East Coasters: Kick Off Festival Season the Right Way

Summer is quickly approaching along with hundreds of EDM festivals around the world. Since it's only April, I know some of you are itching for a little taste of festival season a tad sooner. Here's a short list of five East Coast 2015 Springtime festivals that definitely will have you ready for the rest of the summer!

(listed chronologically)

May 8-10th 2015; Camp Ramblewood, MD.

Hosted by B.A.D.A.S.S. Raves, Dreamscape Festival has a lot to offer as a great kick-off to this 2015 festival season. As a camping festival, it's important to have plenty of different styles of music, activities, art, and of course, a visually appealing environment. Fortunately, Dreamscape is located on a peaceful campsite complete with a lake, pool, barn, and an abundance of beautiful landscape for campers to enjoy day and night.

It is a 2 day campout with 4 stages of EDM including: trance, glitch, downtempo, house music, trap, hardstyle and drum & bass. Needless to say, Dreamscape pretty much goes above and beyond all musical preferences.

B.A.D.A.S.S. Raves previously hosted Nightmare Festival over Halloween 2014 at this same location. Anyone who attended Nightmare probably has high expectations for incredible stage productions, beautiful decorations, and unique artwork and performers scattered throughout the grounds. Nightmare has left Dreamscape with a high reputation to live up to, but tickets are going fast and the anticipation among Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. ravers is at an all-time high. Make sure Dreamscape Festival makes it to the top of your list this festival season!

Saturday, May 16th, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

Not all about the heavy bass electronic music? Jam on the River delivers the happy medium between jam bands and EDM. Located in Philadelphia at Penn's Landing, the environment and beautiful view of the Delaware River couldn't be any better for a city festival.

As a one-day event, Jam on the River will have bands playing non-stop all day long. Rain or shine, the festival will go on. The difference between this festival and almost all others, is that it is also all-ages and offers only general admission tickets, no VIP.

The lineup will satisfy any jam-based soul with 7 popular performers who will undoubtedly make the show one giant success. If dubstep and trap isn't quite your cup of tea, try out Jam on the River. It's affordable and only one day, which means no real commitment if you don't end up liking it (which probably won't happen considering Jam on the River has been an ongoing event for years).

May 23rd & May 24th 2015; Metlife Stadium, NJ

Camping festivals aren't for everyone, so Insomniac Events created the Electric Daisy Carnival. This festival is held in many different locations all over the world including Las Vegas, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, and many more. They are typically two or three day events held in densely populated cities so that the participants can travel and lodge with ease.

Although named EDC New York, it is held in Northern New Jersey in a stadium that has hosted many other big concerts as well as the Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. The Electric Daisy Carnival is notorious for its lavish stage production designs, a ferris wheel and multiple other rides, and of course the beautiful LED decorations that make up the electric sky: a vibrant assortment of huge lit-up daisies and string lights that illuminate the nighttime atmosphere.

EDC is more of a mainstream festival since it's loaded with big-name DJ's and producers, so the crowd that it attracts is usually a little more inexperienced than campers. This is only because EDC is extremely popular causing it to be one of the first festivals that new ravers hear about.

May 22-25, 2015; Bethel Woods, NY

Held on the original 1969 Woodstock grounds, Mysteryland USA made its debut in 2014 and is back again this spring. Camping festivals can be a little pricy, but this is one where the magic makes it worth it. By magic, I mean that you can almost sense the presence of people who made history on that land back during Woodstock almost 50 years later.

The lineup is stacked, but many Mysteryland 2014 veterans argue that the previous year was much more well-rounded and just generally better than the names that have been announced thus far.

Regardless, the beautiful landscape and stage designs make Mysteryland worth giving a try. The decorations and art are absolutely breathtaking, unlike any other festival I have yet to see. Just knowing that Woodstock was held there, is enough for most people to give it a shot; it certainly was for me!

Saturday, May 23rd, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA

Ascension is only a single day event, but do not be mistaken; this lineup is jam-packed with amazing artists covering all different genres of music. Not to mention, it's held at Kennywood Park, a popular amusement park which only adds to the excitement!

With 2 stages and a beautiful amusement park featuring games, rides and awesome food, Ascension will be nothing but a fun time filled with great electronic music. If you aren't into the whole camping thing, or if you're just searching for a high-quality yet cheap music festival, then this is definitely your best bet.