After more than 20 years of successful shows in the Netherlands, Mysteryland hopped across the pond…read moreand done did their first US festival on the iconic Woodstock '69 grounds. Needless to say, we purchased 3-day camping tickets back in December the first three minutes they went on sale, and all had a killer weekend!
The inaugural Mysteryland USA festival featured ten combined stages/areas stages with a Sunday School 3-stage mini-fest going on all weekend. A Friday night pre-party hosted by Nicky Romero was available to those with Nomad weekend camping passes, and Saturday/Sunday set times ran from 1pm all the way till 2am both days. Steve Aoki closed out the main stage on Saturday and Kaskade did the honors on Sunday, but from open to close, our day was jam-packed with killer sets both days, and plenty of exploring and dancing all around. A+ on stage design, sound, lighting, and of course, the talent!
The healing garden, complete with yoga and other cool stuff added some well-needed relaxation/rejuvenation to an otherwise high-energy weekend, and there were plenty of (albeit REALLY pricey) food options. Best of all, the campgrounds provided solace just a short walk away from the party!
I'm grading on a curve since this is their first time here in the states, but there's a short list for improvement:
1 - Birdie Bucks - Yes, the festival was cashless, with all purchases scanned from your wristband, but you could only purchase "Birdie Bucks" at select locations, and at the "exchange rate" of $10 USD for 9 Birdie Bucks. They claim to refund unused bucks after the festival, but then deduct a $5 service charge, so unless you want to lose money, you need to be planning & doing math so as to use all your wristband funds...and who the hell wants to do that at a festival?! Compound that with the fact that the entire system went down for a few hours, paralyzing all purchases, and you've got reason to reconsider the rationale for the system.
...Fortunately, I found a workaround to the leftover Bucks situation - Go to the merch shop (which accepts BOTH cash and Birdie Bucks), make a purchase, deplete your wristband balance first, then pay the balance in cash.
2 - Water refill stations - located dangerously close (read: inside) the outhouse area causing even more congestion, with not nearly enough pressure to fill up those camelbaks. Here's where they could take a page from Electric Zoo or EDC and have dedicated high-pressure water refill stations manned by volunteers to keep the line moving and the crowd spread out.
All in all, in my mind, ID&T, the Mysteryland organizers did a terrific job their first year, and I hope that the Bethel Woods organizers feel the same so we can party on again next Memorial Day weekend!