WAKAAN Now and Forever

After such an incredible time at WAKAAN, it has taken me a few days to fully process everything that I experienced. From amazing interactions with artists to late night camp hangs, this festival provided full-circle moments daily. I already knew going into it that I would be having a new kind of experience. Covering the festival for this publication, sharing my love of this particular festival was a feat I wasn’t sure I’d reach. What made it even more special is that almost everyone I talked to experienced full circle moments of their own.

I got to bring along the very friend who got me into the scene. Traveling south through Iowa, Missouri and into Arkansas was definitely part of the vacation. Having that time to reflect on previous shows we had seen together, as well as our other mutual friends and memories stretching back to preschool is pretty unreal. Now, to bring him with me as I cover these events as a journalist, feels like a dream. We even stopped at another festie besite’s house on the way down, pausing to shower and sleep before heading to the Preparty on Wednesday. We caravanned up the mountain with some other long-time campmates to make a home for ourselves for the next few days.

We must have arrived at the perfect time because our camping plot was right along the road from the Prism stage to the main stage area. we were on a corner, easy to direct people to our site for meetups, and really close to all the daytime action. Our 4-vehicle plot was perfect – each of us got to set up in our chosen way. All of us slightly different, but each of us feeling comfy and at home. A couple campmates set up tents, beds, canopies, lights, tables, walls, etc. A couple others had minimal setups with just a standard tent under a canopy with no frills, and I myself opted for my van. That’s all, just my van, a cooler and a chair.

We spent the bulk of Wednesday setting up, acclimating to camp life, and hanging around camp. When the music was set to start, we loaded up the van and headed to the Halo stage for the stacked lineup with one of my favorite slots of the weekend, Liquid Stranger b2b AHEE. You could just feel the energy in the air, that bubbling, effervescent sensation that we were all committing to the best weekend of the year. Lit by the rechargeable disco-ball-earring in my campmates chandelier totem, we eventually made it back to camp for what turned out to be a pretty restful nights sleep after such a long travel and set-up day.

Thursday morning, we were rearing to go. After waking up and eating some snacks at camp, I went to check out the Prism stage. After a brief conversation with TVBOO after he finished hosting Singo, I ran into the first festival friend I ever made 9 years ago at 515 Alive in Des Moines, Iowa. Austin and I hugged and caught up a minute before snapping a selfie and heading back to our respective camps. We spent the afternoon readying ourselves for the gentle rain that would continue into the night, and went inside the venue to grab a spot for the evening.

My favorite area is by the back of the stage area. I like to see the entire fest, have plenty of room to dance, and be able to make a quick escape back to camp or to the next stage. This Way-Back spot proved to be advantageous almost immediately. I ran into my dearest babies Madolyne and Rheanna before nightfall. I’ve been running into these gorgeous queens at festivals all over the Midwest for the better part of a decade. We squealed together, hugged and provided all kinds of wholesome life updates. We quickly realized that all 3 of us are on massive come-ups in our own way, and we celebrated the wins in such a meaningful way. After all these years of seeing each other and catching glimpses into each other’s worlds, we really have become versed in squeezing every ounce of love possible into these quick interactions. They shared a beautiful story about Of The Trees, and told me they were looking forward to that set the most.

The music was already thumping into the night, but it seemed to get better and better as time wore on. I really started zeroing in on the tunes when Ashez took the stage. After that was Artifacts, Shlump, Distinct Motive and EAZYBAKED. By the time EAZYBAKED was finishing up, I was pretty tired and decided to pack up my chair and head back to camp so I could get rested up. After all, I still had Friday and Saturday to go! I made it back to my van, got changed into warmer clothes and tried to lay down. That’s when I noticed the time…Of The Trees was JUST about to begin, and with my ultra-perfect campsite, I actually had a wonderful, unobstructed view of the stage from my canopy. I enjoyed that set all to myself, back at camp with a blanket and a cooler full of snacks, thinking about my dear friends who were no doubt riding the rail having the time of their lives. Once the last tone stretched across the grounds, I drifted off to sleep for another super restful night of sleep. Sidenote- having a light-blocking sleep mask has made all the difference in the quality of sleep I get at these festivals. It’s made such a difference for me that I actually hand them out. I think it makes a great addition to any gift or care package.

