Drive-in raves have been happening throughout the last year in many cities. These events are COVID-19 safe and allow small groups of less than ten people to come park their car and enjoy live music. They have several regulations to keep these events as safe as possible. While some festivals have started coming back over the last month, states in the Pacific Northwest region (Oregon and Washington) were some of the stricter states that were experiencing COVID-19 shutdowns. We finally had our first drive-in rave in April with Road Rage Drive-in. 

Road Rage Drive-in was an event organized by Detox Nightlife, and happened over two days on April 16th and 17th in Portland, Oregon. Tickets were sold by different zones with the Gold Zone tickets closest to the stage. The lineup consisted of artists such as Midnight Tyrannosaurus, Megalodon, Downlink, Hi I’m Ghost, and Stylust. There were several regulations to keep the event safe. People were told that they needed to wear their masks at all times outside of their cars, stay in their designated spots unless they were going to the bathroom or buying food, and no alcohol was allowed at the event.

I attended the event only on the second day on the 17th and had a lot of fun. The last event I went to before COVID-19 was Thunderdome in January 2020, so I was extremely excited to hear some live music since it had been over a year. I went with a group of five friends (including my husband and I), and we drove from Seattle to Portland on the 17th.

Since alcohol was not allowed at the event, we pre-gamed a little at our Airbnb and our designated driver was 100% sober. We got there an hour before the event started, but since it was a hot day we spent a bit of time in the car until the sun started going down. There were a few food trucks at the event, and one of the trucks was selling snow cones, which was perfect for a hot day.

Road Rage Drive-in: The Ultimate Drive-in Experience

It felt so good to head bang and dance! It also felt amazing to plan an outfit for an actual event, my whole outfit that I wore to Road Rage was from iHeartRaves. Some of my favorite sets that night were Stylust and Downlink, and the lasers during Downlink’s set were amazing and made me really happy.

Most of the items from my outfit came from iHeartRaves! Outfit details can be found on my Instagram, @loanabanana82.

Overall, I think this event was a success and was executed safely. Security was really great about enforcing safety measures, and I saw them telling people to wear their masks and go back to their spots a few times. The port-a-potties were extremely clean, and the ones that I went to had hand sanitizer and a washing station with soap and paper towels. I am extremely hopeful that events will start happening safely in the Pacific Northwest.

There is another event happening in Portland at the end of May, and hopefully more will happen in both Oregon and Washington as people get vaccinated!

Featured Photo: Detox Nightlife