[The PREMIUM] Techno Festivals In The USA
While techno has become synonymous with Europe, its birthplace is actually the USA (Detroit), and you’re in for a treat when it comes to options for techno festivals in the USA. So get ready to rave with the sweet festivals playing everything from Drum & Bass, EDM, Psytrance, Techno, Trance, House, Electronic, and Dubstep.
⚡ Lightning In A Bottle
Another scintillating techno festival in the USA that offers a varied mix of artists on its lightning, thunder, and woogie stages. I can certainly get behind a festival that, under lists of ‘not allowed’, includes machetes (for opening coconuts) and culturally appropriated costumes (that’s right, headdresses were never cool).
Most of the festivals on this list have easy access to creature comforts. However, LIB is a fully immersive festival where you need to camp. But don’t worry, because RVs are welcome, and the higher-end camping looks delightful (if I may say so).
This festival also offers some great additions on top of the music, including yoga & movement, art & interactivity, and learning & culture. It might seem niche, but its organizers are also responsible for Do LaB Stage at Coachella, so you know it’ll be a goodie.
Do you have to camp at Lightning in a Bottle?
Yes, you need to camp at Lighting In A Bottle. But don’t fret if traditional camping isn’t your thing. A whole range of other more comfortable camping options are available to you other than general camping. For example, the boutique glamping (affords you all your homely comfort) and the RV camping option means you can have added luxuries.
Does Lightning in a Bottle do day passes?
No, there are no day passes available to buy for Lightning In A Bottle. Instead, the general admission passes are valid for the whole 5-day event, and you are encouraged to attend the entire festival. Besides, you won’t want to leave once you get a taste!
🌴 Miami Music Week
While Florida might not be the first place you consider when talking about techno festivals, Miami has a lot to offer worldwide revelers.
This one is a biggy, and every year, at the end of March, hundreds of thousands of people attend Miami Music Week. It’s not just a music festival, but also a conference – so you know they mean business.
Expect a cityscape background, all the pyrotechnics your heart can handle, and a true industry institution.
You can expect an eclectic mix of Drum & Bass, Psytrance, Techno, Trance, House, Electronic, and Dubstep.
It’s grown significantly in just over a decade to welcome over a thousand artists, playing at hundreds of venues throughout Miami, and is considered the warm-up to Ultra Music Festival. So get your neon vest, your sunnies, and fist-pumps ready.
Where should I stay for Miami Music Week?
The events that make up Miami Music Week are mainly located in South Beach. So, when it comes to picking a place to stay, you should first consider staying in South Beach. However, Miami traffic can be crazy, so bear this in mind if you want to stay outside of South Beach.
🔀 CRSSD Festival
Stay classy, San Diego. Next, we move on to techno in California, which is none other than CRSSD Festival.
Held in September, this can count as the summer wind-down (does California even have winter?) There’s an epic mix of artists and DJs for this installment, sure to end off summer festivals on an undeniable high note.
True to California, you can anticipate a diverse line-up, well-dressed attendees, and a smaller crowd, giving it that boutique vibe for a techno festival. It’s an epic urban setting that is a bonus of not having to mission too far to enjoy some sweet tunes.
How many times a year is CRSSD?
Following a few fallow years due to the pandemic, the CRRSD festival is back and running twice a year. The venue is Bayfront Park for both the March and September installments. The promoters try and keep the lineups similar for both editions.
⌛ Time Warp US
Now, this one is mega. Split across two warehouses in the coolest borough of New York is Time Warp festival.
New York is the ultimate cityscape for a techno festival, and what beats a Navy Yard on the East River with the Manhattan Bridge in view?
The best part about techno events that take place in warehouses is that you know the party won’t be ending early. While festivals downtown are epic on several levels, they, unfortunately, can’t go all night. Enter Time Warp.
Bringing in some of the best names in techno from Nina Kraviz, Adriatique, Seth Troxler, and Jamie Jones – you’re in for a good festival.
