I've been going to Moonrise as VIP/Artists Guest for several years. I definitely noticed a change this year since Pasquale Rotella acquired a majority stake in Moonrise last year. Attendance was mediocre this year and they only had three stages instead of four but added the fourth stage last minute to showcase locals and up and coming artists. I thought this was cool and it gives emerging artists a chance to gain traction - check out Dochat. PLUR seemed to be on its way out here. I saw several rowdy attendees being rude and disrespectful to others. Festival life is not about that. Bring back the PLUR! Security was visible, which I appreciated. The trash though. OMG, pick up after yourselves (PLUR??)...the trash was all over the ground and exploding out of the trash cans. The butts were on point, as usual. So many butts. Tiny butts, big butts, soft butts, hard butts, dimply butts. Kudos to the girls with exaggerated self-confidence. You go, girls! GRiZ was fire. As usual. Favorite totem? BOOF! Heck, yeah! read more

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If you're a festival goer, you will definitely see tons of cons with Moonrise. As much as I would love to speak highly and rate this festival because it's only an hour away from home (DMV area), I just can't. A couple of my friends and I decided to join a few moonrisers friends, in hopes we'll have a grand old time. Which we did have a chill weekend. It wasn't as grand as I imagined. It's a lot smaller and so is the crowd. Apparently this year's stage planning was different according to a few people. It was POORLY arrange for whatever reason. It was so weird hearing two stages at the same time. There were two semi-shade areas...in odd locations and water stations near the entrance/exit. Below is a breakdown. Overall, I wouldn't attend again but I might if a few friends really wanted to go. Entrance: Important! Prepare yourself!!! It's one of the most craziest and longest entrance compared to all fest entrance! As soon as you get there, the guards splits everyone up in 2 gender specified entrance. Ladies and Gents. Bags are thoroughly checked. Shoes must be off including socks. Which I find silly. They check your totem and whatever is in your hands. There's no actual "line"....prepare to create your own and then squeeze into one. Very unorganized. The cheer team up front was no help because the fact that you have to go through the awful line makes you not want to even continue. At least give me perks throughout the fest so I can cheer up. Ha! Vendors: The retail vendors were good and located in one area (as should). Although some are highly expensive. They offer clothing, jewelry, art, painting, tapestry, and other neat items. Food: I will have to say they had a few food trucks that I've tried from previous festivals. They are absolutely amazing, Love Cup and Gourmet Grill Cheese. Heaven!! But they also had several more great food options, from asian to american. It's soooo all tasty!! I couldn't help myself but to try almost everything. The grill cheese melted my mouth. The pizza was just filling. The chicken bun was perfect for dinner. Hands down, Moonrise had the best food options. Drinks: There were "bar" tents everywhere and bundled up. You have to get your ID checked in the VERY END of the bar and receive a wristband. Sure did not like the security guards because they took too long. Just a little tip, use a blacklight for some of the id's. There designed a certain way. Once you've received your wristband, there's like 6 in a row bars available. Maybe next time, they should put the ID Check in the middle so the line can spread equally. As for drink menu, it's not too bad. They actually serve well. Although be nice if there were more of a variety and drinks sponsors. Music: There were so many great deejays especially trap and bass. But I would love to see a variety especially from my 90s trance days. Unfortunately because of the rain, we weren't able to see a lot of the artists which I personally wanted to see. I do want a portion of my money back because I wanted to see certain artists that I've been trying to see for awhile. I only enjoyed seeing a very few on Sunday. Crowd: The crowd is young. Few adults and a good amount of young professionals. Although, they were very upbeat and chill. As for population, is wasn't even crowded. Bathrooms: These johns were DISGUSTING! They make Ultra look so good! No one cleans them out or even add toilet paper. So my advice, bring wipes and a roll (to any fest but mainly for this one). Bring sanitizers! read more

Moonrise Festival - Mass Media Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

As a first time Moonrise attendee I was very impressed. The festival was so plur, the lineup was great, and the shuttles made going to and from the festival very convenient. We went early-ish both days (2/3pm). I would highly recommend going earlier rather than later because even an hour difference means a longer wait. The first day was pretty hot, but there was some shade at the festival which was nice. The Moonrise employees were great! Really friendly and went around with water bottles in case you needed a quick drink. Unfortunately, it rained both days. When it starts raining, go straight for the seats by the race track as it fills up quickly! It gets hot if you get stuck standing/sitting in the enclosure underneath. Everyone was really friendly and nice, so although we missed out on some music, we still had a good time. All of the artists still played but some sets were shortened. The sets were great in my opinion! I really loved Griz, Illinium, Kaskade, Elephante, and MK, but honestly most of the sets were banging. I'll definitely have my eye on this festival again next year! Lastly, the shuttles! For ~$44 you get shuttle rides to and from the festival both days. Make sure to buy ahead of time! Getting a ride from the festival the day of is $15 one way. The only downside was we had to select what time we wanted to leave for the festival beforehand, but it was nice to not have to worry about driving. Overall Moonrise is one of my favorite festivals! If you're debating whether to go or not, just do it :) read more

Not to sound privileged, but this was the worst weekend of my life. First off, it's in Baltimore, which automatically knocks it down one star for inconvenience and safety. I came to Moonrise with a friend for her birthday and it almost became her last because she wanted to off herself during the course of the festival. To start, we had free VIP tickets and there was supposed to be a line for the people who did. There wasn't. Instead, we were forced to wait for over two hours in line to pick up wristbands because their system was down. It's 2018, systems shouldn't be going down to simply scan tickets. After we FINALLY got in, they immediately had us go to the bleachers because there was a heavy storm supposedly coming. There wasn't. Crystal clear skies - it looked like the heavens were opening up. After the rain never came they let us back in, they cut many of the performances short. On the third day, they had us go to the bleachers again for a light drizzle and kept us there for hours and we finally called it quits and left. Thankfully we did, a lot of people had their phones stolen out of their pockets that night during Marshmellows set. The crowd was grotesque. Many young girls were going around and selling small trinkets out of cigar boxes so they could pay for their next festival. read more

