Pretty Lights set up shop in the scenic mountain town of Buena Vista, CO last weekend for Yahn Dawn, a curated music festival billed as the producer-turned-electro-soul project’s “only band event of the summer.”
Derek Vincent Smith and the rest of the musical, visual, and production conglomerate collectively known as Pretty Lights used the already stunning surroundings of the Colorado mountain town as a backdrop for the immersive camping event.
On Thursday, early arrivers took to the Prismatic Playa—the area adjacent to the beautiful creek that runs through the grounds—for a kick-off party featuring Smith (as Bridgeriño), Pretty Lights consigliere Michal Menert, and Shooka. Once the Yahn Dawn festivities began in full force on Friday and Saturday, the Prismatic Playa became the daytime stage, hosting sets by Mon Amie, Slides, Flamingosis, PXLMTREES, Motifv, The Sponges, Duffrey, Flying Mojito Bros, and more as fans floated and danced in the water.
Around the grounds, various spaces with names pulled from the PL canon drew attendees in via enveloping art installations. In the Celestial Sanctuary, fans could take part in various breathwork and mindfulness workshops.
On Saturday morning, the festival hosted a 5k race in the campgrounds, benefitting The Center on Colfax, an LGBTQ community center in Denver. To fans’ surprise, Derek Vincent Smith himself showed up to host the race—and run in it himself. “I still gotta work on the setlist for tonight, so, let’s get this going,” he joked in his opening remarks. After finishing the course, he stuck around the campgrounds for a surprise pop-up performance. Watch clips of Pretty Lights’ Derek Vincent Smith at the Yahn Dawn 5k below.
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On Friday and Saturday evenings, the crowd shifted over to the main stage for two-set headlining performances by Pretty Lights, the forward-thinking live electronic project now comprised of Smith, Menert, Borahm Lee, Alvin Ford Jr., and Chris Karns.
When the headlining performances ended each night, the S.O.I.R.É.E. Holographic Uplink, otherwise known as the silent disco, kept the dance floor moving into the night with performances by Smores, WVB Zero, Harmonic Fusion, Shooka, Samso, studio ninetysix, and FPL—many of which were assisted by members of the Pretty Lights team. The silent disco lineup came to a climax after 2 a.m. on Saturday with a well-received closing set from Mikey Thunder.
With Derek Vincent Smith expecting his first child later this year, Pretty Lights’ upcoming tour schedule is limited to appearances at Secret Dreams Festival in Thornville, OH (7/17–7/19) and Elements Music & Arts Festival in Long Pond, PA (8/10).
Scroll down to view the full video streams of all four Yahn Dawn Pretty Lights sets.
P.S. While we hope this lost lizard found his way home from Yahn Dawn eventually, we have a sneaking suspicion he’s just hanging around in Buena Vista until King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard take over the grounds for their Field of Vision festival later this summer.
[Editor’s note: Juliana Todeschi Paer and Danielle Nachowitz contributed reporting to this article.]
Pretty Lights – Yahn Dawn – Buena Vista, CO – Set One [Full Stream] – 6/27/25
Pretty Lights – Yahn Dawn – Buena Vista, CO – Set Two [Full Stream] – 6/27/25
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Pretty Lights – Yahn Dawn – Buena Vista, CO – Set One [Full Stream] – 6/28/25
Pretty Lights – Yahn Dawn – Buena Vista, CO – Set Two [Full Stream] – 6/28/25