This past August, I had the opportunity to attend my first-ever camping music festival. Being into EDM and the whole community, attending a festival was up there on my bucket list, so when a friend of mine invited me to go with them, I jumped at the chance. The festival I ended up attending was called Elements in Long Pond, PA. Going into this festival, I had no idea what to expect; all I knew was that I was with people I loved who all shared the same love for EDM music and community.
Let’s start with the positives: I loved spending time with my friends and bonding with them! Going into this festival, I was only close with three out of the 13 people in my camping group; after the festival, I can confidently say I consider each and every one of those people a friend of mine. I was also able to meet some new people who were in my group, which is something I love doing. There is something so special about being able to spend quality time with amazing people who truly want you to be there with them. I found it interesting that we are all such different people with vast interests, but music is what brought us together. It was only three days, but I feel like I was able to know everyone I went with on a much deeper level.
Another major positive was the festival setup. The four stages were each themed after the elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air! My personal favorite was the air stage, where major DJs such as Subtronics and Level Up played. Walking into the festival, you could immediately see how much effort had been put into the whole festival, not just the stages. I truly cannot describe how much attention to detail there was in every aspect of this festival. One of my favorite parts of the festival wasn’t even the stage; it was called the neon forest. They had converted a forest into a beautiful, neon-themed hangout spot with art installations, mazes, and places to sit and hang out. The second night of the festival, several of my friends and I got tacos from the vendors and sat in this massive hammock; it was truly such a memorable experience, even though the tacos weren’t the best.
A third positive of this festival was the sense of community that it had. One thing I find special about the EDM community is how people treat it as one big family. At these types of festivals, strangers look out for one another, friends are made, and the connections are even better. At one point, a total stranger gifted me a brand-new merch shirt just because I complimented it. The best part about that is that gifting strangers small things, called trinkets, is a massive part of EDM and the festival scene. I met so many sorts of people, like a neurosurgeon from Texas and a woman who had spent the past several years living out of her van, going from festival to festival. It was so meaningful to share this experience with thousands of strangers who decided to all come together for one purpose.
Honestly, it was hard to think of a negative when it comes to this music festival, but one I could think of was the weather. I would like to emphasize that the weather is obviously out of the festival’s control, but the rain for the first day and a half was insane. As someone from Texas who moved to Colorado, rain is a foreign concept. When we were setting up camp, for most of the first day, I experienced the hardest rain I had ever seen in my life. Our camp ended up flooding, and several tents were washed away. At one point, there was literally a mini river running through the campsite. Thankfully, the tent I was in was one of the few that did not flood. With rain comes mud, so for the entire festival there were inches of mud on the ground, making everything filthy. Looking back, it was still a fun experience, but I wish it had rained a bit less
The second and last negative I experienced was how dirty everything got. Again, this is not the festival’s fault, but it is something that dampened the experience. Being a camping festival, we only had access to portapotties; at one point they overflowed and flooded into several people’s campsites. Thankfully, my campsite was not one of the ones that was damaged by sewage. This was honestly disgusting because a majority of the people at this festival had no access to showers. There were portable showers available, but they were covered in mud and had a five- minute limit per person, so it was virtually impossible to be clean at this festival.
I had a fantastic time at Elements Festival, and I would love to keep attending camping festivals in the future. Since then, I have compiled a list of festivals I want to go to, including Lost Lands and Tomorrowland Belgium. I now feel more prepared and confident going into camping festivals and hope this convinces you to attend one too!