All Photos by Ginger Wesson
Imagine Music Festival celebrated its fifth anniversary September 21st to 23rd at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Just south of the city of Atlanta, the venue was transformed into an aquatic wonderland. It hosted main stage performances from Galantis, Armin Van Buuren, Bassnectar, Alesso, Zeds Dead, and Kaskade. This year was bigger and better than ever on the festival grounds. From the main stage to process in which it took to enter the festival, everything this year got a major upgrade. The stages were grander, the lines moved faster, and the line up kept everyone from trance to bass fans to everyone in between dancing through the night.
More Artwork
This pyramid became a central meeting point for my squad and I. Not only did it stand out in the open field, it was set in between stages, at night it took on a life of its own. A rainbow of colors and shapes were projection mapped onto the pyramid giving it a magical look. It was a great place to meet up with friends or just take a break from dancing for a bit and enjoy the light show.
All around the venue you could see and touch artwork. There were murals, cool things to walk under, over sized beach chairs, coral, and other touches that transported attendees into a fantasy world under the sea.
Even those walking around, from those dressed by the festival to attendees who just went the extra mile, were a truly a work of art.
Improved Entry
In years past, all festival goers entered from one point. This year there were three points of entry. This greatly alleviated long wait times that were experienced in previous years.
More Daytime Activities
While my friends and I opted to hang out poolside at a house we rented down the street, those who decided to camp were greeted with a lot more daytime activities. This year the festival expanded its offering of workshops. From yoga to flow arts to meditation to thought provoking seminars, there were many classes that festival goers could participate in.
In addition to the many workshops, there were also a bunch of other activities for people to join in on. There were water balloon tosses, water gun fights, ping pong tables, and other things to play with throughout the day.
Or if you did not feel like being active you could simply relax in the pool on a giant clam.
Stellar Performances
A few performances in particular stood out to me. EOTO, the side project of The String Cheese Incident’s Michael Travis and Jason Hann, put on an outstanding performance Saturday night. Their set was a mix of live instruments and electronic experimentation running free. GRiZ stole the show Sunday night when he not only smashed the funk, but played an extra 30 minutes over his set. Other standout performances included EKALI, who dropped a special mix of “Chicken Soup” by Skrillex & Habstrakt into the hottest song of 2018, “Losing It” by Fisher. Jai Wolf brought all the feels Saturday night while Adventure Club played a heavier set than usual as they warmed up the stage for Bassnectar.