Moonrise Festival - Mass Media Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

So the event started at 1 pm and we stood at gate and couldn't get in until 2 pm. We missed a whole set! It was extremely hot and we weren't even offered anything to drink. I asked when could he get in and I was told as soon as they got everything together. We bought VIP tickets and to me it was worth it to use an air conditioned bathroom and cold water to wash your hands. Music was great as well. Should have been more seating in one of the VIP sections at other end. Horse poop smell at one of the stages wasn't cool either. read more

I'll preface this by saying I have not been to a ton of EDM events outside of the DMV -- mainly Echo Stage on occasion, Project GLOW, and Moonrise twice (once in 2019 and this year 2022). I've been lucky and gone 2 years where it did not get overshadowed by rain storms. That seems to have been a problem for moonrise most years and I've heard it is a muddy mess. For me, just a little dust on my shoes. Now to the main points of the review: PROs: - The lineups are VERY strong (regardless of year) - It is relatively inexpensive (starting only $130 for the 2-day GA pass) - Insomniac just got the rights to host this festival, so the overall production quality of stages has gone up several notches. They have improved the overall organization and layout from previous years too. - New stages sound quality, visuals, and even pyrotechnics have been improved from previous years - I particularly liked that then festival opened in the afternoon at 1pm and ended around 11pm -- giving me more time to get there, pregame in the lot, and get home before its too late - Good spots and cool props for memorable pictures - The racetrack is enclosed from the surrounding area and maintains the festival atmosphere CONs: - The location in Pimlico Baltimore is very rough, and gives a general sense of unsafety due to the condition of the town. Once you're inside you can mostly forget about it, but it definitely leaves a bad taste in your mouth on the way in. - The festival is on a race track and not a huge one, some of the stages bleed sound over into the others unless you get close enough (which can be difficult when the crowds are big). It's not THAT bad but it happens. - The race track is quite dusty, and if it rains, get ready for mud. EVERYWHERE - The don jons are pretty gross, and the water/paper towels ran out pretty quick. Considering how many people are using them, it's really not as bad as other places I've been. - Insomniac decided to make the solar tent (which is generally for harder style music) more enclosed than previous years, this made it pretty unbearably hot unless you were going shirtless. - You cannot leave to your car during the middle of the festival, everything you need must be brought with you in a bag and those items will be limited - The gate security is hit or miss. Some will barely check you while others will pat you down ferociously. If they do, they will confiscate a lot of items especially if you plan to bring substances. Some suggestions: - Go with a group and split VIP parking, the lot is much less crowded and easier to get in/out of. - Check the weather, and bring some way to cool yourself (like a fan) - Food/Drinks are very expensive, eat well and pregame before going in - I can't speak for other parts of the country, but Pimlico Baltimore is a very rough area -- be on high alert for your possessions. My phone disappeared from my pocket during a moshpit (solar tent) and was subsequently stolen by someone. I can't say if I was pickpocketed or not, but it was turned off after the festival ended for the night and was last seen on GPS down the street from the race track. It is very likely that the local security staff found it and kept it for themselves to make a quick buck. Given all this, and even my phone being stolen, I still had a great time with my friends and walked away with a positive experience at moonrise. Would recommend to try at least once! read more

I frequent a lot of festivals, EDCLV, Bisco, Made in America, Elements, and Envision to name a handful. And there were some things that were great, but also some things that are just plain NOT-OK. Let's start with the good and the positive. The talent of music provided was great, amazing. My favorite highlights this year included the bass god himself, Bassnectar putting one of my favorite sets I've ever heard him play live. Caspa Rusko set was amazing, San Holo brought down the house, and Claude von Stroke put on some proper house to close out my festival for me. The staff themselves were all very friendly -- those that came around squirting free water in your mouth, the ones that greeted you and pretty much everyone we came across. The biggest and most unforgivable offense is their lack for water stations. Anyone that's ever been to EDC Las Vegas knows it can be done well. Lines at Moonrise were at least 30 minutes long.. and in Vegas, minutes long. This is completely dangerous, unsafe for patrons. You can dehydrate, in the 30 minutes you're waiting in the scorching sun. This ties into the second problem. Our first day, we had no issues getting in. Very happy with how fast and efficient the wristband ladies were, and security check was quick and efficient as well. The second day, was the polar opposite. It took us 45 minutes to an hour in the scorching sun to get in. There are no shade structures, no one giving out water. It was literally beaming down on us, getting us sunburned despite our 90 SPF . Oh wait, have to come in with empty camelbacks? Yeah , no water to drink. 60 minutes later, you're inside.. great, another 30 minute line to get WATER. Listen, here's the thing. If you pay hundreds to see a music festival you expect to see the arists you want. You should not be expected to waste over 30 minutes in line, to get life saving water. Secondly, lets say you wanted to buy $3 water since the line was so ridiculous, or what if you don't have a camelbak? THEY RAN OUT OF WATER BOTTLES ON DAY 1 . THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE. I personally saw two people collapse right in front of me -- be it drugs, alcohol, dehydration they are all tied together. Keeping your patrons safe should be priority number one. The lines were also insanely long for the bathrooms, especially for guys -- and also to get food. Overall, I had a great time because of the music and friends that I was with. but was the festival well managed? Easy answer, NO. read more