Time Warp has been running for more than 25 years, and its production value is unrivaled. As a result, you can look forward to a great venue, an even better line-up, and true electronic music expertise.
🎛️ Movement Electronic Music Festival
Detroit is an epic location for this techno festival as it has a burgeoning music scene and, let’s face it, enough derelict buildings to host a raging party. Movement Electronic Music Festival welcomes a massive and varied line-up of music talent, making this a not-to-be-missed techno festival.
Held at the end of May, it’s a great event to whet the appetite as summer starts and rings in Memorial Day weekend. While you might associate techno with Europe, Detroit is in fact, the birthplace of techno.
So it’s only fitting to add this festival to your American techno festival list since you’re paying homage to the city that housed its inception.
How old do you have to be to go to Movement Detroit?
Kids 12 and under can attend Movement Detroit if a supervising adult/parent accompanies them. All ages over 12 are allowed entry with a valid ticket. Bar staff will check ID for every alcoholic purchase at the onsite bars.
🎨 Art With Me Miami
This one is a cultural, arts, and music festival with highly creative, immersive, and inspirational experiences across multiple platforms. A little more off-piste than the other festivals on this list,
Art With Me Miami includes music, speakers, yoga teachers, mindfulness leaders, and top chefs, all gathering to explore the impact that art, care, breath, dance, eat, and play have on the world around us.
It’s a truly immersive experience that follows these 6 core pillars to make a Burning Man-likened festival experience for attendees.
A self-proclaimed “Thanksgiving feast of the senses” will certainly keep you entertained and immersed.
🫵 III Points festival
If you’re looking for a mega festival line-up, look no further than III Points Festival. The perfect mix of colossal techno names, peppered in with other huge acts that you wouldn’t think would ever be at the same festival (unless you were, of course, at Coachella or another big one).
However, they make this diverse line-up work, and you can expect artists from all over the globe, making this one an unmissable event.
As far as techno festivals in the USA go, it’s clear that Miami has some of the best. It’s the perfect place to have that holiday feeling but close enough that you can access an epic festival without having to venture way into the desert or the mountains.
III Points Festival boasts six stages, immersive art, and cutting-edge audiovisual technology and has got to be on your list of techno festivals in the USA.
What to bring to III Points?
The essentials to bring to III Points are your phone, tickets, and a good pair of shoes. Having these items is the bare minimum. To make your experience more enjoyable, have a read of our guides on staying clean at festivals and festival footwear. Read this for a complete list of what you can and can’t bring.
❤️🔥 Desert Hearts Festival
Ever discussed organizing your own festival with a group of mates? Well, the quintet of Desert Hearts Festival did precisely that.
A renegade group of skateboarding and surfing dudes from San Diego enlisted a group of 200 people to descend onto the Mojave Desert.
This ideal boutique festival now takes place at Lake Perris in California. If you don’t get tickets to their festival (which sells out every year), luckily, these nomads keep the techno circus moving around the US and have pop-up events in many different cities.
What I love about this festival is that it has kept its integrity. The founding fathers had no interest in scaling for the sake of profit.
The nature of the festival itself is what motivates them to keep it small and, incidentally, has attracted some epic names in techno.
🔥 Burning Man
Okay, so this might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about techno festivals. And hardcore burners out there would definitely object to me calling it a techno festival. But you can 100% find some banging techno beats on the Playa!
As Burning Man gains more popularity and people travel from all over the world to attend, it’s certainly attracted some huge techno names to perform in the Nevada Desert.
This cultural phenomenon has captured the hearts of many, and others have created Burning Man regionals in Israel, South Africa, and New Zealand. However, not many festivals can claim to have inspired such a movement of embracing the core principles.
While this festival attracts supermodels and tech bros from Silicon Valley, it really is the mecca of self-expression, so get ready to pray at the altar of techno – the Mayan Warrior.
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