Desert festivals might be some of the hardest to come by, and not just because those barren spaces are few and far between. Raving in 100-degree weather is just something that most people wouldn’t dream of, and it might seem even more improbable in such a remote location. So, why do ravers take to these arid sandscapes to dwell in the desert for days on end?

Despite the unforgiving environment, desert landscapes make for some of the best festivals in the world. Often without any towns or cities within earshot for miles, the lack of noise licenses allows for larger than average sound systems with no time constraints. Deserts also provide a completely blank slate meaning they can play host to any kind of creativity or blueprint, whether stages, art installations, or campsites. After dark, once the heat settles over the planes or dunes, it’s high time to let loose, and party as the dry daytime air subsides, creating the perfect starlit setting for any eager raver.

So, with that, let’s dig into some of the best desert festivals across the globe - and no, it’s not just Burning Man!




Monegros Desert Festival, Spain



We’re kicking off this list in Europe - an unusual spot considering the continent’s vast greenery. In the dusty region of Aragon, Northern Spain, a growing community sets up shop in the Monegros Desert, where the eponymous festival takes place. By day, festival-goers take shade under enormous fairytale-esque mushrooms, later lit up by trance-inducing lights transforming the space into a psychedelic oasis. Monegros Desert Festival is known for its prodigious lineup too. Promising one of the most exciting performances of the year as Wu-Tang Clan take to the stage in July 2022, accompanied by a slew of DJs including Adam Beyer, Charlotte De Witte, Seth Troxler, Maceo Plex, and more. This year’s event falls on July 30 for a full-frontal 24 hours.

Website | Instagram | Tickets







Transahara, Morocco



Over in the Sahara Desert, early summertime event Transahara kicks off this year on May 13th-17th deep in the barren zone amongst the “mythical dunes of Merzouga.” With a traditionally psytrance lineup, this South Moroccan festival is a great escape for fans of higher-tempo tunes. Yet, previous lineups have included house and techno artists whose soundscapes fit for the mystical desert environment like John Aquaviva, Nitin, Matt Caines, and D-Nox. Due to the fragility of the ecosystem surrounding the venue, the festival is capped at 1500 and accommodations in one of five hotels and camps nearby. Accommodations are quite reasonable ranging from $30-80 a night. Transahara beautifully fuses art, music, and culture for a grand celebration under the starlit sky every spring. 

Website | Instagram | Tickets




Burning Man, Nevada

Photo Credit: Michael Holden



Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without Burning Man. It might be the first one that comes to mind when you think of desert-based festivals, but many don’t know the full ins and outs of this unusual event. As thousands of people - 80,000 to be exact - make the pilgrimage each year to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, festivalgoers land in the barren metropolis of Black Rock City surrounded by art installations, burning structures, adventurous outfits, and a heck of a lot of bicycles. Black Rock City doesn't have traditional stages, the music is instead hosted by sound camps that each add their own artistic aesthetic to the dusty environment. Soundcamps like the fire-laden Opulent Temple, Debouchaerous day party Distrikt, and Carl Cox led Playground have hosted some of the biggest names in house and techno, including Carl Cox, The Martinez Brothers, and Joseph Capriati.

Website | Instagram | Tickets




Ragasthan, India

Previously dubbed ‘India’s craziest music festival’, Ragasthan has a lot to live up to - and it does. The three-day camping event takes place in the medieval trading town-turned-desert of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, just off the border of Pakistan. Boasting a lineup of both electronic and indie music, India’s top-tier festival also includes cinema screenings and fly-by art on top of late-night DJ sets from the likes of Christ Burstein, Bemet, and more amongst the mystical landscape. Ragasthan takes place each year in February to ease away those winter blues.

Website | Instagram | Tickets




AfrikaBurn, South Africa



Burning Man's sibling festivals are called regional burns. Founded on the same 10 Principles of Burning Man (Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation, and Immediacy) they give the worldwide community a chance to relish in its spirit closer to home.

Afrikaburn is the second largest regional event after its sibling festival Midburn in Israel. And it's a worthy contender. Originally taking place on Stonehenge farm, AfrikaBurn later moved to South Africa’s Quaggafontein, where it sets up a similar event with the same ethos as Burning Man. The experiencial festival is said to be a ‘playground without politic’ bringing together the South African Burner community. This year’s event kicks off in the Western Cape province on April 25th until May 1st.

