This is Jackie Nolist reporting….. Just Kidding, this is Mary from The Department of Dance.
If you live anywhere in, or near the state of Texas and are involved in the electronic dance music scene at all, you probably been seeing tons of promotions for the Euphoria Music festival which happened just last weekend in Austin, Tx. As an active member of the community, of course it looked like fun: art, camping, music, festival season, etc. I bought a camping ticket quickly, but soon found out that I could get a chance to go for free by promoting for the festival through Area 512 Entertainment. I sold my ticket and took up the offer. Friday afternoon came and I carpooled with my boyfriend to the venue, Carson Creek Ranch. I became concerned and worried when my name didn’t show up on the guest list, and that’s where the nickname “Jackie Nolist” originated. After about an hour of waiting and trying to get in contact with the right people to fix it, I told my boyfriend to go inside, find his friends, and have fun; it was getting hot and I could be doing other things. I had a dance show later that night anyways and had to get home.
Day 2 the situation was sorted out and I decided to go for a couple hours (round 3 of my dance show was saturday night so I still couldn’t stay long). It was relieving and exciting finally getting through the gates; I wanted to walk around and see all the art I had heard there was gonna be. I met up with my friends and we walked around, talking with old friends, exploring the vender tents, looking through the art dome. I was a little surprised with the lack of art installations, yes there were a few crystal structures by the silent disco and also The Fractoid, but I just was thinking there would be so much more. I will say that i highly enjoyed the swings and the double swings, a good interaction element of the festival.
For the few hours that I was there I didn’t really see any full sets, I just meandered around and enjoyed the vibes with my crew. Euphoria definitely had pretty chill vibes, if i had to stereotype the sort of people who were there I would label it as a mix of hippie and rave kids, lots of tie dye everywhere. For the most part of what I noticed, there weren’t any “ptots” or young teenagers running around being immature, and people weren’t very pushy.
Euphoria Music Fest definitely has some potential to become much bigger; several people I talked to compared it to a mini-Wakarusa, not to mention Wakarusa posters everywhere. The ability to camp is definitely a big draw to people coming out of town (and those who just like to afterparty) and the bringing in of headliners like Mitus, Bro Safari, Lotus, Gareth Emery, and more is also a big draw. As Euphoria now begins to prepare for it’s 4th year of the festival, it’s promoters need to begin to anticipate for an even larger crowd in the coming years and for better organization (guest list wise especially, ahem). To bring Euphoria to the next level, headliners shouldn’t be the only thing emphasized, interactive and art exhibits should also be re-evaluated. It’s Texas, add a misting tent or something; add some more things to climb on, I couldn’t get enough of climbing all over those swings; photo ops! Create that iconic piece of art that everyone will want to get a picture with and everyone will start associating the festival with; BUBBLES EVERYWHERE. Alright I’m gonna stop fantasizing, but overall Euphoria Music Festival seemed to have worked out pretty well, let’s hope in the coming years that it will just get better.
-Mary, Department of Dance
