Nocturnal Wonderland

Nocturnal Wonderland (formerly Nocturnal Festival)
Genre Trance music, Dance music, Electronic dance music, House music, Drum and bass, Techno, Hardstyle
Dates First Weekend of September (Southern California)
April (Texas)
Location(s) San Bernardino, California
Rockdale, Texas
Years active 1994 - 2001; 2003 - present (Southern California)
2010 - 2012 (Texas)
Website
www.nocturnalwonderland.com

Nocturnal Wonderland, formerly known as Nocturnal Festival, is a massive electronic music festival that has been steadily growing and brings the biggest names in music and dance to an audience of up to 50,000 musical enthusiasts. It celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015.

History

Nocturnal Wonderland, for the first time in 2011, is a three-day event that used to occur in early September around Labor Day.[1] There are usually 5 stages with a total of over 60 different artists performing throughout the two nights. The styles of music heard during the performance are vast and vary in range year to year. Every year there are artists from the trance, drum and bass, break beat, and house genres.

The first Nocturnal Wonderland was held in 1995. In its early years, Insomniac (the production crew responsible for Nocturnal Festival), did not have a steady venue for this event and the location for the event had to change each year. One of its most famous locations was the Coachella Valley Indio Polo grounds. This is the same location where the now famous Coachella Music Festival is held. In 2002 (Nocturnal Wonderland could not be held because not enough revenue could be generated to secure the event), Nocturnal Wonderland returned to the National Orange Show in San Bernardino after having first taken place at that location in 1998. The Orange Show has been the location of Nocturnal from 2003 to the present except for 2007. During 2007, the event was held in Downtown Los Angeles.

On Labor Day Weekend 2010, Insomniac surprised many fans by introducing Nocturnal Festival Texas held at Apache Pass Fairgrounds in Rockdale, Texas, just outside Austin. This event became not only the first Nocturnal Festival outside of California, but also the first multi-day Nocturnal being held on September 4 through the 5th. Insomniac would further surprise fans by announcing Nocturnal Festival California will also be two days in 2011, as well as returning to the name Nocturnal Wonderland.

Other similar festivals in the Southern California area include Together As One (Produced in conjunction with Go Ventures), Monster Massive (A Go Ventures Production), Beyond Wonderland, and Electric Daisy Carnival.

In 2016, hundreds of people were arrested at the event.[2]

Stages

There are typically five stages at the event; however, this number varies depending on attendance and venue size. Nocturnal Festival 2010 utilized six stages with an expanded venue size. Each stage is typically themed with unique props and lighting.

Some examples of the stages are:

"The Labyrinth": This stage has usually been held in a giant warehouse-like building. In 2010, the stage was meant for a wider and taller tent but was switched with Alice's House to accompany more attendees. The decorations for this stage are always the most lavish, with 20-foot (6.1 m) tall stacks of speakers, huge colorful designs, abstract shapes of all sorts and sizes hanging from the ceiling, lasers, smoke machines, and a phenomenal display of lights. In recent years, trapeze artists have performed above the crowd during the shows. This stage typically plays host to the trance genres.

Alice's House: This stage was once held on a huge grass field next to a man made lagoon. It is an outdoor stage and is a wonderful place to come when all the high energy from the inside rooms gets to be too much. This stage features some very chill/groovy house vibes. However, in 2010 the stage became much bigger and was accompanied by more upbeat and energetic house music.

The Upside Downroom: This stage used to play host to various techno and house genres, but it has grown to become a mixed-genre tent. It's not as lavishly themed, but lighting is in no short supply. In recent years, the size has also expanded.

The Sunken Garden: This stage is the most energy intensive of all the stages, with huge speakers, heavy bass, and MCs that freestyle over the music. While other stages focus on the slower, more traditional styles of electronic music such as house, trance, or breaks, this room is dedicated to the electronic music genre drum and bass. This stage is typically hosted by another company founded by Insomniac called 'Bassrush.' Separate Bassrush events are held at various locations nationwide throughout the year.

The Queen's Grounds: This room used to hold all of the attractions until 2009 when it became another stage. The music is typically house oriented, more notably the electro house genres. In 2010 it was held in one of the bigger warehouse-like buildings which housed the main stage for 2008's Nocturnal Festival. Not to be confused with Beyond Wonderland's Queen's Domain stage.

The Big Top Tent: Another mixed-genre type tent playing host to mostly house. As the name suggests, it started off as being one of the only stages held outside in a giant tent. Eventually, the big top tent stage faded away and 2010 saw no incarnation of the Big Top Tent.

Talent

Nocturnal has featured artists from around the world, including:

2012

California:

Texas:

2011

California:

Texas:

2010

California:

Texas:

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2000

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nocturnal Festival.

References

  1. ↑ The 17th Annual Nocturnal Wonderland - Saturday September 24th, 2011
  2. ↑ "More than 400 arrested at Nocturnal Wonderland rave in San Bernardino County". Msn.com. 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
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