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The shuttle ride up to the Jean Dry Lakebed was full of stories, both directly told and implied. A family of three spoke fluent French as we passed the Speed Vegas motorsports park in Sloan. I couldn’t make out a lick of what they said, but all signs pointed to excitement. A girl wearing long lashes, elf ears and a thin coverup confided that she’d traveled from Seattle with a group of friends, so that one of them could light a lantern for her late father.
As we passed the color splashed Seven Magic Mountains, the festival grounds spilled into view. Against the desert terrain and jagged mountain ranges, the Rise Festival may as well have been a mirage. Music pumped from its center like a heartbeat, dust kicking up from cars and scores of festivalgoers trekking in. But instead of rushing to the Compass Stage, people took their time. They soaked in the panoramic desert views and the mini sculpture park ahead.
Like the desert-dwelling nomads of Dune, they wore earthy tones and scarves to protect their faces from the harsh winds. Rise actually experienced such a bad dust storm on Friday, October 3, the festival was forced to forgo its popular sky-lighting ceremony. The winds proved tamer on Saturday.
People danced under the desert sky to Oliver Heldens, whose future house remixes of MGMT’s “Kids” and Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” brought the daytime party to an infectious fever pitch. But as sunset approached, Australian singer-songwriter RY X took the stage with his guitar and poignant falsetto. The mood shifted as we entered a time of reflection, RY X expressing his desire to “take this to a place of intentionality.”
I was a bit shocked at how cool people were with that. In one fell swoop, the festival grounds quieted. People knelt on cushions and started filling out their lanterns. I peeked at some people scrawling only a few passages—“Miss you. Love you.”—while others wrote a scroll’s worth of intentions and dreams down. Mine fell somewhere in between. And to be invited to write them out at all felt personal and powerful.
Emotions ran high, higher than the lit lanterns as they rose up into the night sky, dancing away into the wind. There were so many, they overtook the moon. We somehow created our own stars. I can’t tell you how moving a moment like that was, the release of it. But I can say, no other festival I’ve been to comes close.
With a jubilant moment like that, what do you do? You party. And party we did. Rise Festival’s new Horizon Stage took the 10-year anniversary to another level. Disclosure turned the entire lakebed into its club with deep house cuts like “Latch.” And Calvin Harris closed the night down with a euphoric marathon of hits, including “Sweet Nothing.” The vibes were nothing short of impeccable. We showed up for a celebration, and this festival rose to the occasion.
English (US) ·