PsyTrance Festivals 2017 – a list of all the music festivals that we want to attend this year.
Full power, 24 hours, no shower?
Well, sometimes we shower but we’re usually full power.
The year 2016 was our craziest year because we traveled around the world and attended many PsyTrance festivals. A lot of things happened when we traveled around the world for music festivals that made us realize which festivals we should skip and which ones we should definitely attend again. Some of the smallest festivals (like Dance of Shiva in Manali) surprised us with their awesomeness while some really big festivals disappointed us.
Disclaimer: Just because we attend music festivals, doesn’t mean that we participate in intoxicants. We do it for our love of music and nothing else. Yes, we perhaps the most sober people in a festival with just a beer or two in their system.
Based on our experience, we have shortlisted a few festivals that we definitely want to attend this year. The idea is to start the year with a bang and relax a little to get ready for a very wild and full power summer. After this we want to relax and rebuild our energy for our favorite New Year celebration.
So here’s a list of 17 Psytrance Festivals that we want to attend in 2017:
If you think PsyTrance is too much, then Dark Trance will kill you. Or you may just fall in love with it. San and I love taking things up a notch and absolutely love high BPM forest and dark music. This is exactly the reason why we have decided to start our year on an active tandava mode in Sri Lanka because Atman is going to be one hell of a party!
A year back, we met Pooriya Nik who made us watch the video of this festival and we decided to do everything we can to be a part of it. The main stage had a massive demon like décor that matched the dark vibes of the music. We can’t wait to fly to Sri Lanka and head to the beautiful Arugam Bay to stomp to the music of some of our favorite artists like Arjuna, Zik, Kindzadza, Giuseppe, Orestis, and more!
Hilltop Goa by Katrina Luka – Psytrance Festivals 2017
Did you know that Goa is the birthplace of psychedelic trance music? A few decades back, the hippies arrived here and fell in love with this glorious land. Many of them did not leave Goa and started calling it home. This is when the era of trance parties with super psychedelic UV décor started and spread all over the world. No matter how many festivals I attend all over the world, nothing compares to the magic of a good old PsyTrance party in Goa.
With its UV painted palm tree trunks and old school rainbow décor, Hilltop in Vagator is one of my favorite party venues in Goa. It is a big party venue and is well maintained with really clean toilets. Many local women set up chai stalls inside this venue and sell affordable snacks. This year, artists like Hilight Tribe, Govinda, Burn In Noise will be playing here. Moreover, Goa is one of my favorite places in the world and you can read my travel articles here before visiting.
Imagine dancing in the middle of Costa Rica’s rainforest and then heading for a dip inside the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Sounds good? That’s Envision festival! Just like a lot of festivals in this list, Envision is also a “leave no trace” event where every step is taken to ensure that the venue is in in as good if not better condition as before the party. The organizers go to great lengths to ensure that it’s a family friendly event and also provide a silent campground that’s away from the music.
Tribal Gathering is a yearly ritual around the full moon in February, where indigenous communities, and global psychedelic tribes come together to meet and celebrate life. This festival is different because it is an 18-day event on a beautiful Caribbean beach in Panama. Throughout this event, there are hundreds of workshops that are organized about community management, sustainability, environment, permaculture, health, philosophies, tantric sex and alternative financial systems. Moreover, during the first few days of the festival, the attendees can attend various ceremonies with shamans from multiple indigenous tribes.
Shakti Peak is a festival where some of our favorite artists will be playing music in the middle of Nepal’s mountains. We love small festivals because where the entire festival feels like a family. The line up for this festival is amazing which promises to bring an amazing psychedelic experience to all the attendees.
Hai in den Mai Festival, Germany – Psytrance Festivals 2017
San has attended Hai in den Mai twice and he only has good things to say about this small festival. This festival is organized by Wald Frieden Events, which means “Forest Peace”. This festival officially marks the beginning of festival season in Europe. I have attended Wonderland festivalby them on the same venue, which was a magical experience. The location is in the middle of the forest with slanted mini dance floors around the main floor. There is a little pond and a hill next to it, from where you can get a good view. If you’re lucky, you can spot a few cherry blossom trees around.
