Day Trip Festival Delivered a Dose of Summer Fun to SoCal

Day Trip Festival proved to be the best party of the summer for house and techno lovers with a bangin’ lineup, fun-filled afterparties, and plenty of great vibes.

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It wouldn’t be the start of the summer months without Day Trip Festival helping guide the way. This Insomniac festival has seen the Day Trip team continue to elevate the experience with each passing edition, transforming the Queen Mary Waterfront into a house- and techno-lovers’ paradise for a weekend of fun in the sun. The most recent iteration saw one of the biggest upgrades yet, with the inclusion of the newly opened Long Beach Amphitheater, which added a proper fourth stage to the festival.

Much like Zombie Apocalypse the weekend prior, the layout for Day Trip Festival shifted to embrace the fresh layout. The updated pedestrian entrance via the Queensway Bridge made entry a breeze, and it quickly became the preferred strategy for many, as the shuttle line took upwards of an hour. We took a quick trip across the bridge to the festival each day, and I’d highly recommend using the pedicabs or golf carts to speed things up.

Photo Credit: Jamal Eid for Day Trip

While the layout was new, the rest of the festival grounds felt fairly familiar to past attendees.

The High Tide and Deep End stages remained in their usual positions, with designs akin to those of years past. The Shoreline stage also sat in the middle of the festival, with the BeatBox side-stage nearby. Meanwhile, the new Amphitheater stage expanded the festival’s layout and provided a place for people to sit and bask in the stage’s sounds if they needed respite from the heat.

There were plenty of food and beverage vendors throughout the festival grounds, but prices remained fairly steep. That didn’t stop the horde of people I saw walking around with fishbowls in their hands, though. I did appreciate the variety of food options that were available, from pizza, noodles, and tacos to vegan-friendly vendors and more.

Production-wise, Day Trip Festival offered a lush, flowery environment for attendees to explore. Greenery used at all stages helped add much-needed summer elements to the mix, while the evening hours saw lighting and disco balls come to life. The water feature at the Shoreline stage was also a nice touch. This isn’t Insomniac’s most immersive experience from a production standpoint, but do you really need that when the focus is supposed to be on the music? On that front, the sound was great wherever I went, so no notes there. But speaking about the sound, let’s dive into the music.

Photo Credit: Ismael Quintanilla for Day Trip

There were a number of sets that stole the show at this year’s edition of Day Trip Festival.

The entire lineup for Day Trip Festival was bursting at the seams with talent, making it difficult not to dread the set time conflicts as the weekend approached. Sadly, a few artists had to drop out of the festival this year due to visa issues or other reasons, notably Ben Hemsley. But that didn’t stop those who did take the stage from throwing down some incredible sets.

The first day featured some standout performances from D.O.D and Obskur early on, which led into an absolutely stunning set from Kolter that stuck with me long after it had concluded. The first half of ChaseWest was filled with pure, unadulterated energy, but Odd Mob was calling my name, so I split the set to catch the Aussie spin over at the High Tide stage. BUNT. brought some insane energy to the Amphitheater for the closing set, while Josh Baker and Green Velvet put on a clinic at the main stage to close out the night.

After the festival’s final beats dropped, I caught one of my favorite sets of the entire weekend as Odd Mob took the stage at the afters on the Queen Mary. Dashing the tunes he would typically rinse, the Aussie spun so many fun edits and remixes along with other deeply curated gems that made this set stand tall. I love when artists can break free from the formulaic festival sets tailored to a broader demographic and let their creativity behind the decks fly, and Odd Mob accomplished this marvelously.

Photo Credit: Treston Van Baalbergen for Day Trip

The second day powered forward in style, with Silva Bump and Sidney Charles helping kick my day off properly.

Those two artists helped set the tone for the rest of the day, and the crowds swelled as the heat dissipated like clockwork. A dose of HNTR’s dynamic grooves was next on the agenda, but soon after, I found a new love for what was happening at the Insomniac Radio pop-up. The small crowd was treated to random DJ sets during their open decks, and it was fun to bump around in the spacious area with some friends while hearing some house classics.

Closing the night out was a run of it’s murph, SIDEPIECE b2b Westend, and then avoiding the swelling crowds by heading to Girl Math. VNSSA and Nala threw down such a fun set, bringing my Day Trip Festival experience to an end — I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

Photo Credit: Kristina Bakrevski for Day Trip

When reflecting on the overall experience, it’s clear that this festival has matured quite a bit.

Day Trip Festival got off to a bit of a rocky start years ago, but ever since it found a home at the Queen Mary Waterfront, it’s seemingly grown up. While the lineups have featured major names on the festival circuit, there’s also a wealth of fresh talent and some surprises that have graced the bill, making it more dynamic.

Crowd-wise, it seemed like this year was more chill than in years past. Although people were certainly partying hard and top sets packed the stages, I didn’t witness any encounters that marred the vibes, let alone any of the fights that typically surface during the festival.

Overall, if you live in Southern California and love house and techno, there’s no doubt this festival should remain on your radar. It’s a solid kick-off to the summer and a polished experience, so don’t sleep on it next year when it returns for another round of fun in the sun.

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