Website | Instagram | Tickets




Desert Daze, California



California’s Desert Daze Festival has consistently had one of the better lineups over the past few years in the arid, mountainous destination of Lake Perris. Though more a beach than a desert festival, this dry setting has previously hosted the likes of Floating Points, Boards of Canada, Flying Lotus, plus a few pop, rap, and rock numbers. Desert Daze takes place annually toward the end of the year to avoid peak summertime heat, but with a lake just metres away, there’s always room for a quick dip. Expect some more magic in the desert this year from September 30th until October 2nd.


Website | Instagram | Tickets




Sandbox, Egypt



Sandbox is a once-in-a-lifetime event taking place mid-summer. As the sun hangs low over the Gouna Red Sea next to Egypt’s El Gouna desert, almighty lineups including Folamour, Palms Trax, Mella Dee, Sweely, and more play to intimate crowds. The desert plane hosting Sandbox sits next to the turquoise waters of the red sea, making it the perfect respite for anyone seeking some time away from the unforgiving heat. This year’s dates are currently unconfirmed, although you can bank on a glorious weekend somewhere in mid June.

Website | Instagram

Day Zero, Israel



Finishing off our selection is Israel's Day Zero festival hosted in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Masada, not to be confused with the festival’s second event held in the jungle of Tulum. As termed by the festival itself, Day Zero is ‘a convergence of mysticism, music, natural wonder and apocalyptic sentiment’, set amongst the scenic desert space in the heart of Israel. Here, you can find a bill of impressive house and techno artists from all over the globe with previous residents including DJ Tennis, Black Coffee, Four Tet, and Dennis Cruz amongst others. Day Zero celebrates 10 years this year kicking off on September 23rd, 2022.

Website | Instagram | Tickets



Desert Festivals to Visit Around The World

Mexico

Matt Caines

Shadows Pool Party

United States

The National Hotel

MATHAME [Afterlife] with Matt Caines

Quantum Brooklyn

Sunset Sessions 01 w/ Matt Caines [Tulum] and TolinchiLove [Peru]

Whether Matt Caines is laying down one of his deep, sexy, and sophisticated DJ sets or building an immersive world of lights, sound, and art he’s always a storyteller first. Even his musical taste as a teenager was focused on it, “Something that kind of brought you out of body and took you somewhere.” The co-founder of experiential event brand 

 says, “I like storytelling, I think it is really important for musicians and DJs and artists.”

Matt Caines Liveset

He started his journey when he attended the first Electric Zoo festival. Stunned by the sense of community and fully immersive atmosphere he followed the path of the young raver. He fell through the rabbit hole and began to explore the New York club scene.

He became a fan of Richie Hawtin after going to a few of his shows. A failed attempt at seeing his favorite DJ brought him down a path that would eventually turn into a career.

“I remember going to a couple Richie Hawtin shows and I was like, Okay, this stuff is awesome. And I remember wanting to see him one day at a club in New York. And they were very strict on the door policy and didn't really want a 23-year-old kid there. Not enough money to get into that one. But I walked into an event off the street, which really brought me to where I am today. And that event was Cityfox, it was the first Cityfox pop up in SoHo." 

Cityfox’s fully immersive event experience was a revelation to Caines. “Between the lighting and the sound, it had something special about it. "Ironically, by going to that party, I ended up helping launch the Cityfox experience in New York” 

That night was transcendent. And he set an intention to involve himself in dance music. Call it a coincidence, call it the law of attraction in action. But his subsequent move into a DJ house would bring things full circle.

He moved in with Rishi Patel. The co-founder of 

 (owned by Richie Hawtin and John Aquaviva), Rishi was heavily plugged into the NY underground dance scene. Their home was the spot for the afters.

Late one night after a Cityfox event, Caines walked into his kitchen to find his roommate chatting with Cityfox’s promotional partner, Gunita Nagpaul, from Listed Bookings.

“Rishi turns around and was like, ‘Matt, you need to talk to this woman’ and Nita spoke to me for about four hours.” She let him know that he had barely scratched the surface on dance music. And that his most life-changing moments were yet to come. “[She said] ‘You want dance music, I'm gonna’ give you dance music. You're gonna’ work our next event. I didn't know what I was getting into.” 

Living in that home taught him an important lesson about community, he says. “We've got to be flexible in life. And we gotta be open to being vulnerable and relying on people or asking for help. Everyone inside this community really does like to help each other. They want to see everyone do well. I think as a scene we want to see everyone be successful. And there's plenty to go around.” 