Re:birth Festival, Japan – Psytrance Festivals 2017
Japan is a very small country but we were surprised to see a very high percentage of psychedelic festivalgoers are Japanese. Some of our closest festival buddies are from Japan and trust me – they are super psychedelic and really know how to party! After meeting them and learning about their beautiful culture, we have decided to visit Japan one day. We want to travel and explore Japan and experience a Japanese music festival. For this purpose, Re:birth seems to be the perfect choice. After the 2011 Japanese earthquake, the party scene in Japan experienced its all time low and in 2013 Re:birth festival started with a purpose of reigniting the Japanese party scene. Oh and it is more than a PsyTrance festival because it features techno and live bands.
Tree of Life Festival, Greece – Psytrance Festivals 2017
The original location of Tree of Life festival is Turkey, but for 2017 is Greece. Actually, we were looking forward to this festival last year as well but we did not find any schedule online. I wrote to the festival team and I got to know that the schedule was not published because the festival was not happening in 2016. I’m not sure of the reason, but could be because of disturbances in Turkey. Turkey is an amazing country and we would have loved to attend a festival there. If you remember, I traveled solo to Turkey last year and was stranded in Istanbul during the attempted military coup back in July 2016. So maybe it’s a good thing that the festival didn’t happen last year. Anyway, we’re very happy to know that Tree of Life festival is back and will be in Greece. We support this festival 100% and would love to be a part of it because we have always heard amazing things about it.
Dakini Festival, Romania – Psytrance Festivals 2017
We’re really excited to attend Dakini Festival. Wanna know why? Well, it is the first inaugural edition, which means it is going to be very special experience. It’s like watching a baby being born and feeling connected to it in an extraordinary way. Secondly, the line up is very interesting with psychedelic trance artists like Astrix and Avalon, this is going to be a hell of an old school PsyTrance party. Secondly, the location is mind-blowing! Have you heard of Tuzla beach? Chances are that you haven’t because it is apparently a “secret beach” that not many have heard of and yes that’s the festival location.
Moreover, the cost of traveling and eating in Romania is much lower than many other countries so it is suited for most of the festival nomads. While you’re there, you should definitely travel around the country because it has a lot of forests and mountains. It is one of the least visited countries in Europe. If you’re in Europe during this festival season, I urge you to travel to Romania and be a part of Dakini Festival’s inaugural edition.
Master of Puppets festival, Czech Republic – Psytrance Festivals 2017 – Picture by Gypsee Adventures
With a focus on Hi-Tech, Dark and Forest PsyTrance, Master of Puppets in Czech definitely is a festival to watch out for. Obviously things can get a little hard with more than 190 BPMs of music, so they have an amazing chill stage as well with soothing music. This is a fairly new festival and the 2017 edition is going to be the third one with a ticket sale limit of 1500. They also offer 20 free tickets each for people Greece, Portugal and Japan – out of which the only ones remaining are the Japanese ones. Yes, we’re sure you would have heard that Czech party scene is phenomenal and so have we. We want to experience it in the best way possible and Master of Puppets festival is calling out to us.
Freqs of Nature, Germany – Psytrance Festivals 2017
I did not end up attending Freqs of Nature festival last year because I was in Turkey but San did. He fell in love with this festival’s trippy high tech décor and said he spent hours looking at giant machine like alien artwork installations that displayed extraordinary mechanical engineering work. This festival has different stages ranging from progressive to very crazy hi tech. Believe it or not, but things get trippier than this because the festival location is an old military airport that was functional till 1945. This is also a fairly new festival compared to the likes of Boom, Ozora and Wonderland – it started in 2012 and has already built a good name for itself because of excellent management.
Kali Mela Festival, Spain – Psytrance Festivals 2017
Kali is the name of a fierce Hindu goddess who is associated with strength, empowerment and dark side of spirituality. True to its name, the lineup is dark and powerful. To be honest, I had no idea about this festival last year because the festival organizers do everything they can to keep it low key but it is very high on my list now.
If you see the line up, it has some of the best dark PsyTrance artists that are set out to perform to ensure a truly wild psychedelic party. It has the biggest line up for Parvati records, which is our favorite record label. In fact, they have the biggest forest and groovy lineup that we have seen for 2017! Don’t believe it? Check the event page! Moreover, the organizers are taking every step possible to ensure an amazing camping experience for everyone and have put together a professional team to take care of it. We will be visiting this festival for sure this summer. We urge you to join us here because this year it’s going to be fantastic!
