Festival season doesn’t truly begin each year until the first weekend of March, and for my money there’s no better spring opener than the four-day Portal of Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival in Florida. The 2020 event achieved legendary status amongst festivalgoers for a lot of reasons, most notably being that it took place the final weekend before COVID-19 shut down the music industry and initiated lockdowns. Okee had already cemented itself as one of the best weekends of my life before it concluded, and experiencing acts ranging from Tipper to Mumford & Sons provided me enough solace and satisfaction to last throughout the lengthy void of live music that followed.
For its fifth year, Okeechobee returns with another highly impressive selection of artists spanning all kinds of genres, headlined by psychedelic rockers Tame Impala, synth-pop auteur Porter Robinson, lascivious rhymeslayer Megan Thee Stallion, midtempo bass hypnotizer Rezz and future funk icon Griz. UK duo Jungle delivers disco-funk delight, Gary Clark Jr. mines modern-day blues and Flying Lotus concocts swirling symphonics of cinematic soul, experimental electronica and daring hip-hop.
TroyBoi, CloZee, CharlesTheFirst, Eprom, Of The Trees, The Librarian, EAZYBAKED and A Hundred Drums explore wubs across the bass spectrum, while Jai Wolf, The Glitch Mob, Kasbo and Kaivon present melodic EDM. Denzel Curry, Ashnikko, Smino, Coi Leray, BIA and Tobi Lou spit zesty raps, Tai Verdes sings with soothing authenticity and Two Feet reverberates with seductive, bluesy-alterative tones. The lineup includes indie vibes from Mt. Joy, Gus Dapperton and Twin Shadow, dreamy indie pop from STRFKR and Washed Out, and electro-jamming from Papadosio and Manic Focus. The Saturday night Powow! assembles special guests from different musical acts for a compelling superstar mashup set as well.
The curation of house and techno at Okeechobee has always been superb, with some unique world-class DJs featuring at the dusk-till-dawn Jungle 51 stage (my favorite environment for techno I’ve ever been to). Count on Four Tet, Sven Väth, Nastia, Danny Daze and DJ Minx enchanting the dancefloor with stunning techno-mixing wizardry. Caribou, Dombresky, Elderbrook, DJ Harvey, Ross From Friends, Soul Clap, Gerd Janson, AMTRAC, VNSSA and Sage Armstrong will get the bodies moving with grooving house tunes, deep house harmonies and bumping tech house beats.
The diversity in sounds and styles on display here has plenty to offer every music palette. The Sunshine Grove venue is a wondrous place, divided into Jungle 51 for nighttime raving, the Aquachobee stage to relax on the beach during the day, and the Be, Here and Now stages spread across The Grove. Four-day GA eco passes start at $374, 4-day GA passes with car camping start at $434, 4-day VIP eco passes start at $799, and 4-day VIP passes with car camping start at $859. Layaway payment plans are available for an extra $12.50 with a $50 deposit. Check out the full lineup below, mark your calendars for March 3-6 and grab your tickets for one of the coolest variety music festivals in the country!
