We’re back, people.
Saturday and Sunday, Insomniac is bringing the first legitimate festival experience to the Los Angeles area since the global pandemic brought the live music world to its knees in March 2020. It’s been more than 475 days since we’ve been able to shake our asses in a field or a lot among strangers while watching acts we love or performers we’re just discovering. Day Trip Festival 2021 brings that all to an end this Saturday and Sunday.
Day Trip 2021 takes place at the Lot at Hollywood Park and boasts itself as being a house music festival all day long. It runs from 1:30 until 11:30 PM each night, which will test the durability of those of us who haven’t had to stand for long periods of time since moving to a mostly work-from-home situation. But with a lineup featuring a live Chromeo set, Diplo, Justin Martin, Claptone, and more, it’s all worth the pain.
UPDATE: On Tuesday, Insomniac founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella announced that Day Trip LA was moving to NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.
“Unfortunately Day Trip Festival is not going to be able to take place in LA County. I’m as frustrated as all of you must be. It’s not been as easy to come out of the pandemic and plan large-scale events on the west coast, and I think that my passion at this point is almost working against me and us.”
What is also happening, is Insomniac is issuing refunds to EVERYONE who has purchased tickets, but they can still attend the event in San Bernardino. You will also be able to get a FREE ticket to ANY Insomniac festival of your choice that is not currently sold out and is scheduled to take place before the end of 2021. This is truly unprecedented for a promoter to go above and beyond like this.
A reminder that this is a 21-and-up festival, which I’m grateful for. It’s going to be interesting to hear a year’s worth of bangers that we were only able to listen to in our homes or among small groups, and hear them the way they were meant to be heard, surrounding by a bunch of drunk but friendly people in the sunshine.
It’s supposed to be in the mid-to-high 70s this weekend, so plan accordingly. It’s also worth noting that Insomniac is not requiring proof of vaccination to enter, so if you haven’t been vaccinated I would recommend wearing a mask to be safer. But also, get fucking vaccinated already if you don’t have any legitimate reason not to be.
This will be my first festival since attending CRSSD Fest in March 2020, literally a week before the country shut all our shit down. It’s the longest I’ve gone without attending a festival since I moved to LA in 2014. Having gone to as many as 15-plus festivals in a calendar year, I’m as ready as anyone to get back to it.
Here are some recent releases from Day Trip Fest 2021 artists that I am hoping to hear at the festival this weekend:
