More information:
What: Imagine Music Festival
When: August 26 - 28, 2016 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Where: 1500 Tara Place, Hampton
Tickets: $73-$367
EDM, electronic dance music, is big business —to the tune of nearly $7 billion by some reports, so local music promoters have responded to that booming business, thumping bass lines and piercing melodies by hosting Imagine Music Festival at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.
Now in its third year, Imagine Festival, taking place Friday, Aug. 26 to Sunday, Aug. 28, is about to take a big leap forward in securing its place atop the Atlanta EDM festival scene (along with the spring festival Shaky Beats).
Here is why.
Imagine is now the longest-running EDM festival in Atlanta
Three years isn't a long time. But Imagine has grown organically each year; from 6,000 daily attendees at the concept launch in 2014 to 12,000 daily attendees last year. This year, more than 30,000 will be there each day. Which is 30,000 more than TomorrowWorld or CounterPoint will see, since both have dissolved.
Planners for TomorrowWorld decided that the "current environment" was not right for a 2016 return, perhaps alluding to brand perception one year removed from the 2015 festival whose second day was canceled due to a deluge, and questionable planning left thousands soaked and stranded in the chaos.
More surprising was the announcement that CounterPoint was canceling its 2016 show without much word on why. In a post on their Facebook page formally announcing the cancellation, promoters offered that they were "working on several options concerning the festival's return." Whether that might be in 2017, or at any point beyond remains unclear.
The lineup is HOT
For Atlanta locals, there is a degree of brand cache in Imagine Festival's independent ownership group IRIS Presents , whose founder Glen Goodhand has been a staple of rave culture in Atlanta since before most fans of EDM were even born. In summarizing the approach that has set him apart, Goodhand cites quality again and again. He doesn't throw this festival, he curates it.
"We have sought to provide an experience unlike anything else," says Goodhand. "Our artists selection process is talent driven, rather than fame-driven. Our audio quality and lighting are absolutely world class. The integration we've got planned between artist, stage, performance art and it's blend into crowd and scene, the amusements...all of it is to drive the integrity of the festival."
The lineup (which includes household names like Dillon Francis, Steve Angelo, Grammatic, the Yin Yang Twins and more in addition to that curated artist list and a smattering of local stars like Ployd ) is the sort of list that EDM fans can nerd out to. All manner of electronic music will be well represented in the three day show from the big room EDM sounds of club banging fame to the experimental glitch bands producing music live on stage.
An aquatic fairy tale awaits
Imagine will bring its "Aquatic Fairy Tale" theme to life, immersing festival attendants in an endless sea of the mind-bending and the curious. Where each stage represents an element — fire, water, wind, and the rest — such worlds are represented in the corresponding art, artists and experiences. Put it all together and the on-stage music and surrounding environmental elements come together to form a 360-degree immersion in something far more experiential than the live music of other genres, or at most other events.
This alternate universe creation is not a new play in the EDM world by any means; it's just that some of what awaits concert goers at Imagine Festival are categorically insane things to try. Like at the stage named Incendia, where 30 foot flame bursts billow into the sky and the entire "world" is defined by the roof of fire overhead, some 50 feet high above. It's just one more in a pretty long list of "wow" factors awaiting ticket holders at AMS.
Ch ch ch changes - a bigger venue, civic partners and onsite camping
To meet the growing festival demand, Imagine Festival is growing to seven stages and the Woodstock-tested, Bonnaroo-approved camp ground accommodations, which in the festival world marks the transformation of Imagine Festival from a day-show into a three-day immersion into electronic dance music, art and culture.
Additional hotels and shuttles are available through Imagine Festival partners online, and through those of the Metro Chamber, who inked a deal this year to support Imagine Festival as one of Atlanta's premiere events in this and future years. For all of that, the concert sheds its baby skin and expands out (from the Wrecking Ball it came in like) at Old Fourth Ward Park to the more expansive grounds at Atlanta Motor Speedway for 2016.
It's worth noting that Goodhand also believes Atlanta Motor Speedway will provide ample infrastructure to avoid a TomorrowWorld fiasco, in the event of weather. To complement the camping experience, the silent disco stage is situated in the campgrounds.
Festival planners have a few tricks up their wizard sleeves. But they don't have many more tickets.
MORE:
Imagine Music Festival expands its EDM sounds to new Atlanta location
TomorrowWorld EDM festival brings $93.9 million to Georgia
