With festival season for 2016 winding down for the most part, the majority of people seem to be looking forward to either their favorite artists’ fall tour and, or just making it through the winter until the 2017 season begins. However, let it be known to all, THE SEASON IS NOT OVER! Yes, summer is over and the majority of festivals have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. October is just around the corner, and everyday brings us one step closer to Halloween and ‘Halloweekend’! That being said, this year’s ‘Halloweekend’ is set up to be incredible for music fans and festival goers all across the country.
Halloween is on a Monday this year, so it’s safe to say the majority of people will be celebrating the weekend before. Especially in the cities of Live Oak, Florida; Huston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Chicago, Illinois; all of which will be hosting their own multi-day, multi-genre, music and arts festivals tailored towards the holiday. Live Oak will showcase Suwannee Hulaween; Huston will be home to Something Wicked; New Orleans will host Voodoo Music + Arts Experience; and Bridgeview, a Chicago suburb, will be home for Freaky Deaky Halloween.
SUWANNEE HULAWEEN (Oct. 28-30, Pre-party Oct. 27th)
Suwannee Hulaween 2016 will again be held at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, as it has since the start of the festival five years ago. Hulaween is a three-day, multi-genre music festival (mainly jam bands, bluegrass, electronic, and funk) that is put on by The String Cheese Incident; with a pre-party held on the Thursday leading up to the event (October 27 this year). This year’s headliners include seven sets of The String Cheese Incident (including one Halloween set devoted to 70’s and 80’s funk, and one Sunday morning bluegrass set), My Morning Jacket, Disclosure (DJ Set), Logic, Umphreys McGee, Big Gigantic (feat. The Motet), STS9, and many, many more. Additionally, this year’s pre-party lineup is by far the biggest ever, and includes two sets of Umphreys McGee. As well as, performances from Greensky Bluegrass, Eoto & Friends, Marco Benevento, and about ten more.
Last year’s Hulaween saw more patrons than ever before, and a lot of inconveniences ensued because of that. There was said to have been upwards of 30,000 attendees. In lieu of said inconveniences, the Hula HQ has decided to cap the total number of tickets available for this year’s event at a 20,000 per day. Additionally, there will be a camping fee per vehicle, in an attempt to cut down on the amount vehicles in the camping area. There will be no limit to the amount of patrons per vehicle, but for every vehicle allowed into the park the occupants of said car will incur a 20$ fee. Hulaween is open to all ages, and attendees under 10 years of age receive free admittance.
There will be three-day, two-day, and single day passes available for the festival. Three day passes are currently in the tier two price range and are marked at $259 plus fees. Once tier three is reached the price will jump to $279, and if any are available at the gate on the day the event starts, they will be $295. Single day passes are $105 per day, and the two day pass for Saturday and Sunday is $205 (All ticket prices are not including fees). Payment plans are available for persons interested in that route. All VIP packages are sold out. Pre-party tickets are sold separately, but are also available now, and cost $69; they will be $89 at the gate. Furthermore, if camping isn’t for you there are hotels and shuttle packages available. Gates will officially open to the festival grounds at 8 a.m. Friday morning and will not close until the event is over Sunday night. This is the last true camping festival of the season and is well worth the wait. Even though it has definitely gone up in price over the years, it will undoubtedly be an amazing experience as always, and will be well worth the money spent.
VOODOO MUSIC AND ARTS EXPERIENCE (Oct. 28-30)
For the 18th consecutive year, Voodoo Festival will be calling New Orleans, Louisiana, home for ‘Halloweekend’, and more specifically City Park. The daily lineups for all three days have been released and include the following headliners (daily schedule to be released next week):
Friday: The Weeknd, G-Eazy, Kevin Gates, Porter Robinson, Carnage
Saturday: Tool, Cage The Elephant, Die Antword, Excision
Sunday: Arcade Fire, The Chainsmokers, Band of Horses, Gramatik, STS9
(Many other mid level headliners not mentioned)
Obviously, Voodoo is also a three-day, multi-genre music festival, but it is a city festival unlike Hulaween; meaning there is no on-site camping available. All patrons will have to exit the grounds daily to return to an off-site camp site or hotel. Re-entry is available throughout the event, so during each day you can come leave the festival grounds as you please. However, re-entry will not be permitted for those patrons in possession of single day passes. This festival is also all ages and free for any attendee under ten years of age.
