HiJinx Music Festival – Pennsylvania Convention Center – Philadelphia PA – December 27 & 28, 201

Updated: Mar 9, 2020

HiJinx Music Festival – Philadelphia Convention Center – Philadelphia PA – December 27 & 28, 2019

To find yourself in a place of pure euphoria, a space where people are full of genuine joy, you must attend HiJinx Music Festival, which ran through the final days of 2019. Ravers jumped at the opportunity to dance all night to some of today’s greatest EDM and Dubstep artists. The lineup included Skrillex, Zeds Dead, Bassnectar, Griz, Porter Robinson, Clozee, Droeloe, and many more artists. There was not a second in which the festival was silent. To be able to feel the music – as well as hear and see it – is an experience I highly recommend. The best place to experience it is HiJinx.

In only the second year in existence, HiJinx made an impressive comeback calling this year’s festival “The Monster Returns.” The sold-out event hosted around 18,500 people within the Philadelphia Convention Center, in Center City, Philadelphia, PA. Decor followed along with the theme of neon iridescence and monsters that poked and crawled from every corner of the venue.

The shopping section of the festival carried every rave essential. Crystals, colorful clothing, sunglasses, and much more were all sold by small businesses. Local merchants filled the 125,120 square-foot venue.

The rustic nook was a nice escape from the intense partying happening only 20 feet away. Another getaway was named by attendees as “The Jellyfish Lounge,” offering comfy couches and chairs as well as a view of the city with colorful gelatinous creatures floating from the ceiling. Creating a space that cut most of the sound from the stage, concertgoers were able to escape for conversation and relaxation.

As someone who had never attended a rave, the music was new to me, so I often found myself asking questions. The one ongoing truth was that Skrillex was the “godfather of Dubstep.” While whenever a new line up came out for a rave, concertgoers prayed that “Zedd only had one D,” in reference to Zeds Dead, one of the headliners. This new wave of music incorporates a few genres; House, Techno, EDM, Dubstep. All of that formulates around the use of technology – some including live instruments, while others created music with the sole use of a synth.

The artists that reigned over this festival are all incredible forces within the industry today. Skrillex has over 8.9 Million followers on Instagram, 19.1 million on YouTube, as well as over 14 million monthly Spotify listeners! Bassnectar, recently climbed higher and higher into the public eye, and will be headlining alongside Miley Cyrus at Bonnaroo Music Festival 2020. They have over a million monthly listeners in Spotify and 424K on Instagram.

Excision and Slander performed back to back, debuting their collab “Your Fault.” Excision is a Canadian producer and DJ and founder of Rottun Recordings, active since 2006. Racking up at 1.4-million-dollar net worth in a short amount of time, as well as over 1.3 million monthly Spotify listeners. Porter Robinson released his debut album Worlds in 2014 climbed to the top of charts securing Billboards #1 spot for Electronic/Dance music. With over 1.6 million monthly Spotify listeners and 542K on Instagram his music is no doubt thriving.

We could go on and on listing artists that filled into the Convention Center, leaving an impactful energy and unprecedented joy on the festival goers. Being at a festival where every artist was treated as a headliner was a new experience that resembled well with this audience.

It was a space that welcomed everyone; a world of youth and of years. A world that embraces costumes of pizza, animals, and Jesus. This is the special occasion that is HiJinx Music Festival, a space of acceptance and appreciation of music. It is obvious that in only its second year HiJinx has become a gem to the City of Philadelphia.

Isa Barnett