Our Shady Camping Spot at SUN Festival 2016 in Hungary
A few months back Solar United Natives, a.k.a., S.U.N. Festival was not on this list because the organizers were not sure of it was going to happen in 2017 or not. You see, S.U.N. is a non profit festival and they weren’t able to meet their costs last year. Having attended this last year, it was one of our favorites of 2016 and we did encourage our readers to make a donation in an earlier edition of this post.
Our earlier post said this –
Special mention – our favorite festival Solar United Natives, a.k.a., S.U.N. Festival may not be happening this year but we want to encourage all festivalgoers to donate some money to keep it alive by donating. Even a small contribution can make a difference.
We’re happy that the organizers of S.U.N. festival have met their donation target and the event is on. What sets S.U.N. apart from rest of the festivals is that it is an actual community based organization where important decisions are taken by sending a survey to it’s lifetime members. No, lifetime members are not the organizers but attendees like us that have bought and opted for a lifetime membership.
The concept of this festival is to form the Solar United Natives “new consciousness” community, to shape the green development of Csobánkapuszta, and to invite friends for a family gathering in a fabulous location, where we can get closer to Nature, ourselves, thus to each other.
MoDem Festival Main Stage – Psytrance Festivals 2017
MoDem, a.k.a Memento Demento Festival was the best festival that we attended in 2016. This has got to be the most beautiful festival location that I have ever seen and is around river Mreznica. This river has very clear water and we could see the bottom of it. A dip in this river was very refreshing because the water is very cold. The alternative dance floor was right next to this river. A little walk away from the alternative floor were a few small springs and waterfalls. A little further we even found a cave. Everything around the river is very green and fresh.
MoDem’s main floor is on top of a hill with higher hills around. The geography is such that it causes a swooshing effect with the music. The décor was very “hi-tech” and definitely the best that we have ever seen in our life. The lineup was excellent and kept us on the dance floor for hours. Overall, it was a very well organized festival with everything a person could need, such as currency exchange, charging stations, clean bio toilets amongst other things. We don’t want to miss this festival and we recommend even you shouldn’t.
Oregon Eclipse Photo by Adam Taylor – PsyTrance Festivals 2017
Oregon Eclipse festival is the one that a lot of festival nomads are talking about this year and it is for a good reason. Strictly speaking, this is not a psytrance music festival but is a psychedelic music festival. This is a 6-day total solar eclipse gathering, which is definitely going to be a crazy party. Obviously solar glasses will be provided to all the attendees at the event for their safety. We don’t like big festivals but this is one of the very few ones that we’re eyeing this year that will have between 20k – 40k attendees.
After a summer full of dark and hi-tech music, we want to relax in Connection festival’s easy old school psychedelic music show. Some of the most famous psychedelic artists like Transwave, Astral Projection and Shidapu, will be performing here. Yes, this is also one of the smaller festivals with only 1500 tickets.
The location is Sierra Norte Park that has strange rock formations and a small river called Hueznar. This festival officially marks the end of summer festival season in Europe and should not be missed.
Samsara is a psyambient music festival which is organizing a Himalayan edition in India in October in collaboration with AryaMarga Yoga. Festival attendees can expect sound and vision healing through music and art. Many experienced Yoga, Qigong and Tai chi teachers will conduct several workshops here. If you have visited the Himalayas in India, you would have definitely felt the magic and the spirituality in the air. For a festival like Samsara that focuses on healing music, a location like this makes perfect sense.
The Experience Festival, Koh Tao – Photo by VJ Baba – Psytrance Festivals 2017
The Experience Festival is the best way to celebrate the New Year because it’s an epic 4 day celebration. What I love about this festival is that the music changes depending on the time of the day (or night). You can expect progressive and full on during the day and darker psychedelic beats at night. The best time is when the sun rises because the view is spectacular.
So much positive energy at the Experience Festival by Digital Thangka – Psytrance Festivals 2017
After traveling from festival to festival for a few months in Europe I realized how convenient and special the Experience festival is. The location is Koh Tao, which is a beautiful island with many beaches. In many festivals we had no choice but cook our own food to save money. In order to do so, we had to get on to an expensive shuttle to go to a supermarket to buy groceries.
On the other hand, things are really cheap in Koh Tao so naturally spending things like food, grocery, scooter and the basic necessities was stress-free. Moreover, this is a small festival with not more than three thousand people and a close knit family vibe. The décor is super psychedelic and is sure to turn any dark trip into a positive one.
The toilets and showers are very clean and airy. Thankfully, they are not the portable dixie toilets that I hate but they are the fixed ones and regularly get cleaned. Maybe someone casted a magical spell on this island because the vibes are really amazing here. This is where I met San a few years back and we fell in love. We have attended this festival thrice and can’t wait to go back.
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Hehe, we don’t. Traveling to music festivals is not expensive because we get to camp there – so no need to spend on rooms. Plus we cook our own food. Many times, it is easy to find people who are driving from one festival to another with their campervan and hitchike.
I would like to go to many festivals like this but it’s a big budget… unfortunatelly… the one I’m sure to go is Conection festival (spain).. first experience for me in 2016… and before the end .. I knew I will be back there this year <3 .. if you see a girl trancing and take pictures in the same time in front of the mainstage … it could be me 😉 .. have nice trips <3 LoVe and LiGht <3
Helloou 🙂
Lovely to read about the festivals journey ! its such a wonderfull way of traveling <3
We will be playing at one of the festivals on your list; Dakini (romania)
so maybe we will meet here 🙂
and also at another great festival for chillout music lovers; Samsara Festival Europe edition https://www.facebook.com/events/1283765871654033/
would strongly recomend you to travel to this AMAZING Festival in a STUNNING location ; https://shankrafestival.ch
Wishing you all safe travels !!!
maybe we will even meet
untill then,
all the best ,
I know you’re probably tired of answering the “how do pay for this stuff???” questions but here’s another one any way :P, Spending less once you get there is all good, but even getting to these places is quite heavy on the pockets? Plus the visas? And as I understand it, you plan to visit all of these fests? Please reveal your secrets hahah, cause I’d love to give this a shot _/\_
What festival parties are the most Pyschodelic to attend? Where the kitty and L flow into the scene?
I am guessing goa India and Oregon.
I saw Vegas has a huge festival which you didn’t mention but I would imagine anything goes there. You might not partake but if you were me then which would be best for my party habits? The music 🎶 sounds better when I get pyschodellic.❤️🌈🎶🎶❤️🎶❤️🌈🌍✌🏻🥂
Hey Chris, for us Modem festival in Croatia was very psychedelic. 🙂 Very good vibes and excellent location. Actually even Boom festival in Portugal was good because a lot of things have been decriminalized in that country, if you know what I mean. 🙂
Good to read about all your festival traveling experiences.Would like to mention about our small gathering in Tsitsikamma,South Africa called Freaky Forest.Check it out on our Facebook page.Perhaps one day you guys can make here,would be cool to hook up!
That sounds really awesome and super psychedelic. We have heard some very good things about the PsyTrance scene in South Africa. We’d love to experience it first hand someday.
Hi Mario, 🙂 Actually this festival is usually organized in Turkey but the location for only this year is Asprovalta. Yes, Herzberg, Spiral Knights and Realandfree festivals do sound very interesting. Do you like attending music festivals too?
Freedom Festival in Portugal, is in 2017 the Psy trance event with the best DJ List Set by far any other around the world, it reunites the more acclaimed DJ’s from now and the last years… it’s impossible to see this quality dj list in a psy trance festival.
Namaste, Guten Tag!
I'm Sonal from India, living in Germany and exploring Europe. I've been writing about my travel adventures since 2015. I often travel alone (and sometimes with my husband & our toddler).
I love nature, adventure, hiking to viewpoints, Yoga, and road trips. I love creating itineraries and in-depth travel guides which will help you make the most of your trip.
Where do you all generate the capital from to visit all these places
Hehe, we don’t. Traveling to music festivals is not expensive because we get to camp there – so no need to spend on rooms. Plus we cook our own food. Many times, it is easy to find people who are driving from one festival to another with their campervan and hitchike.
I would like to go to many festivals like this but it’s a big budget… unfortunatelly… the one I’m sure to go is Conection festival (spain).. first experience for me in 2016… and before the end .. I knew I will be back there this year <3 .. if you see a girl trancing and take pictures in the same time in front of the mainstage … it could be me 😉 .. have nice trips <3 LoVe and LiGht <3
Hi Marie-Helene, Connection and Experience – excellent choice! We will most likely see you there and will be good to dance with you. 🙂
Relaxx
You missed out the kickass forest festival in Goa!
Vantara Vichitra Gathering- 23 & 24 Feb
https://www.facebook.com/events/1040454236011120/?ti=cl
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Looks very good
I am wondering why you have mentioned small not really good festival in Czech Republic since we have much better one http://www.ufobufo.eu/
Hi Tomáš, thanks for telling us about this festival. We will definitely check it out 🙂
Helloou 🙂
Lovely to read about the festivals journey ! its such a wonderfull way of traveling <3
We will be playing at one of the festivals on your list; Dakini (romania)
so maybe we will meet here 🙂
and also at another great festival for chillout music lovers; Samsara Festival Europe edition
https://www.facebook.com/events/1283765871654033/
would strongly recomend you to travel to this AMAZING Festival in a STUNNING location ;
https://shankrafestival.ch
Wishing you all safe travels !!!
maybe we will even meet
untill then,
all the best ,
Eli & Ancient Core https://www.facebook.com/AncientC0re/?fref=ts
Thank you! It will be good to meet you at Dakini festival. 🙂 We already know about the other festivals because they are pretty famous. 🙂
I know you’re probably tired of answering the “how do pay for this stuff???” questions but here’s another one any way :P, Spending less once you get there is all good, but even getting to these places is quite heavy on the pockets? Plus the visas? And as I understand it, you plan to visit all of these fests? Please reveal your secrets hahah, cause I’d love to give this a shot _/\_
🙂 I think I should write a post about that soon. When I do, I will share a link here.
What festival parties are the most Pyschodelic to attend? Where the kitty and L flow into the scene?
I am guessing goa India and Oregon.
I saw Vegas has a huge festival which you didn’t mention but I would imagine anything goes there. You might not partake but if you were me then which would be best for my party habits? The music 🎶 sounds better when I get pyschodellic.❤️🌈🎶🎶❤️🎶❤️🌈🌍✌🏻🥂
Hey Chris, for us Modem festival in Croatia was very psychedelic. 🙂 Very good vibes and excellent location. Actually even Boom festival in Portugal was good because a lot of things have been decriminalized in that country, if you know what I mean. 🙂
Good to read about all your festival traveling experiences.Would like to mention about our small gathering in Tsitsikamma,South Africa called Freaky Forest.Check it out on our Facebook page.Perhaps one day you guys can make here,would be cool to hook up!
That sounds really awesome and super psychedelic. We have heard some very good things about the PsyTrance scene in South Africa. We’d love to experience it first hand someday.
M going to himalaya…Eat sleep rave repeat…. Beautiful location .. In the nature
The Himalayas are awesome! We have MANY posts about offbeat villages and the hippie trail in the Himalayas. Hope you have seen them. 🙂
Vortex Opens Source Festival in South Africa ! What a Magical Gathering and 5 days of everything !
you forgot gyus plur festival 18-28 august 2017 Greece
Thank you Fanis, 🙂 Yes, it is a good festival. Actually we didn’t forget it but this is a small list of only 17 festivals.
Hi guys
we’d like to introduce you a small festival at lakeside in Poland. Verry cheap tickets. Come visit silver lake.
Will definitely be attending MoDem this year. Was confused between a few. Thanks a lot GanG! See you there..!
Hi Mario, 🙂 Actually this festival is usually organized in Turkey but the location for only this year is Asprovalta. Yes, Herzberg, Spiral Knights and Realandfree festivals do sound very interesting. Do you like attending music festivals too?
Yeah, love the article, good festivals you’re writing about 😀
Hope to get to talk to you at Masters of Puppets or Modem, would love to.
oh, and I just see you used a picture I took at Masters of Puppets last year 😀
peace
Yes, let’s meet at one of those festivals. Your Master of Puppets pic is awesome! I can credit you – do you have a photography page?
Freedom Festival in Portugal, is in 2017 the Psy trance event with the best DJ List Set by far any other around the world, it reunites the more acclaimed DJ’s from now and the last years… it’s impossible to see this quality dj list in a psy trance festival.
Should be good, too! Tree of Life team are great people.