According to the website, all the official Voodoo hotels are in the French Quarter, which is nearly five miles away, with a starting price of around $230 per night. The website mentioned nothing about a shuttle service to and from said hotels. Three-day, single-day, and VIP passes are all still available for this event. Three-day passes are currently $155; single-day tickets are $70; and VIP passes run $450. This is definitely the more expensive option overall, but you do get to be in NOLA; plus the full lineup is second to none, definitely making it worth the dollar amount. In the coming weeks MusicFests365 will be doing promotions and ticket giveaways regarding Voodoo, so be sure to check back across all our social media platforms for more information.
http://www.voodoofestival.com/
FREAKY DEAKY HALLOWEEN (Oct. 28-30)
Freak Deaky Halloween is a three-day, EDM and hip hop festival, which takes place within Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois. Bridgeview is suburb southwest of Chicago and has been home Freaky Deaky since 2009. This event is for persons seventeen years of age or older, and an ID must be provided upon entry. The daily lineups for this event have also been posted. The following is a list of daily headliners (Bold) plus some mid-level headliners (normal) that are definitely worth checking out if you are going:
FRIDAY: Disclosure, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Travis Scott, San Holo
SATURDAY: DJ Snake, DJ Khaled, A$AP Ferg, Gramatik, Hippie Sabotage
SUNDAY: Tïesto, Schoolboy Q, Jauz, Boyz Noize
(The site also has a tab that reads “Afters” and when clicked says coming soon. Maybe after parties?)
The festival will open the gates all three days at 2pm, and once a patron has entered the festival grounds on a particular day there will be no reentry after such time. Freaky Deaky is a city festival too, so one will need to find transportation to and from the park every day. Daily parking passes will be available at $20 per vehicle per day, or $45 for a 3 three day parking pass. The festival does provide hotel and shuttle packages through the Courtyard and Hilton Garden starting at $160 per night. Shuttle passes run $18 per day, or $45 for a weekend pass. Three day and one day passes are available for this festival; three day passes are currently $169 plus fees and will have a final price $189 plus fees. One day passes are currently $59 plus fees, and will have two more price increases to $69 and $89 plus fees. Payment plans are available as well. All in all, this is a very modestly priced festival for the amount of talent put forth.
http://www.freakydeakyhalloween.com
SOMETHING WICKED (Oct. 29th and 30th)
The fifth annual Something Wicked Festival will once again call the historic Sam Huston Race Track, in Huston, Texas, home this coming ‘Halloweekend’. Something Wicked is exclusively an EDM festival, and unlike the other aforementioned festivals, this one only takes place on two days over ‘Halloweekend’, October 29th and 30th. This event also has an age limit; any persons younger than eighteen years of age will not be admitted into the festival and an ID must be provided upon entry. Something Wicked has released daily headliners, but as far as mid level headliners go it is still TBA, in reference to the day to day lineups. Saturday night will see the likes of Diplo, and Deorro headlining, while Sunday headliners are Hardwell, Carnage, and Excision. Other artist slated to preform include but are not limited to the following: Borgeous, Jauz, Marshmello, Sevenlions, Slushii, Yellow Claw, Herobust, and NGHTMRE. There are both, two-day general admission and VIP passes avalible for purchase to Something Wicked. GA passes are currently $149 plus fees, VIP passes are currently $229 plus fees. For those that really want to indulge, VIP Table Service will be available for the modest price of $2000 a day and $3600 for two days. This package includes an elevated seating area as well as bottle service that equates to $350 per bottle of liquor. I’m good.
Something Wicked is a non camping festival as well, so transportation to and from the event is required daily. There will be $20 daily parking available at the venue, however there will be different times the parking lot will open, depending on the day. Saturday lots will open at 1 p.m. and Sunday lots will open at 12:30 p.m. The festival will actually open the gates each day at 2 p.m.but the end times will vary depending on the day. It is said the festival will end Saturday night at midnight, and Sunday night at roughly 10 p.m. According to the website, there are still three hotels within 8 miles of the venue with rooms still available for said weekend; all rooms are starting at $100 or less per night. For the most part this seems like a very affordable festival, especially when compared to the ones listed above, and patrons should definitely get their monies worth. MusicFests365 will also being announcing special promotions and ticket giveaways for Something Wicked in the coming weeks, so be sure to check our social media platforms for more information.
http://www.somethingwicked.com
Written by Truxtun Umsted III
MusicFests365 