Sound Haven Music Festival + Northcoast Music Festival

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Written by: Lauren Corrigan

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Over the last couple of months, I’ve been able to go to a handful of different festivals and immerse myself in many different spaces within the festival scene. Each festival has its own crowd, just like every concert has its own group of fans. Overall, the rave scene is a diverse space that includes everyone! Especially at bigger and broader festivals, you can find many different genres in one place, which is great for first-time festival-goers, especially if they aren’t sure what their favorite genre is yet; it’s all part of the first-time festival-goers' experience! 

At the end of July, I had the opportunity to head back to SoundHaven Music Festival in Whitwell, Tennessee, an independent festival put on by Sacred Hive, and it was their 8th year, with lots of new upgrades compared to previous years. The festival prides itself on the sound systems at its three stages; the UFO stage has Funktion-One Vero speakers, and the festival has previously broken records with some of the tallest stacks ever seen at a festival. At the second main stage, also known as the Planetary Stage, they deployed new speakers this year, bringing the largest new-format HSD sound system to that stage and in the world- talk about stepping up the game for sound system culture. Lastly, their campground stage, also known as the Kouch stage, came in hot with an HSD rig. You're not just listening to the music; you are feeling it in every fiber of your bones. The sound absolutely blew me away my first year, and it is one of the things that makes Soundhaven, Soundhaven. Beyond the sound, the lineup they put together year after year is incredible, showcasing smaller local acts alongside bigger names in the EDM world.

I really appreciate how they give everyone a spot to get new ears on their music. Some of my favorite acts this weekend were Distinct Motive, Boogie T, Zen Seleckta, Medicine Place, AYCH, and Voodoo. The list could go on and on; it’s really hard to pick favorites when every set that weekend was absolutely killer. There were only a couple of moments where I felt like I couldn’t get into the music, but that’s expected with any show you go to, and there is much more to the music here! It doesn’t stop with the music and the sound; it also includes the visual performers who bring the show even more to life. My favorite acts to see were the fire spinners and live painters. Everyone is so talented, and it’s inspiring to see so many different types of art come together to create something bigger than just a music festival; it creates a space where everyone feels like they are creating something magical. 

Soundhaven invites amazing food and craft vendors, putting you hand in hand with small business owners, favorite festival food vendors, and much more on a much smaller scale, which allows festival-goers to share intimate moments with people whom you wouldn’t get to interact with at a much larger festival. To wrap it all up, Soundhaven is a community. It builds community and embodies what it means to be one. The festival caps at 4,000 people, making it a space to run into some friends you don’t get to see all the time, maybe dance with your favorite DJ, and meet some new faces and create so many lasting memories. I love this festival, and it really opened up a whole new world of underground music. Everyone I spoke with this weekend clearly loves what they do to keep the festival running and make it a great experience for everyone. I spoke with a lot of first-timers this year who said they had never felt so at home at a music festival before and couldn’t wait to keep coming back for years to come. 

So many had great things to say about far more than the festival itself: the camping is top tier, the grounds are kept in pretty good shape, and, of course, the harm reduction team keeps everyone safe, which is very, very important. I hope those who have been thinking about going to Soundhaven go next year to experience the magic in person; there’s only so much words can express about how amazing the place is.

Making almost a complete 180, I attended Northcoast Music Festival in Chicago. It was my first time going to a city festival, so I didn’t know what to expect in the slightest. It was also interesting because it was held at a stadium, so I was excited to see how it works in that setting. My first thought when I got to the festival was how different it was from all the other festivals I’ve been to, which have all been camping festivals, so this was my first time dealing with traffic to and from the festival, rides back and forth to the hotel, and overall just allotting time to just those factors by themselves. 

 Once I was inside, I had a few thoughts. First off, the stage layouts were very impressive. To have so many stages decently close together, besides the main stage in the stadium, the sound bleed from the stages wasn’t bad at all! Maybe walking in between stages you could tell, but once you were set up at a stage, you couldn’t notice at all.  This was a good mix of EDM genres, and I think that’s what attracted so many different types of people. I’m a dubstep girly who also loves house, so I’m happy I got a good balance of that! I also went to a couple of hardstyle and techno sets, which introduced me to new artists. I was also super hyped to see Jigitz since, at every other festival I’ve been to, I haven’t been able to catch him. Seeing those ballerinas on stage made me so happy as a retired ballerina; it was like my two worlds were colliding, and I thought it was unique, as you never really see live performers like that onstage with DJs. Still, I think that’s starting to change slowly but surely. My favorite set of the weekend had to be Bunt, who is a house/techno DJ from Germany. The last time I saw him was back in 2024, and he was still small compared to now. I saw him in a completely packed stadium; it’s amazing to follow an artist's journey, and it's really heartwarming. I thought all the stages were super cool, but my favorite of the entire weekend had to be the Firepit stage. 

One thing I noticed at Northcoast was how much pyrotechnics there were; I mean, it was at every stage for almost every artist I saw. The firepit stage was insane, though, and had to be the coolest. It was wild: a dome, almost like a jungle gym structure, with pyro on the CEILING. Someone walked through the crowd with a giant pole, and watching them set the dome's roof on fire was surreal. Fire lined the stage, and the firepit had pyrotechnics on top, too. To give credit where credit is due, the amazing mastermind behind the stage design was Experience Incendia, and you can catch their hard work at plenty of festivals; follow the pyro, and you might end up in one of their setups. My second favorite stage was the shipyard. This was a 360 stage setup, so the sound was ALL around you.

My favorite set at this stage had to be Porter Robinson, hands down. His blend of genres and visuals- everything about it was incredible to witness. I was always told NEVER to miss a Porter set, and now I know why. Lastly, my third favorite stage, not really a stage, was the dome. The dome was basically an inflatable dome tent; they called it the chill dome because it was a good place to sit, hang out, and rest up for the rest of the night. I wasn’t paying much attention to the music as much as I was absolutely captivated by the laser production in there. Since it was “indoors,” the lasers bounced off the surrounding walls, and I thought that was the coolest thing. It’s like when you were a kid, and the school had the laser light show, how captivated you were by all the different things they were creating with the lasers. Super cool. The only other stage I didn’t touch on was the main stage. Not that anything was less amazing about it; it was my first time seeing what it’s like to have a festival inside of a stadium, and wow, it’s so big, and there’s SO much room for everyone to dance around and have fun. Not once did I feel like I was in a huge crowd. Everyone was super respectful of each other’s personal space; there were a few outliers, but overall the vibes were great. 

So, with all that being said, the vibes at both festivals were different, but the heart of what a festival is stays the same. One was a small, 4,000-capacity festival, while the other was a huge 80,000-capacity festival. The people at both were amazing, though. One thing I've learned from all the festivals I've attended is that everyone is there to have a good time and escape the outside world. It's one weekend when everything outside doesn't really matter. What matters most is the community feeling of love and peace for a weekend, gathering in one place from all over the country because of the music. It’s a beautiful experience, and I think everyone should attend a festival to experience the magic. My next stop is Hulaween in Florida, and it’s my first, so I’m going in with an open mind and an open heart.