What Happens at Psytrance Festivals? A Glimpse Into the Mystical Music Genre

Psytrance festivals are a decades-old tradition to connect music with culture and community, here’s what you need to know.

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Psytrance festivals are similar to typical music festivals but as the name suggests, they are more specific to the psytrance dance music niche. Psytrance, short for psychedelic trance, is a subgenre of electronic music. The genre came to popularity in the 1990s and although popular in Western cultures, has roots in India’s Goa trance scene. And as “mystical” in the title of this article suggests, psytrance is often associated with psychedelic and transcendental experiences.

Recognized by its hypnotic beats, tribal melodies, and transcendental synths, psytrance holds a unique space in the EDM world. Not to mention, with a typical BPM of 140-170, its quick tempo has a way of getting people moving. In fact, that’s the whole idea behind many psytrance festivals. Dance, move, and dance some more!

Historically, psytrance festivals focus on dance, community, and spirituality. However, with all festivals and events, you’ll find folks who are just there to party. But psytrance festivals in particular seem to draw a more mature crowd that is less focused on posing for the Instagram shot, and more on the music and each other. There will be DJs performing on a schedule and patrons watching, but you won’t find as many cell phones in the air as you would during an average EDM event. 

But as always, what happens at psytrance festivals depends on the location, crowd, and artists playing at the event (among many other factors). I mean, aren’t the specific and unique curations by music festivals what make us love them so much? Just like any festival, no two events are the same and as always, no two people’s experiences are the same. 

If you’re looking to attend a psytrance festival and wondering what to wear, the good news is that anything goes at these types of events. So, you can go for a cute and comfortable look with this two-piece boho patchwork outfit from Amazon. Also from Amazon, you can also try this goddess-esque three-piece bikini set, or this animal print bikini to unleash your wild side. For accessories, try these cat ears from Kritter Klips or this clip-on fox tail from Amazon. 

You may find popular psytrance DJs like Infected Mushroom, Shpongle, and Astrix at psytrance festivals. One DJ that often plays psytrance but has crossed over into the mainstream EDM scene is Seven Lions. Psytrance has also branched off into several subgenres such as psychill, darkpsy, psybient, psybreaks, and others. The artists will typically play a mixture of these different subgenres.

Large-scale psytrance festivals are more popular internationally than they are in the U.S. Popular global events include Ikarus Festival in Germany, Boom festiva in Portugal, Envision Festival in Costa Rica, and Sunburn Festival in India. In the U.S., there’s Moon Walk Festival in New York, Sacred Earth in Missouri, Xibalba in California, and Garden of Sound in Arizona, to name a few. If you really want to know what a psytrance festival is like, you can watch this video below or check one out for yourself!

Ashley

I’ve been a part of the dance music scene for nearly a decade and with Exron for more than half of that time. My first event was Diplo’s Mad Decent but these days you’ll find me at Club Space or the Brooklyn Mirage. Some of my top artists are G Jones, Tipper, Of The Trees, and CharlestheFirst. My favorite genres are techno, experimental bass, and ambient but I’ll get down to anything with a beat!

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