It was Friday night when the mission began, the objective: To party in NY with most of the greatest electronic music DJs, such as Ferry Corsten, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Danny Tenaglia, Robbie Rivera, Kaskade, Benny Bennassi, Armin van Buuren, Markus Shulz, Steve Angelo, ATB, and many, many more. Encouraged by the popularity of the Electronic Beats show and the NY party, we knew we were headed for the adventure of the summer.
One of our buddies had some doubts about the atmosphere and stereotypes of the event and party goers, but Al Mighty and Big Happy had attended several music festivals and enlightened him with their memorable and fun experiences at WFM in Miami and the several times Paul Oakenfold and Tiesto visited DC.
Arriving in Philadelphia, we stopped for a Philly cheese steak and a cold beer. We checked out some clubs such as Priva and several others. We were hyped to see all the beautiful women hanging out and dancing to house music.
We continued on through Atlantic City with the belief that we could win some money to party even harder once we arrived in NY. It was the early hours of the morning as we hit the Craps and Black Jack tables. We lost, but it didn’t matter, we were on our way to Electric Zoo.
Once in NY we found it difficult to find the island due to several detours. Once we arrived around 4pm, 5 hours late, we found that it was better to drive and park in Randall Island Park than the alternative, taking the metro and then bus and ferry. It was much cheaper to pay $10 for parking than the $25 we would each spend on public transportation. I almost forgot, there were some tolls to pay for crossing the bridge, but it was only about $3. The bass was audible from the parking lot which easily fit over 200 vehicles.
As we walked to the festival entrance, we could already see the diverse crowd that we would be alongside us experiencing this exhilarating event. We saw the meat-heads with the gorgeous girlfriends, most with boobs that would never giggle no matter how much the jumped, and the raver’s practicing with the glow sticks and the regular clubber’s who know where to have a good time.
As we got to the gate we there were several people selling their extra tickets for a decent price. Tickets began selling at about $60 weeks in advance, but at the door they were $90 per day, but you could also purchase the two-day pass for $165, VIP Single day was $180, and VIP two-day was $335. VIP included a separate seating area next to the main stage which included couches several tables with comfortable couches, bleachers, and 4 bars.
We picked up our Media passes and walked right in. They had the obvious security checks and police on horseback nearby. There were plenty of port-a-potties near the Grove Discotheque where Frankie Knuckles spun. We walked through to the center of the park where it was spacious and can see the main stage and all the tents. It looked amazing and sounded incredible as all the music beats and melodies drowned your ears. Of course, we went to get a drink. “Ouch,” $9 a beer and $12-$15 for mixed drinks. Well the need to profit somehow. We were prepared.
The DJs had the crowds jumping, screaming, and dancing all day long. No matter what tent you were in the sets played were amazing. The crowd was just as diverse as the Kesta Happening fans. You can see people from all around the world, displaying their flags proudly. All the sexy ladies were dancing everywhere which was great when you had to sit and take breaks from standing. The main stage had a crowd of over 1,000 people during the majority of the day, even then all the tents were crowded, and yet there was plenty of room to sit down and eat a delicious Gyro/Kabob from one of the vendors.
You could simply ask any one where was the after party and you would hear of a different one every time. Everyone was friendly and having a good time. We did not see any fights or anything strange besides the few arrests that we outside by some undercover cops.
It was an amazing experience worth every penny, the drive, and the sleep deprivation due to all the after parties. Next time you hear of this festival on KestaDC.com, KestaNY.com, or Electronic Beats Radio, make sure you don’t miss it. See you at the next Festival!
