Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival managed to do something that few festivals can in their first year: get everything right. Moreover, they did it in an area that has had a lack of camping music festivals over the years, making it all the more impressive.

Located near Okeechobee Lake on an 800 acre property developed by Clifford Rosen, co-CEO of Soundslinger LLC, the prime location brought in more than 30,000 seasoned veterans and first time festival goers.

Aside from impressive planning and execution for a first year event of its magnitude, Okeechobee succeeded in covering a spectrum of genres with a ton of crossover, attracting everyone from ravers to hippies. The acts this year included heavy hitters like Bassnectar, Skrillex, The Avett Brothers, Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifters, Mumford & Sons, and Future, to name a few.

The festivals grounds were cleverly named, from “UR Special” Road to “NSFW” and “JK” campgrounds, and situated into two main areas. “The Grove” consisted of main stages “Be”, “Here”, and “Now”, while the “Moonlight Oasis” held the smaller stages and “Jungle 51”, a secluded area in the forest that was practically a festival inside a festival.

For a first year festival, Okeechobee did a fantastic job. With the number of stages, attendees, and acts, it was seriously impressive how smoothly things ran throughout the weekend. For a location that hasn’t seen a large camping festival in nearly 8 years, they’ve amassed a following of new festival goers that are probably feeling the festie blues right now for the first time.

Even festival co-founder, Paul Peck, commented on its success in a statement. “I couldn’t be more pleased and excited. We had a feeling we were creating something special, but I’m still trying to process exactly what just took place here. Everything went perfectly as designed and our fans loved it in every way we hoped. There was a fantastic energy on site all weekend as one great moment lead to another. The Okeechobee community is an extraordinary one. We can’t wait to do this again next year.”

Check out the official recap video below:

 

Words and photos by Andrew Dolan. Full gallery at the bottom.