Suwannee Hulaween Festival Recap

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Have you ever thought about what it would be like to walk through a real life enchanted forest?

An experience filled with colorful costumes, mind bending lights, and moving art: Spirit of Suwannee Music Park’s Hulaween has created just that. The magic in this place runs deep. As a third-time attendee I can assure you this isn’t a festival to miss.

Hulaween celebrated its 6th annual installment and managed to top itself yet again.

This year’s experience was an extraterrestrial adventure with many new art installments within Spirit Lake. The magical earthly kingdom came to life as the brooding oaks reflected the intricate surrounding light shows.  Filled with psychedelic art mazes, moving wall projections, and colorful interactive sculptures, the art alone was enough to take your breath away. Many of the art pieces contained deeper messages of self-love and interconnectedness.  The adult sized playground also hosted the whimsical old timey Frick Frack Casino, a bartering based casino that had hula-goers betting all night. Spirit Lake lit up per usual with its various fire installments, the perfect place for campers to warm up on the colder nights. With laser light shows over the lake, silent discos all night, and two stages Spirit Lake was once again the heart of Hulaween.

Photo Credit: Mandi Nulph

Kicking off on Wednesday, Hula started a bit earlier this year.

The festival hosted a benefit concert for those effected by Hurricane Michael. I arrived early Thursday morning to find the park already buzzing with attendees. Thursdays pre-party lineup was stacked with some of my personal favorites including Just Chameleons, two STS9 sets, Papadosio and The Floozies. And although the rain arrived early Thursday evening that didn’t stop everyone from throwing on their ponchos and dancing in the mud. Minnesota threw down late Thursday evening being the first of many heavy electronic artists for the weekend. Lettuce closed the nights performances.

By mid-day Friday the rain had passed and the cars started flowing into SOSMP.

Everywhere you looked you were greeted with smiles and elaborate costumes as all the Hula-goers headed to their favorite sets. Friday introduced to us some of the amazing female artists that Hulaween gathered this year, including Maddy O’Neal, Lizzo, and Rezz. The day also included the Hula tradition of two sets of String Cheese Incident. The night ended with Odesza’s return to Suwannee, after their first appearance in 2015. Their show blew the crowd away with a killer drumline, flaming stage effects, and a firework filled finale. Afterwards, the night came alive in Spirit Lake with silent discos playing until the early hours of Saturday morning.

Photo Credit: Keith Griner

Saturdays music was jam packed.

The day kicking off early afternoon with Trevor Hall, Lettuce, and Steven Marley. The good vibes continued all day long as the music slowly started to shift to more electronic sounds. Manic Focus played a mind-blowing set at the amphitheater stage with a talent packed live band. It was hands down one of the best sets of the weekend. After that ended, the crowd moved towards the main stage for Cheese’s famous theme night set. Saturday was one of their most beautiful sets yet. The theme this year was the Divine Feminine. The band included numerous female vocalists and dedicated their set to covers of powerful feminine ballads. Otis Redding’s “Respect”, Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” and Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” were just a few of the songs heard during this magical hour and a half. The night then shifted back to electronic with Tipper followed by Jamiroquai, Psymbionic, and then the female DJ Clozee. As you can imagine by that lineup, Saturday night, was a continuous stream of electronic bliss.

Photo Credit: Collin Taylor

By Sunday many campers were getting a late start.

Especially if they had attended the 4 AM Mystic Grizzly silent disco. But still a good crowd showed up for Yonder Mountain String Band to jam out with the bluegrass tunes. Kasbo played a mystical golden hour set that I had a hard time leaving before heading over to The Polish Ambassadors. NGHTMARE was absolutely insane and a perfect intro to Gramatik. Which was less funky and more edm heavy set than I had seen from him in the past, but still amazing. At the same time Janelle Monae, a powerhouse female leader for equality, was giving a beautiful performance to close the festival at the main stage.

Photo Credit: Collin Taylor

Hulaween is truly an experience unlike any other.

With elaborate art displays,  mind bending lights, and A-list lineups this festival continues to be a ritual to many. I spoke to one festival goer, Kelsey Klopfenstien, about what brings her back to Hulaween each year;

She told me, “This was my fourth year attending hula and this festival has become somewhat of a holiday for me. I’ve been to a multitude of festivals ranging from Bonnaroo to Buku to Okeechobee, and I’ve never felt such magic in the air as I do at Hulaween. Aside from stellar production, a lineup that always impressed and some of the best attendees I’ve ever met, what really keeps me coming back is the spirit of Suwannee park itself. Unlike other venues, the SOSMP in engineered specifically for music festivals, so everything just always runs very smoothly. Also, the park does seem to have a spirit of its own; a spirit that makes you dance and pushes you to be a better person.”

Photo Credit: Mandi Nulph

Everything that Kelsey stated is also completely true to my experience. As I’m sure it is to many of Hulaweens’ attendees. This year’s rendition opened my heart and relieved my mind. All while supporting the feminine and everyone’s right to dance until the wee hours of the morning. If you’ve never made the journey to Suwannee Hulaween be sure to add it to your list for next year, I can promise you won’t regret it.

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