With Elements Music & Arts Festival 2024 in the books, let’s look back at why this remains the premier electronic music festival in the Northeast US. Back for its third year at the Poconos Raceway in Long Pond, PA, the team behind Elements continues to improve the event with strategic updates, including a breathtaking new Water Stage design and extended wellness programming. Don’t forget that Elements also highly values sustainability, leveraging local organic produce, clean solar energy, and selling reusable Elements mugs for refreshments to reduce its carbon footprint.
The festival began with a Thursday early-arrival pre-party on August 8 and featured two epic stage takeovers: Of The Trees’ Memory Palace brought the bass music to the Water Stage and Desert Hearts brought the house to the Air Stage. We got through to the Vibe Village quickly on a surprisingly short security line and set up our camp with enough time to catch Fly, Lyny, and Of The Trees.
Check out that insane production! The DJ booth was shaped in a circle centrally under the head of the octopus with legs and body covered by brightly colored tapestries. Those overhead tapestries came in handy, protecting the festivalgoers from the elements. Luckily, the incoming rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby was only a drizzle for most of the pre-party.
However, almost on cue, once the festival sets finished at midnight, the rain and wind started to pick up. Those camping early made the most of the situation while battling the extreme weather overnight and hoped for better news and conditions in the morning. But the weather worsened and the Elements team made the tough decision to halt festival entry Friday morning due to the untenable conditions.
Huge credit to the Elements team for its continued communication throughout Day 1 despite the difficult decisions it had to make. Consistent updates were posted through the festival app and Elements made 15 garages by the racetrack available for campers to seek shelter and receive emergency supplies. The heavy rains persisted off and on for nearly 24 hours but by midnight Friday the storm let up enough for the Vibe Village stages to host some of the scheduled artists from Day 1.
Despite the challenging conditions, those who weathered the storm were treated to some epic moments at the afterparty stages. The 5am Trio and Boogie T played at the Camp Nowhere stage to get the afters started. Then at the Renegade stage, Tape B went b2b with Disco Lines before playing another solo set for an hour, teasing his new collab with Ganja White Night. Renegade kept things going with a Brooklyn b2b of Mikayli and Rafeeki followed by Inzo b2b Tvboo.
To end our afters, we returned to Camp Nowhere for my favorite set of the weekend. Tape B understood the assignment and played a downtempo set that fit the vibes perfectly. The stage pulsed with energy as we danced the night away. Only the day after did we finally realize the magnificence of what we all witnessed.
Finally, on Saturday morning, everyone got the good news they were waiting to hear — Elements was ready to open the campgrounds at 1 pm and the festival grounds at 3 pm. Emerging from our tents after the storm had finally passed felt like a butterfly bursting out of its cocoon. The dark and dreary colors were replaced with bright and vibrant colors everywhere! The grounds crew did an outstanding job laying sawdust and wood chips in the soggy parts of the air and water stages to help alleviate the water buildup in the muddiest parts of the stage area.
What better way to get the Saturday party started than with Wreckno?! They had the water stage bursting with color while drag performers added to the ambiance by dancing on the side stage. Once Wreckno’s party set wrapped, we took a stroll around the grounds to check out the changes. The former Water Stage became a performance hub for a wide range of festival entertainment and the woods were filled with art installations, like these strikingly painted mannequins surrounded by inspirational quotes. This one by Mac Miller was especially poignant after enduring Tropical Storm Debby.
The Fire Stage was the place to be for sunset, with energetic drum and bass from AIMMIA blasting across the field. Elements invited a few festival art cars to park in the field, so Harvey: Disco Kitty provided a perch for us to enjoy the evening festivities. Matroda came on as the sun set on Day 1 and the Fire Stage illuminated with massive pyrotechnics.
Next stop was Air Stage, which suffered the most from the storm due to its muddy soil holding onto much of the water. But that didn’t stop a massive crowd from showing up for Slander’s Before Dawn techno set deep in the woods. The Air Stage excelled as the home for the dark, primal beats of Before Dawn.
We rounded out the night with some bass house from the powerhouse duo of AC Slater and Chris Lorenzo called Fly With Us. Then dubstep legends LSDREAM and Excision closed the Earth Stage by playing into the wee hours of the morning. LSDREAM made up for his set at Elements 2023 which was rudely interrupted by Mother Nature. Matching the vibes of the festival, Excision’s set had a little less aggression and several remixes of artists playing Day 3.
No afters on Saturday because a good night’s sleep was imperative to get up early for the 11 am LIGHTCODE sound bath experience with LSDREAM at the Air Stage. He created a relaxing, mindful, and meditative atmosphere in the heart of the woods which was packed with like-minded attendees. These moments are magical and I’ve never missed a LIGHTCODE set because it is a huge part of my festival experience to manifest the positive elements of the festival spirit back into my daily life.
These experiences exemplify the power and intentionality of Elements Music & Arts Festival. From the art installations and musical production to the sustainability of vendors and the mindfulness of presenters, Elements continues to be a highlight of my summer festival season! But wait, there’s more. You didn’t think we were done, did you?
After enjoying a festi bowl with locally grown organic produce grown mere minutes away from the event site, we hustled back to our campsite to pack up so we could depart after the last set of the night. Day 3 was all about the bass, more specifically Subtronics plus drum and bass, at the Cyclops Records Water Stage takeover. In fact, Subtronics’ two sets bookended an evening filled with drum and bass from ÆON:MODE, Dimension, and Sub Focus.
Later that day, stories spread about how Water Stage had reached capacity due to the size of the crowd wanting to go to one of the smaller stages for a headline artist, even though it was more of a throwback riddim set. Once again, Elements stepped up and owned its mistake. To ensure all festivalgoers can have their voices heard, the Elements team released a feedback survey to gather information to make next year’s Elements even better. But don’t delay, the festival link will only work until midnight on Monday, August 19!
All in all, Elements Music & Arts Festival provided another outstanding festival experience, despite all the weather difficulties. Throughout the storm, the team stayed in constant communication with festivalgoers, and once the storm cleared, the team prepped the festival grounds as best it could to mitigate the adverse conditions. I have faith that the Elements team will use the feedback from its fans to make sure the 2025 event is even better than ever. To stay up-to-date on all the latest news and announcements about what’s to come for the Northeast’s premier electronic music festival, follow the socials below.
