Spring Awakening Music Festival Sets The Bar For Festival Season

Sunday night, solstice stage, the sun set on Addams-Medill Park to the sound of Martin Garrix. And just like that Spring Awakening 2017 came to a close. This may have been one of the best SAMF lineups in years and when first announced, it quickly became THE festival of the season. The SAMF and react presents team didn't disappoint. It was nothing but good vibes and awesome music all weekend !

Friday kicked off the start of SAMF 2017 with a bang. Addams Medill Park hosted the festival for the first time this year and the grounds were the perfect backdrop for the stage set-up. When you needed a break from dancing between sets, the pop-up carnival in the center of the festival was a great way to just chill out and enjoy the view. At night, it lit up the sky and made for an awesome view of the entire festival. While all the stages were incredible, a big kudos to the Corona Electric Beach Oasis for having the coolest illuminated dome stage with a more intimate setting! Of course the uber popular silent disco stage was awesome to both take part in as well as watch.

Friday's big stand out sets belonged to the likes of Party Favor, Ghastly and Galantis. But the biggest welcoming that afternoon belonged to hometown favorites Louis The Child. Their set was a special one. They brought out our fav Benny The Bull ,as well as my personal freak out moment; YehMe2 formerly from Flosstradamus. The night closed out with a slightly late Afrojack performance (better late than never!) that was definitely worth the wait, Marshmello who was everything I expected and more! And of course a crazy performance by the one and only Armin Van Buuren to end the night.

Saturday had probably two of my favorite sets of the entire weekend. One of which was from Diplo, who had the crowd dancing probably more so than any other act, As well as Yellowclaw who set the tone for the entire night with their hard hitting sound. It was my first time seeing these guys live, and I was amazed at how intense their set was. They had the crowd going nuts and set the tone that night. Their fans love these guys and its easy to see why. I'm officially a fan !

By the time Sunday rolled around, it was already clear that this was one of the best SAMF lineups in the last few years. Sunday brought out tons of headliners including Martin Garrix, who had the crowd going crazy into the night. One of my favorites Griz had a big night with an unreal performance! And of course Alesso and Jauz rounded out my favorites of the night.

After all was said and done, this having been my first SAMF experience, I came away super impressed at how crazy the lineup was and at the performances of all three days. Addams-Medill Park became a great first time host to Spring Awakening Music festival and I couldn't have asked for a more amazing festival to kick off the festival season! See you next year SAMF!


-Teresa E. Cutrera

*select photos provided by Spring Awakening Music Festival