Escape: All Hallows Eve Music Festival was held this past Halloween weekend at National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, California. The festival consisted of 5 stages, mazes, art and performers.
Day 1
I took the Insomniac Shuttle from Los Angeles to the festival. The festival was about an hour away from Los Angeles, and the shuttles left from different areas including Hollywood, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton, Orange (Chapman), Pasadena City College, and West Hollywood. Bus passes were $30 round trip for both days. The shuttle ride was a fun experience. I met the people on the bus and we talked about the festival and got to know each other. Everyone on the bus was very friendly and excited to celebrate Halloween together at this massive festival! Insomniac had everything we needed on the bus including snacks, water and gum. The shuttle even had outlets for us to charge our phones on the way.
Photo Credit: Alex Perez
Once we arrived at the festival, we all went our separate ways into the madness. The lines to enter the festival were organized and the wait wasn’t long since there were several people on staff checking our tickets and IDs and performing security checks. The festival had a carnival feel with rides, carnival food and stages.
The Stages, Mazes, Art and Performers
The Slaughterhouse: The main stage had a huge clown head in the center with the artist performing inside of the clown’s mouth. There were cages on both sides of the clown head with dancers inside of the cages, as well as an LED lion inside the cage (it looked insanely real!).
Photo Credit: Marc van der Aa
Artists performing on this stage included Benny Benassi, Tiesto, Dash Berlin and Sander Van Doorn on Friday night and The Chainsmokers, W&W and Steve Angello on Saturday night.
Ghouls’ Graveyard: This stage was home of the trance family on Friday night with artists including Paul Van Dyk, Aly & Fila BrB John O’ Callaghan and Moska. On Saturday, Laidback Luke presented Super You&Me where artists performed in costumes. Laidback Luke, Blasterjaxx and Steve Aoki killed it on stage Saturday night.
Photo Credit: Jacob Lifschultz
The Chopping Block: Friday night was filled with intense drops and heavy bass with artists such as Tropkillaz, sKisM, and 12th Planet. On Saturday night this stage was filled with trap, future bass and hip hop. Hosted by Audiotistic, this stagr feautured artists such as Oliver Heldens, Adventure Club and Schoolboy Q.
Cannibals’ Tea Party: The first day had artists performing such as Matadore, Recondite and The Martinez Brothers. The second day had artists including Richy, Justin James and Art Department.
Bayou Voodoo Mansion: This stage was filled with performers and had the characteristics of a barn. Located in the middle of a field by a pond, the atmosphere and vibe of this stage was euphoric. This stage had the best of deep house and the winners of the Escape All Hallows Eve Discovery Project. Friday night had artists performing including Pushplay, Ysais and 219 boys and 2Tone Disco. Saturday night had artists including Kaizen, Louis Vivet and Craig Williams.
Photo Credit: Alex Perez
The Mazes: I got a chance to check out the mazes and lost among the twisted corridors of Alice’s House of Horror, where nightmares jump to life at every turn. There were also adventurous places such as The Looking Glass, a 3D treat for the eyes and a wicked trick for your mind.
The Art: Creating, curating and displaying interactive art pieces for the festival environment is a key part of what makes an Insomniac event so unique. They are constantly looking for new and emerging artists with innovative ideas that will add to the wonder of the landscape. In addition to seeking out these installations, Insomniac commissions talented artists to produce exclusive, one-of-a-kind pieces designed to contribute to the magic of each festival. I got a chance to check out all of the incredible artistic talent present at this festival. The One-Eyed Monster, a roving art car, is designed like a long-necked monster with a giant eye and has 24 speakers surrounding its base. Womp! Cactaferrum is the 28 foot tall installation. Its changing hues and flame effects represent the phases of plant life and the transformation from bud to flower.
The Performers: Wicked witches, Frankenstein’s monster, the Mad hatter, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Alice and Wonderland- any Halloween theme you can think of you that you love you would have seen at Escape. The elaborate costumes and detail that went into bringing these costumes to life was incredible. The costumes, decorations and artwork added so much to the Halloween vibe of the festival.
Day 2
Day 2 consisted of visiting the different stages and checking out artists such as Keys N Krates, Kaizen, Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano, Laidback Luke, W&W, Adventure Club, Oliver Heldens and more.
The organization of the shuttles was easy just like day 1. We were all amped up and ready to enjoy another night filled with music, visuals and Halloween Vibes. The night ended with an amazing fireworks display- the perfect way to celebrate Halloween. The performers were out in full effect again with different costumes and Halloween Makeup. The names of the stages were the same while the themes were different. The layout of the festival was very organized and accessibility to different stages was easy. The sound, production, attention to detail, mazes, performers and artwork were all incredible. This was overall an outstandingfestival experience.
Photo Credit: Alex Perez
Written by FestPop Staff Writer
Suzanne Ledford
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