In the spirit of Euphoria Music Festival’s 5th Anniversary, we asked the founder, Mitch Morales, his top 5 moments at the festival. Born in Austin, Texas, Mitch Morales never imagined he would successfully craft a career out of his unfaltering interest in music. Prior to launching Euphoria Music Festival with his partners in Vivid Sound Entertainment, Morales initially forged his path to the industry by booking events at the University of Texas, where he majored in Finance. Raised on a ranch and a self-proclaimed outdoorsman, Morales found himself drawn to the nomadic lifestyle reflective of the music festival scene. Inspired by his global travels and the feeling of community and connectedness he experienced while camping at festivals, he made the decision to launch his own. With the support of friends and family, Morales set out to ignite a movement in his hometown of Austin that could only be described as euphoric.
Now in its fifth year, Euphoria represents the creative and passionate expression of musical culture and embodies the feeling of community that inspired Morales so many years before. Regardless of what the future holds, Morales keeps one ultimate goal in mind: to create a legacy—something that lasts for years after he is gone. “In these events I’ve found happiness in doing what I love,” he concludes, “and I hope that what we’re creating inspires people to do the same.”
TOP 5 EUPHORIA MOMENTS
01 – Huge flock of birds thermaling over the festival in year 1. (2012)
This was during our first festival ever, out at Thunderhill Raceway just outside Austin. As with most first year festivals, we encountered our fair share of difficulties. We saw the birds as sort of a sign as we looked to the sky and asked for help. It was a pretty amazing site, that I am sure not many people caught, but meant a lot in that moment.
02 – Opening the gates to the campgrounds, on our first year at Carson Creek Ranch, (2014)
Shifting to a camping festival was the game-changer for us. The first two years we had offered camping adjacent to the venue, but not wholly as a part of the package. The complete festival vibe was not quite there. Adding camping in 2014 was and is what makes the Euphoria experience possible and we haven’t looked back since.
03 – Zeds Dead headlining the main stage- aka quite possibly my favorite performance to date. (2014)
Zeds Dead always gives me goosebumps. There’s such emotion in that melodic bass. It was also the first time we’d had festival-level stage production on showcase and they had the whole crowd in a trance. Zeds Dead is always amazing to see- it has a little bit more something to it, when they are there for you and the Euphoria fans.
04 – Boots and Ponchos and All: Getting our first rain day out of the way on Day 1(2015)
Every festival experiences rain, but it is different when it is your festival. You always want the best experience for the fans and even though you cannot control Mother Nature, it still feels like your responsibility to make sure this all comes together. Once we got past that first day, I felt like we could do anything. It was a great year.
05 – Seeing my family and Tyler’s family dancing together last year. (2015)
Pretty personal moment, but… Tyler (my girlfriend) has been with me every step of the way and helped build Euphoria into what it is today. Seeing people you care about come together and celebrate your accomplishments… well, that is all I want to say about that. That moment is for me and Ty.
