update in which she suggested that the iconic festival would require proof of inoculation to gain entry. An ensuing video message shared by Goodell confirmed the plans. “We are super aware [of concerns] and thank you for your feedback, and we are weighing the gravity of what that does,” Goodell said in an ensuing statement shared on April 17th. “And we know that [mandatory vaccination] challenges the concepts of radical inclusion, but at this po...
Electric Forest is Giving Away a Pair of Wristbands to Support Independent Detroit Venues
While the fate of the Electric Forest 2021 hangs in the balance, the festival is doing its part to support local venues and artists amid a pandemic that simply won’t relent. Organizers are giving away two wristbands to the next edition of the beloved Rothbury, Michigan music fest to raise awareness for “ALIVE Detroit,” an upcoming virtual benefit concert for independent Detroit venues and artists. The stream will air tomorrow, April 23rd at 7PM ET (4PM PT) and feature an hour-and-a-half of chill sets by local musicians, who will perform live from different venues across Detroit. DIME Detroit To enter, fans must donate $25 to the ALIVE Detroit GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign. Each donation will be directed to independent Detroit venues and artists who have e...
GRiZ Announces Psychedelic Virginia Music Festival, Space Camp
Following a year devoid of music festivals thanks to the wrath of COVID-19, GRiZ is primed for a triumphant return with the announcement of his own curated fest. The electro-funk superstar has announced the debut of Space Camp, a bass music-fueled two-night festival at Virginia’s fabled Hampton Coliseum in December 2021. GRiZ will perform two different live sets alongside a number of his electronic music contemporaries, including CloZee, Liquid Stranger, LSDream, Chee, Common Creation, Kumarion, and EDM.com Class of 2021 artists Lucii and Moore Kismet. The inaugural Space Camp festival is scheduled for December 17th and 18th, 2021. According to a press release, the event marks GRiZ’s “most ambitious” live performances to date, which have the potential to b...
ILLENIUM Announces Ember Shores Destination Festival in Cancun, Mexico
Taking fans by surprise, ILLENIUM has announced his own inaugural music festival, Ember Shores, taking place in Cancun, Mexico, in December 2021. The three-day destination festival will offer attendees an all-inclusive weekend getaway at the Four-Diamond Paradisus Resort with the main stage on the white sands of the Caribbean beach, late-night sets, lagoon-inspired pools, ten restaurants, seven bars, and a spa on-site. Though a lineup has yet to be announced, performers will be hand-picked by ILLENIUM to the tastes of his fanbase (fondly dubbed the “Illenials”). Plus, Ember Shores will feature three live sets from the artist himself. “I’ve always wanted to create an event where Illenials from all over the world can gather as a community and be immersed in an en...
EDC Las Vegas Officially Moved to October 2021, New Dates Announced
Despite the recent news that Insomniac was moving forward with the planned May 2021 dates of EDC Las Vegas, CEO and founder Pasquale Rotella has announced that the festival will move to October 2021. The somber news arrives on the heels of a triumphant April 8th announcement by Rotella that told prospective attendees, “Book your flights, hotels & shuttles.” In an Instagram post shared tonight, he said the 2021 edition of EDC Las Vegas is unable to take place in May due to its inability to align with Nevada state officials’ reopening plan. “As we expected and were assured prior to announcing the festival for May, Nevada state officials announced they would lift social distancing requirements as of May 1, creating a path for EDC to happen with strict safety guidel...
Tennessee’s Bigfoot Electro 2021 Festival Reveals Monster Lineup of Bass Music Artists
As festival season slowly comes more and more into focus after a year to forget, many brands are triumphantly revealing their 2021 lineups. The latest to do so is Bigfoot Electro 2021, a three-day camping and music festival that has just unveiled a monster bill of bass music artists to stampede Tracy City, Tennessee over Memorial Day Weekend. Set to perform at the fest from May 28th to 30th, 2021 are DMVU, The Widdler, Phutureprimitive, Toadface, Justin Hawkes, and Yheti, among many others, with the latter performing two special sets. Located on the sprawling, 500-acre Cumberland Plateau farm, a little-known RV campground called Bigfoot Adventure will be transformed into what organizers are calling a “psychedelic summertime wonderland.” Promising an experiential weeke...
