I never imagined myself traveling to Vancouver for a festival, but I was sold when I saw the lineup for Contact Festival this year. The lineup was packed with talented artists, and Vancouver is roughly a mere hour drive from me. I was lucky enough to be able to attend it on behalf of Respect My Region, and the experience was like nothing I had imagined. Thank you to Blueprints for allowing everything to run so smoothly.
Contact Festival DAY 1
Unfortunately, the weather in Vancouver on the first day wasn’t ideal. So I was little bummed out in the beginning. However, the organization at Contact Festival was incredibly smooth and people were able to trickle in at a steady pace. BC Palace was enormous and they had two stages that were separated on different floors. Branded as “W. Canada’s Largest Indoor Music Festival,” Contact didn’t disappoint with their setup and visuals.
For day 1, I decided to stay around the main stage to get a good spot for the headliners since I could only shoot from the crowd. I attended with two other fellow writers, Rikki and Isaiah. The schedule for day 1 was split pretty well between the two stages, and I had to sacrifice on seeing Valentino Khan for Galantis. I was looking forward to seeing Galantis for the first time and their set was amazing and uplifting as expected.
Skrillex was the set that really blew me away. He is an obviously well-known and highly respected artist in the EDM community and the reason why was very apparent from his set. The track selection was incredible (which included Bohemian Rhapsody), and the mixing was impeccable. He ended his set with an unreleased track as well as a thank you to Vancouver.
After the show, we all went to the afterparty which features Galantis, Elephante, and more. It didn’t end until around 4AM, which is when I’d typically be in bed after a show. Elephante’s set was incredible and he played remixes that I haven’t heard before.
As for Galantis, their afterparty set was pretty similar to their headlining festival set. However, the intimacy of the venue and the show made it a different environment.
Contact Festival Day 2
Day 2 of Contact Festival was more tiring after all the shenanigans from day 1. I was excited to see Alison Wonderland and NGHTMRE play since I’m familiar with their sets. They certainly didn’t disappoint and did an even better on a stage as big as the one BC Palace provides.
Later on, I had to pick The Chainsmokers over Borgore due to conflicting schedules. I was looking forward to seeing The Chainsmokers since they’re one of the top EDM duos and I haven’t seen them live yet. They brought all the CO2 and pyro stage effects with them and put on an incredible set. Their track selection was bold and risky, as they threw in a lot of throwback jams along with their radio hits.
Afterward, I went to NGHTMRE’s afterparty (as the other fellow writers were catching up on sleep) to watch him play at a more intimate setting for a smaller crowd. The energy was incredible and the set was much different than his festival set earlier. It’s great to see NGHTMRE play for fans and reciprocate the energy they give him. My favorite part is when he went into the crowd to briefly thank and interact with fans before leaving.
Seeing Tails and Juelz play a b2b made me a fan of theirs and put them on my radar. The whole weekend and experience at Vancouver for Contact Festival was incredible and beat any expectations I had. I definitely see myself at Contact again in the future.
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