Lights All Night Returns to Dallas

The weather has been getting cooler, Christmas lights have lined the streets and once again it’s that time of year we choose to reunite with friends to remember times past and plan for the future. For the ninth year running, tens of thousands will be closing out this year at the largest year-end music event in Texas, Lights All Night. With a steady reputation of big names and consistent execution, LAN has achieved what most festivals only dream of.

With headliners like Excision, Rezz, Kaskade and Diplo, it’s easy to see why you’ll find me and more than 30,000 others already preparing for the experience. Set times are out and if you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you’re sleeping. Regular GA has already sold out so speak now or forever hold your peace. For all going, it’s time to plan our festival.

Set Times

Kaskade Redux pre-party and a full set on Friday, alongside Rezz, Diplo and Jai Wolf. Looking like a well illuminated night.

Something for everyone on Saturday with Ekali, Gucci Mane, Excision and Tiesto on Main next to Funtcase, Shiba San and What So Not on the Intergalactic stage.

Layout

The layout for this years LAN seems like a well thought out, yet aggressive, use of space. With 30 ft reactive stars, 3 indoor stages and what looks like an indoor fire breather and performance platforms, we are clearly in for quite a show. My only concern is that it seems the water stations are only outside so we’ll have to see how that works out. Judging by the map, there will be plenty of pink elephants, dinosaurs and what looks like amoebas to dance with as well as a shark to ride, so good times there.

New Stages & Art

LAN is expanding this year to 5 stage areas with two of them outside in a big outdoor complex complete with fire pits, water stations, additional bathrooms and more art installations than ever. There’s even going to be a gaming lounge with hundreds of games in case you get the urge for a different type of digital stimulation.

Some of the art this year will be familiar to those who have attended in past years like the Kinetic Balls light installation, where a suspended field of color changing orbs creates waves and patterns as they are raised and lowered in sequence. Others would be more familiar to someone who had attended Day for Night in the past. With Day for Night no longer on for this year, the Disco Galaxy area will benefit from the Light Leaks installation you may have seen at Day for Night before. I haven’t seen it for myself, but from the pictures, it seems the closest you’ll get to dancing in a room of stars.

Lights All Night Looks Bright

All told, this year’s Lights All Night looks like a fully immersive audio-visual experience anyone would regret missing. Most important to me, flow art is welcome here so you will find me spinning poi a good portion of the time. The LAN team has created a unique and engaging experience replete with artistic expression and rich with sensory stimulation.

It may not be a huge camping festival or a major international destination, but Lights All Night has consistently grown and developed over almost a decade to become a staple of the region and destination for all looking to turn the page on a new year and celebrate the start of another journey around the sun.