Ozuna, Anuel AA, J Balvin, More Set to Headline Baja Beach Fest 2021
Baja Beach Fest hosts some of the best reggaeton and Latin artists around, with a mission to celebrate and uplift Latin culture. Hosted at Mexico’s Rosarito Beach, the multi-day experience incorporates incredible music, people, food, and culture. The event first launched in 2018, when it attracted 15,000 attendees at the beautiful beach in Baja California. With the event location only 30 minutes past the US-Mexico border, it is an easy road trip for Americans. Chris Den Uijl has even estimated that 90% of the festival’s ticket buyers live in the US. With much success their first year, the organizers of Baja Beach Fest assembled even more for the second edition by doubling the number of attendees, significantly expanding the festival grounds, and offering a stacked...
Eric Prydz is Performing Three Sets Under Different Aliases at Chicago’s Debut ARC Music Festival
The birthplace of house music is gearing up for a new festival arriving on its turf this fall. ARC Music Festival is set to land in Chicago’s Union Park, highlighting the many flavors of house and techno that have since originated from around the world. Seth Troxler, Nicole Moudaber, Hot Since 82, Meduza, Camelphat, FISHER, and many more will take to the stages of this multi-day event, which promises a distinctly Chicago experience complete with local art and culinary delights. The debut edition promises a couple of unique “firsts,” landing ARC on the shortlist of festivals to watch. This will be the first festival in which Eric Prydz works triple time, offering a headlining performance as his namesake and another alongside Adam Beyer as Cirez D, before pl...
Pasquale Rotella Clarifies News Surrounding EDC Las Vegas Safety Plan
Despite Pasquale Rotella‘s triumphant announcement that the 2021 edition of EDC Las Vegas will move forward with its planned May 21-23 dates, many found themselves perplexed by the festival’s nebulous safety plan. The Insomniac boss recently took to Reddit to quell concerns surrounding conflicting reports on the promoter’s proposal. Rotella’s statement arrives after a turbulent week for the festival. Prior to the announcement that the event will officially take place in May, Live Nation posted a number of EDC Las Vegas-specific job listings, many of which included the phrase, “Travel required in May.” However, prospective attendees who believed they were safe to pack their bags had their plans quickly dashed by the news that Nevada state offici...
Burning Man CEO Provides Detailed Update on Festival’s 2021 Edition
Marian Goodell, the CEO of Burning Man Project, has released a video providing an update on the decision to plan the festival’s 2021 edition. While it is still too soon to know whether or not there will be a gathering on the playa this year, Goodell did provide a timeline on when we can expect a definitive answer. New updates will be released weekly before the final decision, which she said will come between April 23-30. If the event is to happen, proof of vaccinations will be mandatory for attendees as per state requirements. There may be testing upon arrival as well. However, considering some countries do not have access to vaccinations, some will be unable to attend. There are also a number of countries that are not allowed to enter the US at this time, establishing an additi...
Destructo Will Not Plan FriendShip or AMF Festival Until 100% Capacity Can Be Achieved
FriendShip and All My Friends proprietor Destructo has announced that he will not compromise on a lower capacity installment of the popular cruise event or music festival. In a tweet, the renowned music producer and entrepreneur announced that he will not hold the FriendShip cruise or All My Friends music festival until pre-COVID attendance levels can be fully achieved. Destructo insists that the conditions must be equal to or better than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic before FriendShip or All My Friends can be planned. He went on to explain his reasoning in a self-reply to the tweet, writing that he “won’t produce a half baked version and compromise health and safety to make a quick buck.” The fan response to the announcement has been mostly positive and understan...
Coachella and Other Large-Scale Music Festivals Not Part of California’s Reopening Plan
The state of California is poised to reopen its economy by summer 2021, but it seems that large-scale music festivals and conventions will remain on hold for much longer. June 15th remains the target date for statewide reopening without the tiered system, provided that vaccines remain readily available and COVID-19 cases continue to decline. However, festivals like Coachella might have to wait until October for a return to normalcy. Citing COVID-19 safety concerns, Coachella organizers moved the festival from October 2021 to April 2022. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Large-scale conventions and events with a capacity exceeding 5,000 will not be allowed to operate without proof of vaccine or a negative COVID-19 test for attendees until October. International atten...
