Joshua Tree, CA | May 15-18, 2025
There are festivals that exist to dazzle. And then there are festivals that remind us who we are – even when we forget.
The last Joshua Tree Music Festival I attended was in 2017. Back then, I was wide-eyed, steeped in curiosity, and cracked open by art, music, and the strange, shimmering possibility of it all. It wasn’t about headliners or hype – it was about dusty barefoot communion with something older than algorithms and louder than ego. I remember feeling like I had wandered into a living, breathing art piece. A lucid dream. A page torn from some sacred desert scripture.
And then – somehow – I wandered away.
Years passed. The world changed. I changed. I got caught in the whirlwind of career & chaos. My compass spun. My rituals dulled.
The desert called, but I didn’t answer.
Until now.
Coming back to Joshua Tree Music Festival in 2025 felt like stepping into a time machine – one calibrated not by clocks, but by consciousness. The moment my feet hit the sand, I was reminded of what it felt like to feel. To be seen not as a brand or a resume or a role, but as a human. A spark. A frequency.
Everything here was still art for art’s sake. A child’s watercolor sunrise. A spontaneous didgeridoo performance echoing across the desert. Silk aerialists swirling through pink twilight. Musicians who played like they were whispering to the stars. Dancers who moved like their bones were made of wind.
But the beauty extended far beyond the music.
BioEnergy Therapist and Holistic Life Counselor Gilda Amid led a powerful Karmic DNA Workshop paired with a grounding Pu’er tea ceremony. Steffan Morris’ Hamsa Handpans Sound Journey invited us to drop into deep, resonant stillness – each note felt like a ripple in the soul. And throughout the grounds, a kaleidoscope of live painters and visual alchemists transformed blank canvases into desert-born visions.
Artists like Ali Kat, Artfool, August the Artist, Bear Fruit Designs, Kait Vicious, Lady Egg, Tyler Baker “Tie”, Walker Mettling, Western Winds, and so many others created in real time – turning inspiration into invitation.
This wasn’t just a festival – it was a soul mirror.
And the people… warm, weird, wild, radiant. Families dancing in fairy wings. Elders blessing the earth with steady footsteps. Painters. Poets. Psychedelic grandmothers in sequins. No VIP barricades, no frantic schedule. Just presence. Just play.
The festival layout remains intentional and intimate, now more well-rounded and encompassing with the second stage moved out of the main arena. Everywhere I turned, there were surprise installations tucked between Joshua trees, healing circles under elegant shade, and spontaneous poetry beside desert altars. Each stage felt like a heartbeat. Each sunset, a benediction.
Somewhere between the laughter of strangers, the lullabies of dusk, and a quiet moment watching a hypnotizing electric light show against the trees under the moon, I realized: I hadn’t just returned to the festival. I had returned to myself.
Joshua Tree Music Festival is more than an event – it’s a reminder. That we are allowed to dream slowly. That we are allowed to believe in beauty. That art doesn’t have to shout to be heard. And that somewhere in the dust and stardust of it all, there is still sacred ground.
I don’t know how I forgot. But I will never forget again.
Joshua Tree Music Festival 2025 Lineup Highlights
Grayssoker – Thursday Pre-Party at Boogaloo
The weekend launched like a glitter rocket with French electro-accordion sorcerer Grayssoker hellbent on redefining the hybridization of classical & electronic music into a new raveolution. He descended like a UFO and fused classical finesse with techno firepower to create accordion acid and a dancefloor in ecstatic disarray.
Lil Chris – Friday at Boogaloo
Lil Chris commanded the late-night stage with infectious energy and a rolodex full of filthy bangers. She exemplifies a genuineness in her passion for unifying diverse audiences. The upper deck swayed like a pirate ship happily lost at sea. Her basslines were deep, her charisma magnetic, and her connection with the crowd palpable.
Stagefright – Friday at the Cafe Stage
Imagine a merry prankster clown ziplining haphazardly onto the stage, a whirlwind of sequins and controlled confusion, kicking off a show that is equal parts talk show, circus, and sonic experiment. Lolly Goodwoman has managed to pull this off, with Stagefright’s motley crew of performers arriving in a delicious mess of omnichord bops to support her with costumed chaos & interactive theatre where the fourth wall doesn’t exist and everyone’s in on the joke. Maybe.
Saritah – Saturday at Boogaloo
Just when we needed it on Saturday afternoon, Australian-Korean reggae chanteuse Saritah brought an alchemical blend of global soul and sun-soaked sounds, wrapped in velvet vocals and radiant presence. Her songs flowed like silk, each one a soulful serenade wrapped in groove. Her stage banter wasn’t simply speak – it was spellwork weaved between dreamy songs, cast by a sweet mystical narrator.
Cardboard People – Saturday at the Indian Cove Stage
A sonic bouquet bloomed as Bay area alt-indie-soul-artpop band Cardboard People took the stage on Saturday. Yunoka Berry’s voice could bend light & thunder – the genre-fluid sound conjuring a cocktail of electronic soul, live band texture, and Funkadelic-esque mischief. Together with co-creator & producer Jim Greer, they ooze a floral explosion of lush vibey grooves & spoken word. The vocal range on her is monstrous and at times, her lyrics are so precise, it feels like decoding a new dialect of truth.
High Step Society – Saturday at the Indian Cove Stage
One of the biggest crowds of the weekend exploded in brass and bass as High Step Society landed their big band mothership at the edge of the main arena. Imagine a Roaring Twenties speakeasy powered by a dubstep generator.
The 7-piece band’s mission is to bring people together and to create a celebratory space that transcends the troubles of the modern day world. They make time stop and jazz rave – equal parts vintage, future, and spiritual uplift.
The Disco Shaman Is Real – Saturday at Boogaloo
People say we don’t dance at shows anymore, but Sie Ballard, aka The Disco Shaman Is Real, proves that wrong. With a resonation hovering near 98bpm of spiritual awakening, he served up ritual techno for the body and the soul.
This desert dweller’s set was equal part bangin’ London dancehalls, intergalactic beats, ancient indigenous inspirations, and all phonic medicine. He didn’t just DJ for us – he ripped back the veil and transcended space & time, all while humbly appearing as if Santa had taken an acid-soaked summer sabbatical on the shores of Sri Lanka.
Spike the Clown & Rainbow Sparkz the Clown – Sunday After-Party: Mouse Trap Tower Game at Veggie Camp
Just when we thought the festival was over and it was time to return to the default world, we serendipitously stumbled upon the Veggie Camp where the afterparty was going strong. We were drawn to a glowing beacon: Spike the Clown inviting us to play the Mouse Trap Tower Game, accentuated by his lovely & impossibly charismatic partner Rainbow Sparks who danced like a trickster around the board.
They were like energy lanterns, bringing light & vibes wherever they waltzed. The game – a high-anxiety challenge where you stack live mousetraps on top of each other until the thing explodes in aching chaos – was as unique as it was exhilarating. These two were the perfect way to end a weekend celebration chock full to the brim of art for art’s sake, eclectic music, & authentic community.
The post Joshua Tree Music Festival 2025 – A Return to Reverence appeared first on EDM | Electronic Music | EDM Music | EDM Festivals | EDM Events.
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By: Joseph Giuliano
Title: Joshua Tree Music Festival 2025 – A Return to Reverence
Sourced From: thatdrop.com/joshua-tree-music-festival-2025-a-return-to-reverence/
Published Date: Thu, 22 May 2025 03:53:23 +0000
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