The Best and Worst Music Festivals of 2021 – [Read]

2021 started off with a lot of promise, yet this year’s festival schedule took a massive hit with a ton of cancellations due to COVID-19. Though it didn’t stop some festivals from happening as organizers began to create workarounds to keep the show going.

Check out Exron Music’s ten picks of the best and worst festivals of 2021.

The Worst Festivals of 2021

Astroworld

Though not electronic music related, Astroworld takes the #1 spot as the worst festival to happen not only in 2021 but ever in history. With 11 confirmed deaths and hundreds of people injured due to lack of crowd control, it shines a light on how important the logistics of festival organization is. The lack of protocols at Astroworld created a nightmare situation that will hopefully encourage better safety standards for all festivals moving forward.

Elements

Elements festival located in Lakewood, PA was absolutely wrecked by hurricane Ida leaving one huge muddy mess. The hurricane had flooded the campgrounds, left people stranded for over 16 hours, and violated ADA accommodations. It was said that many festival workers quit because of the chaos leaving no organization in sight. Bonnaroo was also supposed to happen the same weekend, but organizers decided to cancel last minute to avoid the disastrous experience Elements had. For 2022 Elements has chosen to try their luck again and relocate the festival to Long Pond, PA.

Abduction

Insomniac’s first attempt to revamp festival productions with Insomniac’s Abduction festival didn’t go exactly as planned. Happening at a time where COVID concerns were running high, attendees expressed their disappointment in nonexistent protocols. Unlike other Insomniac events with beautiful art installations and killer production, Abduction faced harsh reviews for being hosted on an asphalt parking lot. To top it off, the event was cancelled after the first day due to inclement weather.

III Points

III Points festival in Miami, FL was most notably dubbed as Frye Fest 2.0. The rain always is a downer during a festival, but even more so when organizers make no announcement that they will be delaying gate opening times forcing massive crowds to stand soaking in line. To make matters worse, festival goers were livid about the nonexistent water stations forcing people to pay absurd prices for bottled water. Though, that’s Miami for you.

Lost Lands

Lost Lands in Thornville, OH has a reputation for being difficult to enter and this year was no different. Though some of the blame can be put on bad weather, attendees were stranded outside the gates for hours and hundreds of people were not able to even enter the first day leaving them stranded. There were many testimonies describing their 10+ hour wait times in line to only be redirected to a parking lot with no basic amenities.

The Best Festivals of 2021

EDC Las Vegas

After two long years, EDC Las Vegas made its return in full force for its 25^th year celebration. This year Insomniac expanded its footprint by using the entire Las Vegas Motor Speedway grounds. More space allowed for more stages, food vendors and Instagram-able art installations everywhere. The festival grounds were turned into a literal rave wonderland and can proudly report there were zero casualties.

Electric Zoo

EZoo made a strong return to Randall’s Island in NY with a sweet lineup including Deadbeats, Brownies & Lemonade, and Wakaan takeovers. Known for their unique production, organizers did not disappoint with massively intricate stages. The festival even did their due diligence with thorough checking of vaccination cards and negative COVID tests in addition to going completely cashless. We love an event that provides a quality music experience and safe environment.

Sunset

Sunset music festival in Tampa, FL was the first ‘post-pandemic’ festival to happen and overcame many of the past logistical issues it faced in previous years. Always providing diverse talent and unique stage design, SMF was a success because it kept safety as a priority. Tampa heat in the summer is no joke, and the SMF crew took every precaution to keep attendees hydrated and cool. There were rotating water misting fans all around and an abundance of water refill stations keeping the lines short and efficient. These details may seem small, but comfortable and hydrated attendees lead to a better festival experience for everyone. 

EDC Orlando

Piggybacking off EDCLV, EDC Orlando perfectly took a chunk of their parent festival and transported it to Florida. It is not easy to capture the magic in Vegas, but EDC Orlando took the same wholistic approach to the festival experience. The layout of the festival was well organized with new digital installations like Pixel Forest and secret walkways encouraging attendees to appreciate more than just the sets. Production was on par with EDCLV, but unique to Orlando is the Corona Beach staged that hosted secret sets from NGHTMRE, Blunts & Blondes b2b DRINKURWATER and Nitti Gritti.  

Suwannee Hulaween 

Who doesn’t love a costume party? Taking place in Live Oak, FL Hulaween is a camping fan favorite for its ease of entry and ability to utilize the forest to set up camp where you please. Aside from an music experience intertwined with nature, Hulaween offers tons of other activities for festival goers. The highlight being ‘Spirit Lake’ which offers flow performances, live artwork and other immersive activities coined as an adult playground.