Keeping Festival Season Alive
(origianlly published March 30, 2020)
This year’s highly anticipated festival season has collapsed over the last few weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the bans on large gatherings.
Ultra, Governors Ball, Firefly, and SXSW have been cancelled. Bonnaroo, Coachella and III Points have been postponed until the fall. As of last week, Hangout Music Festival seems to be the only one hanging on, but unfortunately, that will most likely be postponed or cancelled like the rest of this season’s events.
It absolutely sucks to miss out on weekend plans to see your favorite artist and discover a host of new ones, camp out with your best friends and immerse yourself in what feels like an alternative universe.
Perhaps the biggest loss is the sense of community at a festival. Being on a campground surrounded by hundreds of thousands of music-loving attendees is euphoric. You feel like you are a part of something bigger than yourself.
However, the entire globe has pressed pause and this moment in time is extremely difficult for everyone. Rather than dwelling on missed opportunities, we have to remain positive.
The pandemic's isolating effect has motivated our society to develop virtual communities.
People and companies are finding unique ways to connect, and the music industry hasn't been short of this. Artists have taken to livestreams on Youtube, Instagram and Facebook to create a virtual concert experience and continue to connect with their fans.
Companies like Proximity and Brownies & Lemonade are taking this to the next level by presenting Digital Mirage, an online EDM music festival. It’s not the same as passing a J with your friends at a Kygo set, butttt it's the next best thing and it’s happening THIS weekend, April 3-5.
And while this "escape" won’t exactly be like standing in a festival ground in the middle of nowhere, it is an escape from your couch and the binge-watching bender that is slowly sucking the life out of you.
Digital Mirage will be broadcasted to the world via YouTube with a lineup featuring Alison Wonderland, Don Diablo, Valentino Kahn, Louis the Child and more.
I recommend setting up some vibey lights, putting on something fun and funky, and trying to enjoy yourself. No, your pajamas don't count (unless you've got a dope onesie).
Digital Mirage is accepting donations and 100% of the proceeds go to Sweet Relief: Musicians Fund to help allocate funds to those currently out of work. It goes a long way to support artists and music industry workers during this time, so that they can stay afloat and hit the ground running when this is all over.
RSVP here to earn points for chances to win virtual meet and greets, and if you’re really lucky, you can win a roll of toilet paper.
Digital Marriage isn't the only online festival to surface. There is also Stay at Home Fest, an open-source online music festival organized by Fight for the Future. This is a platform for artists to submit their livestream requests and for viewers to participate in music discovery.
Keep reading our weekly newsletter and checking our Instagram to stay up to date with the digital live music scene.
For now, we’re going to stay at home and keep washing our hands, but at least we can stay connected to musicians and their fan bases across the globe.
