Festival Report Card: Shambhala Music Festival 2026
In a live music sector dominated by corporations and commercial music, Shambhala is, literally and figuratively, a breath of fresh air. Over 27 editions since it began in 1998 on founder Jimmy Bundscuh’s 500-acre family-owned farm in Salmo, British Columbia, the remote electronic music campout has grown from a one-stage rave built by a crew […]
Festival Report Card: Kappa FuturFestival 2026
Known for blending cutting-edge electronic music with Turin’s striking post-industrial architecture, Italy’s Kappa FuturFestival is a top destination on Europe’s electronic festival circuit. Ravers from all over the world come together to create a multi-cultural celebration of music and dance at the city’s iconic Parco Dora, a former steel factory turned creative playground famous for […]
Festival Report Card: Electric Forest 2026
Electric Forest remains one of the American festival scene’s most impressive event production feats. Each June, up to 70,000 people gather in western Michigan to dance, mingle, and trip out inside the four-day camping festival’s famous maze of light, color, sound, and experiential art, masterfully constructed in and around the towering white pine trees of […]
Festival Report Card: Bonnaroo 2026
In New Orleans French Creole slang, the word Bonnaroo roughly translates to “best on the street.” That aura is what pulls tens of thousands of music lovers to Manchester, Tennessee, each summer for Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Since the festival began under its famous moniker—also inspired by New Orleans blues legend Dr. John’s Desitively Bonnaroo—in […]
Festival Report Card: Movement Music Festival 2026
In Detroit, Memorial Day isn’t the only holiday that comes on the last weekend in May. Each spring, thumping electronic beats and shouts of “Happy Techno Christmas!” flood the streets surrounding downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza, where Movement Music Festival (and before it, Detroit Electronic Music Festival) honors the city’s legacy as the birthplace of techno […]
Festival Report Card: Lightning In A Bottle 2026
If it’s a sidequest you desire, a sidequest you shall receive. In an era of electronic music festivals competing to be the most eye-catching on the planet, Lightning in a Bottle (LIB) looks inward, offering attendees far more than its commercial counterparts ever could. At LIB, music is only the entry point. Beneath the festival’s […]