Tomorrowworld, rated as one of the biggest and best EDM music festivals in the world, and it lived up to the hype. A trip that was planned by my friend Nick and I in less than 1 hour, back in March, after a failed attempt to go to Ultra on a one week notice. I’ve been dying to go to Tomorrowland/Tomorrowworld since 2013 and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen the aftermovies. This left me with 7 months of anticipation of going to a place outside of Atlanta, Georgia for 3 days that was going to host over 200 of the best DJs in the world. The trip did not start off well, but damn did it finish with fireworks.
We bought the Easy Tent Dreamville option, which granted us access to all 3 days of the festival and a tent that would be set up when we arrived with all the glamping amenities. We assumed this would be the most effortless, efficient way, for us to enjoy an amazing weekend since we both were flying down there. But… Of course my flight gets delayed 3 hours causing us to miss our shuttle to the festival. One Uber and a separate shuttle later, we finally get to will call at 2:00AM, only seconds before they closed. This wouldn’t have been an issue, but my wristbands never came in the mail. Nevertheless, we eventually made our way through the pouring rain to the tent for a short night sleep.
We wandered all around the Dreamville grounds all morning until they opened the festival doors to thousands of anxious ravers. Outside of the easy tents were everyone who brought their own tents. There were tents in the distances along a wooden path for over a mile. Some big, some small, but they all had something in common. They were all in mud. By the afternoon, the gates finally opened, and all of us poured into the festival grounds like bats out of hell. These massive stages were erected in the Chattahoochee Hills looked like monuments to the DJ Gods. Nick and I immediately made our way to the mainstage, taking it all in, that we were finally at a place that we’ve only seen in YouTube videos. DJ after DJ. Stage after Stage. New friends after new friends. This became an experience rather than just another music festival.
We drank all the Bud Light we could get our hands on and picked out the DJs we couldn’t miss seeing. Luckily most played at different times, but we still had to split some of the sets. Night one left us with an unforgettable experience listening to Steve Angello, Kaskade, and Tiesto in a row, followed by a beautiful 1lb burrito to end the night. Each of the following mornings began the same. Wake up uncomfortable from the deflating air mattress (which was way better than sleeping on the ground), then head over to the showers, and finally charger our phones at the lockers. Like I said, this was some hardcore glamping.
Now even though the drinks and food were expensive an expensive amount of pearls ($20=9 pearls), it all made it really feel like you were in a different country for the weekend. When the gates would open up again, we would grab lunch at one of the 50+ different food spots that had varieties from BBQ to Korean and Tacos to Japanese food. After lunch, it was always right back to the rave. Each stage was so unique, between its intricate set design and drastically different type of EDM music. Each of the DJs brought the A game without a doubt. Aside from the mainstage, there were 7 other stages that each brought something magical to the experience. A massive tent which hosted trance music, boat stage out on the lake, a stage hidden away in the woods for so much trap music, another two stages in the very back of the festival that overlooked the water and hid under another huge tent.
Each day became better than the last. I ran into so many friends from college at the festival, along with making so many new friends. Each one made the experience better in their own way. All across the globe, people flocked to the middle of nowhere for this event, and it didn’t take me more than one day to realize why. Saturday night was headlined by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Afrojack, Hardwell and Sunday starred the amazing cast of Klingande, Martin Garrix, David Guetta, and last but not least Armin Van Buuren.
Each day, better than the previous, but all ending with a magical display of fireworks that would make the 4th of July be jealous. The last night was sad to watch the lights turn down and the music to go silent. As the crowd funneled out the exit or returned to their tents, we all left as better people than when we came.
Thank you TomorrowWorld.
Do’s and Don’ts:
-Meet as many people as possible, everyone was so friendly and came from all over the world
-Pack as much food possible to save money
-Bring alcohol down with you or have someone drive and get it for you, inside was too expensive($10/beer)
-In the unlikely event of rain, LOL, bring waterproof footwear and plenty of trash bags for wet clothes.
-Bring external batteries to charge devices. It cost $30/day to charge in lockers
-Take breaks during the day. Unless you have PEDs, it was so hard to rave from noon until 1am each day
Hi there, my name is Zachary Kenney and I’m an adventure filmmaker & photographer. My passion is to tell stories that will hopefully motivate you to go live a more adventurous life. Whether that is to experience the view from the summit of a mountain, or wandering through a new town on a road trip. Currently based out of Park City, UT.