He quickly learned the back end of event production, and his fledgling DJ career blossomed. Caines played a pivotal role in the development of the Cityfox brand. And he went on to help build Brooklyn Mirage.

 – an organization that holds conferences for young entrepreneurs, artists, and activists – he moved to Tulum. He knew it was a risk, but he wanted to create something of his own.

Art With Me is the culmination of his work in the industry. A unified vision that gathers music, art, wellness, food, family, and ecology into a dynamic festival experience. It was co-founded by Caines, David Graziano a longtime burner and Tulum hotel owner, and Jorge Mondragon owner of one of the largest talent agencies in Mexico, Celebrity Management.

“David Graziano, a longtime burner really wants to create an event that was like a Burning Man on the beach [and] celebrates the creative arts. So, we want to take all creativity and use it as inspiration to make positive change and impact in the world.”

An ideal day includes yoga, a workshop, hanging with your kids, checking out big art on the beach, delicious delectables, and a night capped off with dancing.

Caines spent years in nightlife and he understands that his audience has matured. Art With Me is about balance. It can’t always be about warehouse raves and all-nighters. 

His demographic is reflective of his friend group. It's come to include parents, unattached adults, and younger festival addicts in search of experiences with purpose. Art With Me aims for balance through cultural experiences he says, “We want to highlight the most artistic things per industry, per pillar as we call it. And bring it all together to share with the world.” 

The cultural hurdles aren’t lost on him though. Bringing a largely international audience to a country that struggles with poverty comes with responsibilities. The organization takes them seriously.

Art With Me carves out 20-30% of the budget to give back to the local community. They also insist that locals never feel priced out. Caines says they offer free programming to the local community. “We've invested a lot of money to offer programming for free for people that can't afford the ticket. So, by charging a ticket to international people who come to the event, it actually subsidizes programming for the local community.” 

He also points to a waste management awareness program the festival ran in 2019. In exchange for 15 pieces of plastic, attendees could see the iconic Mexican grupero band, Bronco. 7000 people took part.

Caines' goal is to gently guide conversations. “[People] always like to say what's right and what's wrong. And I don't really know, technically, especially from a creative standpoint, that what I'm going to say is really right or wrong. And it's not like there's a better way. There's different ways to look at things. And I think when you can turn around and you can inspire people to change their perspective, it’s a real unique and amazing thing. And that can come from someone being inspired with a sense of awe and seeing something that's never been done before. And to shift their perspective is really powerful.”

Spotlight: Matt Caines

In this Spotlight, we're joined by Matt Caines the co-founder of Art With Me. Whether Matt Caines is laying down one of his deep, sexy, and sophisticated DJ sets or building an immersive world of lights, sound, and art he’s always a storyteller first. 

Through Art With Me, Matt offers transcendent experiences through his experiential festivals in Tulum, Mexico. Imagined as a Burning Man on the beach, he hopes to gently shift conversations around music, art, ecology, food, and education. ecology, music and art. 

Read our Spotlight on Matt Caines: https://entergrayarea.com/artists/matt-caines

Follow Matt - https://www.instagram.com/mattcaines_ofc/
Follow Art With Me - https://www.instagram.com/artwithmetulum/
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/mattcaines
Learn more about Art With Me- https://artwithme.org/

Connect with Gray Area:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/entergrayarea/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/enterGrayArea
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/entergrayarea
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3nGJIfQ
Website - https://entergrayarea.com/

Gray Area's mission is to build a bigger house music community in North America by helping fans discover exciting house music artists, event brands and festivals that are new to them. 

#grayarea #housemusic #grayareaspotlight

Gray Area Interview: Matt Caines (Art With Me)

Whether Matt Caines is laying down one of his deep, sexy, and sophisticated DJ sets or building an immersive world of lights, sound, and art he’s always a storyteller first. Even his musical taste as a teenager was focused on it, “Something that kind of brought you out of body and took you somewhere.” The co-founder of experiential event brand Art With Me says, “I like storytelling, I think it is really important for musicians and DJs and artists.”

He started his journey when he attended the first Electric Zoo festival. Stunned by the sense of community and fully immersive atmosphere he followed the path of the young raver. He fell through the rabbit hole and began to explore the New York club scene.

