How Do I Know What To Wear To Each Festival?
Each festival is unique in its own way. The lineup, production, and crowd give each festival its own special flavor. Festival fashion also plays a big role in bringing out a festival’s vibe but also makes it hard to know what to wear to each event.
When you scour your closet for your next festival outfit there are a few things to keep in mind. Personal style, practicality, and the event itself. The first two, personal style and practicality, are easy — always wear something that you feel good in and is practical. You don’t want to be self-conscious all night nor do you want to lose your things or get too hot (or cold) during the festival.
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Lastly, consider the event itself. Keep in mind that some festivals don’t allow certain types of clothing or accessories. It’s always best to check the festival’s FAQ pages ahead of time when planning your festival outfits. Each festival has its own flavor and style.
Take EDC for example, fashion choices here differ greatly from the styles you’ll find at HARD Fest events. It is easily the most fashion-oriented EDM festival as Insomniac encourages attendees to dress up and express themselves through outfits and costumes.
The production of the festival itself is very carnival-esque with all of its art installations and performers. Attendees don anything from incredible intricately designed costumes adorned with flowers and gems to risqué outfits that consist mostly of body paints and pasties.
Vibe Check Rainbow Reflective Outfit
Festival attendees accessorize with hair extensions, face jewels and pasties. Of course, we can’t forget about the most popular accessory: colorful kandi bracelets. Here, anything bright, shimmery, light up or UV goes. EDC is the festival to be at if you’re looking for the most elaborate and unique outfits.
At HARD Fest events the fashion choices are less carnival-esque. Although there are still some rave clothes and many, many rave tops, the color scheme, and designs are usually not as intricate or colorful.
At any HARD Fest event, you’ll find more girls in high waisted shorts and fitted tops and rave tops and guys in graphic tees and shorts. Many are seen with bandanas as both a fashion statement and as protection from the dusty festival grounds. Kandi is actually not allowed into this festival at all so leave your lovely kandi keepsakes at home and prepare to amp up the edge in your festival style.
While HARD Fest brings the edge, Electric Zoo brings out the animal in all of us. Crop tops, shorts, and accessories are the wardrobe staple for females at this East Coast festival. Most festival-goers stick to more straightforward, brightly colored outfits and trippy prints.
If you’re obsessed with neon brights or a tropical theme, you’ll love the fashion choices of Ultra Music Festival’s attendees. Here you’ll find tons of denim shorts, crop tops, booty shorts, and neon outfits accessorized with perforated glasses, neon snapbacks, and sparkles.
Miami likes to party and at UMF there’s no shortage of college coeds taking full advantage of Spring Break season in their itty bitty bikinis. Ultra Music Festival fashion has a more beach party style and is reflective of the Miami nightlife scene in general. With the popularity of the Resistance stage, house and techno fans can be seen wearing all-black fits with lots of style.
Coachella is a festival that is infamous for its fashion and a whole nother animal in itself. When packing for Indio, be sure to bring your style game! This is the place to bring out your crochet tops, denim cutoffs, floral prints, and fringed everything. Think bohemian chic you can beat the heat in. In recent years, we’ve seen more and more EDM inspired looks as well. We’ve seen girls with rave halter tops, pasties, and micro cut out booty shorts.
These are just a few festivals and the trends that you’ll typically find at them. Of course, you don’t have to wear these trends to the festival. You can wear anything you’d like unless the festival specifically bans it. Again, it’s always important to do your research and always dress in whatever makes you most comfortable!
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Published by Angela Le
Last Updated: 1/19/24
