Top 10 American Electronic Music Festivals of 2015

Mysteryland USA – Bethel Woods, NY – May 22nd to May 25th, 2015

Words and Photos by: Richard Saxe Coulson

In it’s 2^nd year, we took a visit to Mysteryland and was treated with beautiful weather and a magical time. We opted to stay in Lander’s campground which was about a 30 minute commute from the festival grounds but there were free shuttle busses to and from the festival site. After being told that we had to grab our wristbands at a certain time, we grabbed what we could and hopped on a shuttle to the main festival grounds. After scanning our bands and embarking on a minimalistic search, we found ourselves walking up a hill next to an array of colorful flags. The signs were a bit confusing and many of the workers seemed as knowledgeable as we were to where everything was. After a bit of confusion and complaining, we were saved by a man in a one-piece pink bunny costume who bought us our first beers.

We quickly set off to The Beatport Stage to catch Maceo Plex put forth some hefty beats ahead of Richie Hawtin who ended up having some technically difficulties but still prevailed flawlessly. We then opted to explore and after flashing our wristbands and taking a shortcut – we hopped on a golf-cart, picked up a security guard, and were on our way to the Holy Grounds.

We walked over to the BangOn! NYC stage and saw Golden Pony rocking an animal head atop the BangOn! NYC stage who played some soulful house with a little bit of disco. Raver culture intertwined with hippie culture with a sprinkle of some “bro” culture after walking past many creative and free-spirited types who all wanted to escape everyday life and express themselves in the best way possible – on the dance floor.

Day 2 was with little sleep and lots of alcohol as we embarked on another mission over to the festival grounds – this time from our friend’s trailer in the woods. On our ride over there we found out that there really was absolutely nothing else going on in the town of Bethel Woods – the local community had a little bar and was struggling economically. The drivers of the local rural community informed us that they were thankful that Mysteryland gave them employment and allowed them to have something to look forward to.

Spending most of our time between the Beatport Stage and Verboten stage – we caught various antics and theatrics walking between the stages with the main attraction still being the music. Spending little time at the various vendor booths and more time checking out the music – we caught sets by Maya Jane Coles, Lee Burridge, Damian Lazarus, Andhim, Bedouin, Paco Osuna and KiNK on Sunday.

There was also many activities taking place as well at Mysteryland and sights to see – with a smaller geisha styled stage as well as a moving swing that you would normally catch at a carnival. There was also very intricate details placed all throughout on the beautiful manicured grounds of Bethel Woods. It truly allowed for those in attendance to feel like a kid again.

The next Mysteryland is taking place from June 10th to 13th in Bethel Woods, NY

Loyalty tickets sold out, check back for the next ticket announcements: Here