This past Saturday August 13th, Brooklyn witnessed a festival like no other. Elements Music and Arts Festival took over an industrial site located by the water and turned it into a raver’s dream come true.
For the third consecutive year, BangOn!NYC delighted us with this festival, one that brings all kinds of art, talent, creativity and euphoric feelings into one place. No matter what I say, words on page will never be able to translate how incredible this festival is, one must be there to experience it all.
The inspirations behind this festival combine the best of what a raver would want from a festival, drawing ideas from Burning Man, along with Berlin and Bushwick’s nightlife and art. Outside of four stages, which represented the four elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth, were chill spots, installations, tents, decorated buses, bars and art stations where one could go. This year, they upped their game from last year by including even more activities, making it impossible to get bored at any point.
The festival was set up in an abandoned industrial site, some parts were demolished, cranes were on site, damaged cars, giving it a rough and isolated feel. The beginning time was 1 pm however, some of the stages were not yet fully set up, unfortunately making some of the DJs such as Girls and Boys, Prince Fox, Deep Chills lose some or all of their performances.
The Air Stage was set up by a little bay by the water, allowing one to catch some delicious air waves as DJs Rachel Toro, Nicholas Matar, Be Svendsen, Oona Dahl and Blond:ish took over the stage.
The Water stage was set up near the water, here one could see Deep Chills, Claptone, Teemid, The Golden Pony, Le Youth, Klingande, Mat.Joe and Sirus Hood performing.
On the Earth Stage, Girls and Boys, Prince Fox, Bleep Bloop, Oshi, Sweater Beats, Opiuo, Ghastly, Mija and Gramatik were set up to play.
The fire stage was created by car wheels and given the roughest feel of them all. It was the stage where Matt Sebastian, Milangeles, 2Melo, Pierre Estienne, Govinda, Gloryhole ‘16, and Dirty Looks were performing. On top of the four elements, an extra stage was implemented, the Fifth Element, where performances from Devotion DJS, David Hohme, and Dessert Heart Crews were taking place.
Of course, one was not able to be everywhere at all times (even though it was our deep wish) but we were able to experience a little bit of everything if you stayed in one spot or moved around. It does not matter if you went alone, or with friends, everyone was so friendly and unique. It was a safe environment for all to share what they are passionate about and form connections while doing it. The performers, as well as the DJs were all in and enjoying it as much as their fans. It was amazing to see all kinds of people coming together to celebrate music and art!
And of course, we can’t forget about the variety of food carts they had, going from Jamaican food, to pizza!
