It’s hard to find escapism like the annual Suwannee Hulaween Music and Arts Festival.
Set against the backdrop of the 800-acre Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, the four-day Halloween weekend event strips away all the trappings of “normal” society: high-rise buildings, sprawling suburbs, traffic jams, and chain restaurants.
Instead, festival-goers are transported to a place in the woods where music and art foster their own little world. It’s a space where “Happy Hulaween” is a common greeting, and people are free to dress up, take off their shoes, and dance to jam bands, DJs, and bluegrass artists.
After hearing about this festival from many friends who raved about it, I finally decided to check out the festival’s 12th year with a few friends. One of them has now participated in seven Hulaween Festivals.
We quickly realized that even if we had 4 days, we wouldn’t be able to do and see everything. From Spirit Lake with its myriad art installations to a packed schedule of over 80 acts across five stages, here’s how my first Hulaween went.
music
When a friend asked me who I was most looking forward to seeing at Hulaween, I could name a few artists I was familiar with, but mostly I said I was looking for the atmosphere. I also wanted to see another set from DJ Illenium, who closed out EDC Orlando last year, a special DJ set from singer and rapper Anderson .Paak, two sets from jam band Goose, and headliner The String Cheese Incident.
Like any good jam band, The Cheese has a cult following and is known for its unique sound, influenced by bluegrass, rock, country, jazz and electronic music. With over 30 years of experience playing together as a band, they captivated the crowd with six sets of soaring guitar solos, driving keyboards, energetic percussion, and quality production. That was especially true in the final set of the weekend.
Saturday night’s special themed Halloween performance took the audience to Club Transylvania for a set featuring covers of everything from the Bee Gees’ “Staying Alive,” to the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” to Rob Zombie’s “Dragula.” The performance was further enhanced by an airist in a mirror ball costume, a strong female vocalist, and choreographed dancers in red costumes.
In a more contemporary jam scene, Goose closed out Sunday night’s festival with a funky and skilled performance. Each song begins with a few verses and a chorus or two, launches into a full-on jam, builds to a crescendo, and eventually returns to its main format. The pace was just right, and even on the fourth day, the audience continued dancing for nearly three hours.
Pacing was also key to many DJ sets, including Illenium’s, and Illenium seemed to know exactly when to dazzle the crowd with a bass drop and an explosion of fireworks on stage, before bringing people back down to earth and catching their breath.
Another pleasant surprise was discovering LSZEE, a collaboration between producers CloZee and LSDREAM. Bass electronic and dubstep music with tribal percussion had the crowd meandering and reeling throughout the set. Other highlights of the weekend’s EDM lineup included Mersiv, Tape B, and Zeds Dead.
Unfortunately, Anderson .Paak’s set by DJ Pee Wee was also at the same time, so I only got to listen to about 15 minutes of old-school hip-hop and disco tunes mashed up with more modern music, accompanied by a trumpeter.
Disco Biscuit, Sansquabi, Moo. and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead were both welcome discoveries in the jam band lineup. Dogs In A Pile deserves special praise as it was one of my favorite sets of the weekend. Despite playing early on a Saturday night, they brought immense energy and presence, moving the crowd to dance during long jams that spanned genres and styles. Honorable mention goes to Pigeon’s Playing Ping Pong, which also ranked among my favorite jam band sets of the weekend.
My only regret is not seeing more of the lineup of bluegrass artists like Molly Tuttle and Shadowgrass. However, we caught the Infamous Stringdusters’ dynamic set with Sierra Hull. The band even tapped String Cheese Incident guitarist Bill Nasi on a song, just one of many pleasant surprises throughout the weekend.
art
More than just a music festival, Hulaween does a great job of immersing attendees in art through installations placed throughout Spirit Lake.
All installations, many featuring projection mapping and interactive features, were themed around ‘The Radiant Veil’, which examines the ‘dance of light and shadow’. Overall, this area was created by the combined talents of over 40 artists.
In an area called Incendia, fire spinners and performers appeared on stage next to the dome, spewing fire from the top. On another side stage, a shadow puppet show was displayed next to a tall witch sculpture that took on a new shape when illuminated by a projector.
Other installations featured jewels that light up with the sound of keyboards, a maze of murals, and space for aerial performers.
The Lake Show is one of the biggest draws to the Spirit Lake area. At times, an “oracle” appeared with projection mapping above the misty water screen and answered people’s questions. Other time slots featured light and laser shows set to music with different themes.
One of the best things about Spirit Lake is the sheer number of nooks and crannies you can explore. House of Lost looks like a “gothic gathering space” for bands, DJs, and performing arts, but there’s also a bootlegger on the side. An adjacent area with a secret passageway contained a large “birdhouse” with an interior space for sitting and projection mapping to the outside.
EDM music fans were also captivated by the “Off Limits” stage, which featured speakers and fireworks on all sides of a circular area. Each drop of light spun wildly and a fire blazed above the crowd, a welcome amenity on such a cold weekend.
Festival Pro Tips
Camping in a group. Any festival is best spent with friends. Especially if you can come early and secure a great campsite. Please bring a bandana or pashmina scarf. The dust kicked up by thousands of attendees makes festivals a hot spot for sinus infections. Check out the vendors. Mom-and-pop stores and independent artists will be traveling to the festival to sell clothing, jewelry, and other festival-related accessories, as well as plenty of delicious food from street vendors. Stay hydrated. Drinking water will help you keep listening day and night to music that lasts more than 12 hours from start to finish. Explore the venue. Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park is a place of lore and legend, filled with oak trees dripping with Spanish moss and riverside access. Do your homework, but be open to surprises. It’s good to have an idea in mind of what you want your band to see, but be prepared to deviate from the plan whenever the beat moves to another stage. Take time to interact. The majority of festival attendees are polite and friendly. Get to know your neighbors at camp or in the pit. Record the moment and live in the moment at the same time. It’s a delicate balance between taking photos and videos and savoring the memories in real time. Let’s wear a costume! It’s Halloween weekend after all. But don’t forget comfortable shoes and layers. It may be chilly. Know where your spot is. “Totem” helps you find your audience group. It’s worth remembering the waypoints for walking back to camp.
lastly
After attending Hulaween for the first time, I understood why the devotees rate this festival so highly. Its lineup typically includes a healthy mix of jam band enthusiasts of all ages and young EDM fans, but the overall atmosphere, venue, people, and art also draw fans in.
At the festival, I met people from as far away as Colorado, Wisconsin, and even Brazil. Events and venues have a gravitational pull that can never be fully defined. It’s the kind of thing you have to experience yourself.
“You start planning from the moment you leave,” said our camp member Tony Bryer, noting that for some, this event is the main vacation of the year. “It just shows you how magical it is that you’re spending this much money just to do this.”
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