Friday was another banger of a day. Some of my camp-mates participated in the spaghetti eating contest while I headed into the venue to catch Zouth and Debbie Check. Zouth completely took me by surprise – his sound was so dialed in! Not only that, but the visuals looked completely ready for a nighttime set. You could just tell all the time and effort that went into his production, and he really brought the thunder to main stage to kick everything off. After that was Debbie Check, who was just as fun to see live as you’d expect after seeing his personality on display through his socials. Next, I went back to the Prism Stage to check out the Creation Station with Glowiiscape. There was so much to do – painting, tiny things to glue to sprout clips or wooden boards, coloring books, a keychain making station and plenty more. I’m glad this station was open for 3 and a half hours – there were SO many supplies and everyone left with a bag of stuff to hand out or hoard…your choice! After the Creation Station shenanigans, I headed back to camp to chill out and change clothes for the main stage. I made it inside for Truth’s Sunset Set, which really set the vibe for me to head backstage and complete a couple interviews. While I was back there, I got to hop on stage and see the crowd from the DJ’s perspective – quite the view, and one I never thought I’d get. Heading back out to our spot where my friends were holding down the fort, I hopped on the WAKAAN Fam Facebook page where I saw plenty of missed connection posts, missing item posts, and one standout post from a homie named Oscar who couldn’t make it to the fest but was looking for a livestream link. I broke the news to him that there isn’t a livestream, but wound up video calling him during Sully’s set, just so he could get a taste of the mountain. Amazingly, later on, I ran into Sully and captured a quick signature to mail off to my new friend Oscar.

This festival has a crazy way of bringing the right people together at the right moment. Aside from this chance meetup with Sully, Oscar, my previous friends, and other artists, I was also pumped to head backstage again on Saturday. This time, my close friend Jill accompanied me to my interview with Shlump. This is the same friend who invented Crop Top Saturday. While in the artist lounge, we ran into TVBOO and his friends and family. Jill invited TVBOO to participate, and he had no problem popping his shirt off and letting us cut it into a crop top, right then and there. After several festivals and promoting this silly little event, it was great to see her have this moment with such an influential artist. We even got to hop on stage again, for a quick peek at the crowd. Jill was instantly able to locate that same disco-ball-chandelier, the marker of our group. Pretty sick to be able to see your own totem from the stage area! Once main stage closed down, we headed over to Halo where I rode the rail for Flux Pavilion. He has been on my bucket list since I first set foot at a warehouse rave, way back in the day. To finally see him live was another full circle moment for me. Before I even knew anything about the festival circuit, before I knew what EDM was, or what it would come to mean for my life, I was screaming along to “I Can’t Stop”. What an incredible night. By the time Flux Pavilion was done, I was beat so I had a seat in my chair and fell asleep until about 5am before finally making it back to camp to sleep another while. Still had one more day to go, and wanted to milk it for all it was worth.

Saturday arrived with calmer weather, agreeable temps and vibes that just wouldn’t quit. Strangers were still chipper, marching across the grounds bragging about their Psyde Quest cards, hitting up Take One Leave One tables and wishing each other a Happy WAKAAN. We watched music all day, made our final pilgrimages to meet up with new friends one last time before nightfall, and made vague plans to hit other festivals in the future. Who knows, maybe even get our kids together at an AirBNB before next summer hits. Everything seems so possible and so worthwhile while we sit on the mountain, fully embracing this wild interruption to monotonous daily life. As day turned into night, one performance really stood out to me. HerShe had such presence and personality that I couldn’t help but shush those around me. I found myself physically leaning in and paying attention to every ounce of her performance. She beatboxed for a section, and it truly was amazing! I didn’t know what I was in for when she took the stage, but man-oh-man, did she absolutely ROCK every moment she was given! HerShe snapping me into that mode was the perfect preamble to WonkyWilla, who I had also not seen previously. This was another unforgettable performance, and an artist I will definitely be seeing again in the future. There was not one set all weekend that felt lackluster to me – everything flowed together so well, and the weekend was a complete dream.

Looking back on the festival as a whole, the most memorable moment might be Thursday, when the storm clouds cleared up and the first beams of light illuminated a double rainbow, perfectly encircling the mainstage. I know many festivals battled severe weather this season, some faring better than others, but we lucked out and never received the dreaded “ATTENTION FESTIVAL” weather evacuation message. Even though things were a little moist and chili for us, it all seemed kind of worth it when that rainbow emerged. Everyone was smiling ear to ear, enjoying the sight together. These are the moments I live for. Strangers becoming friends, and feeling refreshed after such a community driven experience. Each year, I say it was the best one yet. I’ll never miss this festival. Just like a crazy 4 day stretch in the mountains each year, a tiny blip of a rainbow can make all the difference in the rain.