With much of the UK winding down after a packed out Bank Holiday last weekend, our attentions head across the pond as the US prepare for the Labor Day celebrations. As they look forward to celebrating that ever enticing three day weekend, we took a look at six of the best of what is going down this weekend!
In trademark American style, these parties don’t hold back: Full of colour, splendour and madness with some of the largest crowds, biggest arenas and baddest names in dance music. From its inception in the 1800s to the million strong parades and festivals we see today; Labor Day Weekend has long been the final curtain on the summer’s festivities in the US. There are serious amounts of festivals and parties happening this weekend from the east coast to west, from the traditional to the up-and-coming and pretty much everything you can imagine in between.
Fair to say, those of you making it out may spend all of the Monday off hibernating after the weekend – but nevertheless, we can’t think of any better ways to see out the summer!
Electric Zoo Festival – Randall’s Island, NY
Fri/Sat/Sun (Sept 4-6)
New York’s resident electronic music blow-out: Electric Zoo provides the city with three days of neon-filled and UV soaked energy once again! Boasting strong advocates from all corners of electronic music, Electric Zoo will see 100,000 ravers cut some serious shapes throughout the weekend to such big acts like The Chemical Brothers, Pete Tong, Above and Beyond and Zeds Dead. A zoo theme as well as live installations and interactive elements in tandem will provide for a truly awesome spectacle! New York is going to be bouncing all weekend. (Info)
Fool’s Gold Day Off – Atlanta, GA / Brooklyn NY
Sat (Sept 5) / Mon (Sept 7)
What began as a cheeky parking lot takeover five years ago is now a label institution where A-Trak’s finest label stable mates collide for some street party chaos (see video for the level of chaos we’re talking here). This year they’re hosting a series of events, last weekend saw them hosting their biggest Day Off show so far and two more are kicking off this Labor Weekend. Saturday sees the likes of A-Trak, What So Not, Father, Rome Fortune shake Atlanta down while Monday is a Brooklyn showdown with Meek Mill, Skepta, Flatbush Zombies, Gladiator and many more. With more Days Off scheduled later in the month, Fool’s Gold are taking the Labor Day celebrations to a whole new level. (Info)
Nocturnal Wonderland – San Bernadino, CA
Fri/Sat/Sun (Sept 4-6)
Nocturnal Wonderland welcomes all insomniacs and fans of the twilight hour to come and experience the lunacy of what the Labor Day Weekend extravaganza beholds. As America’s oldest electronic dance festival, with 20 years of experience under their belts, Nocturnal Wonderland is a vision of pure imagination and creativity exploded to surreal reality. Performers at every corner and explosions of colour and sound to make the mind wander, Nocturnal Wonderland has everything; including a rather stellar line up of Andy C, Phace, DJ Marky, Tensnake, Afrojack and many many more to boast! (Info)
Bumbershoot – Seattle, WA
Sat/Sun/Mon (Sept 5-7)
Happy 45th birthday to Bumbershoot! Seattle’s unique and contemporary music and arts fest returns this weekend and there are definitely no signs of slowing down. Hosting a smorgasbord of different music, comedy, film, theatre, dance and a whole lot more, Seattle’s own Bumbershoot have shown America how the Labor Day Weekend should be celebrated since 1970. With a host of some of the biggest names on the American music block at the moment including: Flying Lotus, Chance the Rapper, Zedd and Bassnectar. (Info)
Backwoods Music Festival – Tusla, OK
Fri/Sat/Sun (Sept 4-6)
Small in scale but large in atmosphere. Immersed deep in the woods in Oklahoma, Backwoods is an exciting adventure bringing those who travel back to nature. Activities and workshops to keep those involved entertained throughout the day and some of the most exciting electronic artists at night to balance, with Doctor P, Dirtyphonics and Xilent on such duties to name a few. (Info)
Sun City Music Festival – El Paso, TX
Sat/Sun (Sept 5-6)
Another hedonistic, sensory experience courtesy of Sun City. A relatively fledgling festival compared to other Labor Day Weekend events but boasts an impressive schedule of house, techno, bass grooves, drum & bass and beyond. El Paso’s Ascarate Park provides the perfect scenery for an end of summer blow out, seeing you into a hopefully restful Labor Day. Music from Borgore, Cashmere Cat and Armin Van Buuren amongst a multitude of others provide the soundtrack to the Sun City experience. Don’t Paso on this one (sorry) (Info)
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