This weekend, I attended Okeechobee Music Festival. It is a 4-day camping festival in Okeechobee, Florida that brings artists of different genres together that’s unique to any music lover. Headliners such as Flume and Usher and the Roots performed at the event, as well as Kings of Leon and Porter Robinson. While this festival caters to many tastes of music, it brings people who share a common love for music and unity.
With music festivals comes criticism. There’s only room to grow and in its second year for Okeechobee Music Festival, there were some notable changes that were made. There was less traffic and wait times to get into the actual festival grounds, as well as park and get ready to set up your campsite. There was also so many food stands added for convenience near the camping sites, instead of only being at the main meeting place.
They even added a new stage called the Incendia stage, a visual experience that’s brought to life through fire and flames being shot out from the stage. A special addition to this stage is that artists would perform secret sets at that stage at night after this MainStage performance. For example, notable DJ 12th Planet performed a secret set at 2:30 a.m. that added to his stellar performance earlier.
Even the variety of artists this year improved from last year. They added way more diverse artists that took into account many of the different groups of people that were attended the festival. The one that stood out to be was Usher and The Roots. I first heard of The Roots through the late night show that Jimmy Fallon hosts. When I heard they were teaming up with one of my favorite artists Usher, I knew I had to see them, and boy did they not disappoint. The mixture of Usher’s R&B and The Roots Hip-Hop and Soul vibes blended beautifully together to create a funky jazzy sound. Usher played his famous hits, such as Confessions, while The Roots ad-libs only built on the great performance.
Now with every great festival comes its weakness. The sound system at one of the stages, Aquachobee, was really quiet compared to the other stages. Standing back in the crowd meant having to miss out on a show you couldn't even hear. Last year, they had similar sound issues that caused many performances to not be as loud as they needed to be to cater to the mass audiences. Although it is only one aspect of the festival, hearing the music is what you came for and it is an aspect that the creators of Okeechobee Music Festival need to strongly consider changing next year.
All in all, this festival holds a special place in my heart. I went the first year it started and this second year only reaffirmed my decision of going every year this festival takes place. It’s such a beautiful place that offers you an experience of the lifetime. If you have the chance of going to this festival, I 10/10 would recommend entering the portal.
