Beyond Wonderland Gorge suffers slew of fires during 2024 festival

A small fire accidentally caught after a pyrotechnic hit during Dillon Francis’s set.

One year after two concertgoers were fatally shot at Beyond Wonderland, the Northwest’s premier electronic dance music festival returned to Washington’s Gorge Amphitheatre. Although security is expected to be heavier, last year’s tragedy still looms large as music lovers debate whether to return. 

Fans who have attended Gorge concerts since the shooting have noticed more thorough security screenings at the venue’s campgrounds. As a result, organizers are projecting lengthy delays for the roughly 25,000 expected Beyond Wonderland attendees to enter the campgrounds.

In other recent Beyond Wonderland news, there was a fire that erupted during Dillon Francis‘s set. A user on TikTok captured the moment when a small fire slowly began to build on the side of the main stage following a pyro effect. Thankfully, the fire was controlled and both the performance and festival carried on as planned.

As mentioned earlier, since last year, the festival has taken extra security measures to ensure no outside threats take place. On the same note, unexpected incidents take place and it’s the organizer’s job to handle them accordingly as they arise.

Naturally, the music was the highlight. The Queen’s Valley mainstage featured top-tier performances from Dillon Francis, Rezz, Sullivan King, ARMNHMR, and Kayzo. Alison Wonderland dubbed herself the Queen of Wonderland for the weekend.The stage offered a diverse range of acts. Mellodeath delivered a thrillingly demonic set on day one, and Zedd closed the festival with an uplifting performance on day two.

The Mad Hatter’s Castle stage showcased an impressive lineup of bass artists, including drum and bass, both during the festival and the Friday pre-party. SVDDEN DEATH concluded the pre-party, leading into the festival with acts like Dimension, Smoakland b2b Sippy, Delta Heavy, Jessica Audiffred, and Adventure Club. Diesel capped off the weekend with a high-energy, mosh pit-filled performance that brought the house down.

All in all, the festival carried out smoothly and safely. Attendees response was positive and promising as they look forward to another year at Gorge in 2025.