He became a fan of Richie Hawtin after going to a few of his shows. A failed attempt at seeing his favorite DJ brought him down a path that would eventually turn into a career.

“I remember going to a couple Richie Hawtin shows and I was like, Okay, this stuff is awesome. And I remember wanting to see him one day at a club in New York. And they were very strict on the door policy and didn't really want a 23-year-old kid there. Not enough money to get into that one. But I walked into an event off the street, which really brought me to where I am today. And that event was Cityfox, it was the first Cityfox pop up in SoHo." 

Cityfox’s fully immersive event experience was a revelation to Caines. “Between the lighting and the sound, it had something special about it. "Ironically, by going to that party, I ended up helping launch the Cityfox experience in New York” 

That night was transcendent. And he set an intention to involve himself in dance music. Call it a coincidence, call it the law of attraction in action. But his subsequent move into a DJ house would bring things full circle.

He moved in with Rishi Patel. The co-founder of Plus8 Equity (owned by Richie Hawtin and John Aquaviva), Rishi was heavily plugged into the NY underground dance scene. Their home was the spot for the afters.

Late one night after a Cityfox event, Caines walked into his kitchen to find his roommate chatting with Cityfox’s promotional partner, Gunita Nagpaul, from Listed Bookings.

“Rishi turns around and was like, ‘Matt, you need to talk to this woman’ and Nita spoke to me for about four hours.” She let him know that he had barely scratched the surface on dance music. And that his most life-changing moments were yet to come. “[She said] ‘You want dance music, I'm gonna’ give you dance music. You're gonna’ work our next event. I didn't know what I was getting into.” 

Living in that home taught him an important lesson about community, he says. “We've got to be flexible in life. And we gotta be open to being vulnerable and relying on people or asking for help. Everyone inside this community really does like to help each other. They want to see everyone do well. I think as a scene we want to see everyone be successful. And there's plenty to go around.” 

He quickly learned the back end of event production, and his fledgling DJ career blossomed. Caines played a pivotal role in the development of the Cityfox brand. And he went on to help build Brooklyn Mirage.

After a stint in Utah working for Summit Series – an organization that holds conferences for young entrepreneurs, artists, and activists – he moved to Tulum. He knew it was a risk, but he wanted to create something of his own.

Art With Me is the culmination of his work in the industry. A unified vision that gathers music, art, wellness, food, family, and ecology into a dynamic festival experience. It was co-founded by Caines, David Graziano a longtime burner and Tulum hotel owner, and Jorge Mondragon owner of one of the largest talent agencies in Mexico, Celebrity Management.

“David Graziano, a longtime burner really wants to create an event that was like a Burning Man on the beach [and] celebrates the creative arts. So, we want to take all creativity and use it as inspiration to make positive change and impact in the world.”

An ideal day includes yoga, a workshop, hanging with your kids, checking out big art on the beach, delicious delectables, and a night capped off with dancing.

Caines spent years in nightlife and he understands that his audience has matured. Art With Me is about balance. It can’t always be about warehouse raves and all-nighters. 

His demographic is reflective of his friend group. It's come to include parents, unattached adults, and younger festival addicts in search of experiences with purpose. Art With Me aims for balance through cultural experiences he says, “We want to highlight the most artistic things per industry, per pillar as we call it. And bring it all together to share with the world.” 

The cultural hurdles aren’t lost on him though. Bringing a largely international audience to a country that struggles with poverty comes with responsibilities. The organization takes them seriously.

Art With Me carves out 20-30% of the budget to give back to the local community. They also insist that locals never feel priced out. Caines says they offer free programming to the local community. “We've invested a lot of money to offer programming for free for people that can't afford the ticket. So, by charging a ticket to international people who come to the event, it actually subsidizes programming for the local community.” 

He also points to a waste management awareness program the festival ran in 2019. In exchange for 15 pieces of plastic, attendees could see the iconic Mexican grupero band, Bronco. 7000 people took part.

Caines' goal is to gently guide conversations. “[People] always like to say what's right and what's wrong. And I don't really know, technically, especially from a creative standpoint, that what I'm going to say is really right or wrong. And it's not like there's a better way. There's different ways to look at things. And I think when you can turn around and you can inspire people to change their perspective, it’s a real unique and amazing thing. And that can come from someone being inspired with a sense of awe and seeing something that's never been done before. And to shift their perspective is really powerful.”

Matt Caines

Articles

Sam Morges