Escape Halloween 2024 Review
This article is an Escape Halloween 2024 Review, the world’s largest Halloween festival, and the biggest music event in SoCal for Halloweekend.
Last weekend, Escape Halloween took place at the NOS Event Center in San Bernadino, California.
Biggest Takeaways for Escape Halloween 2024
The main headliners were the reason the festival gained attraction, of course: Illenium, Martin Garrix, Dog Eat Dog (Crankdat B2B Riot Ten), Two Friends, Cloonee, Angerfist, Fatboy Slim, Nina Kraviz, Lil Texas, and Dixon.
The festival was 99% sold out by the second day for GA and GA+ tickets; there were only a few instances where walkways near restrooms or leaving stages took longer than they did earlier that day or on day one.
Here are four cute and humourous totems I saw during Escape Halloween 2024.
There was also a pre-party for the festival on both days, which began at 2:30 pm and was open to one stage, “Feeding Grounds.” Security guards were standing nearby yellow tapelines blocking access to the rest of the festival until its actual start time of 4 pm when the opening artists for both days truly began. We created a snippet of the pre-party at 2:40 pm and posted it onto TikTok here.
Typically, because this festival occurs during Halloweekend, many “seasoned” ravers (people who have attended EDM events for years call themselves this) say Escape Halloween attracts a non-PLUR crowd. This was contrary to this year since the festival seemed peaceful overall, and I say that because I did not witness multiple physical altercations, unlike last year!
Festival set designs, props, and interactive characters stayed the same as they were last year. For example, stages “The Grimm” and “Feeding Grounds” were the names of stages last year, and this year, even the stage props brought back the skeleton at the main stage, Grimm, and massive spiders at Feeding Grounds.
Afterparties at Escape Halloween 2024
On-site afterparties are an addition to Insomniac festivals that seem to be sold out almost every time they are offered. Escape Halloween invited attendees to stay for the afterparty (from 2 am until 6 am) thrown on both nights of the festival in “The Cauldron,” a stage hosted by Boiler Room (an underground rave warehouse event brand).
At 2 am, when the festival ended and the afterparty was beginning, the remaining afterparty tickets sold out within 30 minutes. Six minutes after the announcement of the afterparty being sold out, a gate that was for staff entry only was knocked over, and an estimated 20 attendees took that opportunity to rush into the event and disappear into the crowd with a staff of security following them in shortly after… I’m not sure if they were ever found.
It took almost an hour for attendees who weren’t staying for the afterparty to get escorted off the festival grounds, so my friends working Ground Control did not leave until roughly 3:30 am!
The vibe of the afterparties was fun, especially for people who enjoy house and techno music. Artists Kream, Alison Wonderland (techno set), Capozzi B2B Aazar, Odd Mob, Cloonee, and Fallon kept the night going into the morning on both days. One raver noted that because of the afterparty, they could meet their favorite artist, Cloonee, and get a signature from them.
Gina Joy for Insomniac Events
My Favorite Sets and Stages of Escape Halloween 2024
While the Boiler Room picture is close, one of the stages I enjoyed being at was indeed The Cauldron. I enjoyed the Boiler Room x Escape Halloween collaboration because when I first walked into the warehouse stage, it was cold, and the air was crispy. When I returned around 1:30 am, it was HOT from all of these dancing bodies in front of, on the side, and behind the DJ because of the Boiler Room 360 stage design.
I enjoyed “Sewer District” the most because I enjoy bass (dubstep) music when I am done with shuffling and want more of a “headbang to the drop” moment with pretty lasers. My favorite set from that stage was on day two for Trivecta, which I think Insomniac knew would be a hit since, at the merch tables, they were selling Trivecta jerseys and pashminas. Trivecta played festival dubstep favorites like “Island” and “Light in the Dark” by Seven Lions, Wooli, and Trivecta while mixing the notable “Clarity” by Zedd!
Outside the stages, when I wanted to give my ears a break from the music, I LOVED “Circus,” an interactive part of Escape where attendees can sit down and see performances. There was a magician, gymnast, juggling, and burlesque, which was AWESOME. I was sitting in the front row for one of the burlesque ladies when she asked me to remove her glove amidst her performance… cheeky!
Check out this TikTok I made explicitly for Circus; that’s how much I enjoyed it!
I also made one for Trivecta’s set at the Sewer District.
Concluding the Escape Halloween 2024 Review, I had a blast, and if you attended, I hope you did too
More Information on Insomniac Events
Insomniac, the owner of Escape Halloween, chooses to throw a good amount of their events like Escape Halloween, Beyond Wonderland, and, in past years, Hard Summer at the NOS Center, which has a mixed reaction from the guests.
Since this is an Escape Halloween 2024 Review, I will note that some do not like the venue because of San Bernadino’s crime rate, which makes some return to their cars with broken windows. Others, on the other hand, enjoy the venue because it’s away from the traffic of Los Angeles and because of different things like its sqft and amenities.
The next Insomniac festival coming to California will be Apocalypse Zombieland, a bass-focused festival celebrating its second year alive 🧟!