I’m laying down on a dry lake bed south of Las Vegas. The night sky is filled with lanterns, glowing with hues of orange and yellow, extending as far and high as I can see against a pitch-dark background. Meditation music is playing from a nearby stage, and the emcee is guiding thousands of participants through the ceremony. I have a profound sense that every human emotion is being experienced simultaneously all around me, as each individual launches their lantern to the heavens, attached with their most intimate thoughts, intentions, ideas. Or else just some random thought. It’s a truly magical moment, one that completely and totally exceeds any expectations I’d had before coming to the 10th annual Rise Festival, billed as the world’s largest sky lantern festival, complete with headline performances from Rüfüs Du Sol, Calvin Harris and John Mayer.
A week later, I find myself at Red West. It’s a stark contrast to be at the Utah State Fairpark, located in downtown Salt Lake City. In its second year running, Red West has quickly become Utah’s largest country-esque music festival. It’s Sunday, and the headliner on the main stage is Noah Kahn. If you know country and you know Kahn, then you know he’s not a country artist—as he reminds the audience. According to Wikipedia, he “plays folk-pop music and is known for his raspy falsetto and for blending folk and pop in new ways.” Nevertheless, the crowd is at max capacity and completely fixed on his performance. I’m watching from the founders deck with views over the crowd. Kahn crushes it.
Rise Fest and Red West exist at opposite ends of the music festival spectrum. Rise is mostly EDM, whereas Red West is mostly country. Rise is on a dry lake bed reminiscent of Burning Man, whereas Red West is on concrete in the city center. The theme of Rise is spiritual, ethereal, intentional. Whereas the theme of Red West is, well, the American West. For all their differences, though, I find many more parallels and similarities.
Rise is actually the non-EDM EDM festival. John Mayer headlined night three. Red West is the non-country country festival. Post Malone was the big draw for Saturday, and southern rockers from Alabama, The Red Clay Strays, stole show on the second stage. Seriously, it was the best music of the weekend. Both festivals take place over three nights and welcome all ages. While Rise leans more rave wear and Red West is more Yellowstone, both crowds were welcoming to all. Everyone made you feel part of the collective experience with positive energy throughout. Unfortunately, both events also shared in being compromised by major weather events.
The big draw for each night of Rise is the lantern launch. Tragically, a wind storm disrupted the first night (Friday), which forced organizers to cancel the lantern portion. For good reason. It would be impossible to manage so much paper and fire in gale-force winds. But the headliner was none other than Rüfüs Du Sol, which did Rüfüs Du Sol things and played an inspiring show that was probably enhanced by the wind and dust, which calmed down by the time they took the stage. You just had to embrace it and sing along to their many iconic tracks.
Red West was disrupted on the second night (Saturday) by a thunder storm. It was a remnant of a hurricane that recently swept through Mexico. I could see this coming on weather radar and chose to stay home. The forecast was pretty ominous. I was messaging friends on the ground, who were probably in a bit of denial hoping to see Post Malone. The festival grounds were initially evacuated as the storm moved in with some potential to wait it out and resume. But cancelling proved to be the only responsible thing to do in the end.
In both cases, social media erupted with misdirected criticism. While it’s unfortunate people missed out on the experience they hoped and paid for, these were acts of God. While the initial promise was that shows proceed rain or shine, this was beyond rain. It was a violent threat to the safety of all involved. Organizers did their best to work around the challenges while prioritizing the safety of their guests. It’s difficult to lay blame in such circumstances, especially when it’s so obvious how passionate the organizations are about providing exceptional experiences. This was evident to me on Saturday at Rise, when the lantern festival happened, and on both Friday and Sunday at Red West.
The experiences offered at both Rise and Red West include multiple tiers of VIP with privileged access to music, food and beverage options. The Tao Sky Deck at Rise was definitely the place to be. I’ve been critical of their execution at EDC because it’s so far from the artists. With Rise, however, the proximity to the stage is ideal, in part because Rise is the perfect-sized festival. The Sky Deck overlooks the general-admission area, which wasn’t overly crowded, and it was still close enough to the stage to see the artists at work. Rise’s main stage execution, known as The Horizon, was also incredible, seamlessly shifting between light shows, lasers and video screens.
In terms of accommodations for Rise, I chose to stay at Fontainebleau Las Vegas for one main reason: the pool in October. The property partners with Rise and offers a car service to the festival shuttles, making transportation as easy as possible (though it’s still a long drive). But renting a cabana or daybed at the Oasis pool is the ideal way to refresh and recharge in-between shows. Breakfast is served from 11am to 12pm, followed by lunch thereafter.
For Red West, VIP+ was the top tier and offered access to premium food and beverage offerings in a dedicated building with places to sit, along with live music in between shows. This opened to the left side of the main stage, where there was an exclusive and uncrowded area in which to dance and watch the shows. It’s worth noting the main stage came from Coachella, so this was a top-tier execution.
Given that it’s in downtown Salt Lake City, there’s no shortage of accommodation options within a short drive or even walk. One, in particular, that feels thematically consistent with the festival is Asher Adams. It’s set within the historic Union Pacific Depot. The local landmark has recently been transformed into the “city’s first luxury lifestyle hotel.”
Rise Fest and Red West are two of the most well-run and ideally-sized festivals I’ve ever attended, the weather issues notwithstanding. The artist lineups were exceptional. The VIP offerings were worth the added cost and elevated the experiences accordingly. The venues were easy to navigate, and the sound and main-stage executions were as good as they get. I came away wanting to go to both again next year, which is rare. I’m typically one-and-done with most other festivals.