In 2013, I had a friend who sent me a video that was advertising the inaugural year of the dance festival, TomorrowWorld. I had never heard of such a festival before. In fact, while I loved certain EDM songs, I didn’t even know it had its own genre and scene. When I heard the beats and saw the outfits, I was instantly hooked and knew I had to attend. I booked the trip, ordered a custom rainbow-colored bra from Electric Laundry, and, a few months later, off we went to Atlanta.
I have to say, I could not have asked for a better introduction to the festival scene. The festival was seven stages set up around beautiful property. It is liked I completely stepped out of reality and entered a beautiful world of freedom, nature, and bliss. This is where I was introduced to PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect). Everyone at the festival was so kind and accepting. I love the whole PLUR mentality, which is why I incorporated into my cosplay name, Cosplur.
I had so much fun that I had to return the following year. In 2014, I did not have anyone to go with so I decided to go solo. When my parents looked concerned and said, “You really are going to go by yourself?!” I smirked and replied, “I’m not going alone. I’m going with 50,000 of my friends.” I didn’t end up being alone, though. I ended up meeting someone on the plane to Atlanta and he invited me to join his group. I am still friends with them to this day. Again, PLUR at its best. After seeing everyone from around the world representing their countries with flags and costumes, the year before, I decided to have a USA outfit made. The designer did an amazing job!
The next year was the final year for the festival and, yep, I was there. This was the most adventurous year. It even made the news. After an excessive amount of rain, the wet grounds caused transportation issues. Due to certain incidents (there were different reports on what happened) all transportation was shut down for people staying at hotels and everyone was literally left stranded. The police even shut down the road to taxis. Some people slept on the side of the road; some walked miles to the closest public areas to catch a ride. I ended up meeting two great people from Canada and we started down the street. I would say we walked at least 5 miles. Finally they opened the roads and we shared a car back to the hotel. We didn’t get back until around 7 a.m. A lot of people complained about everything that happened but I look at it as a memory I will have forever. As my Canadian friends and I said it, “We survived Cedar Grove Road!” Hey, I have new friends because of it.
I have since joined my festival friends for a couple of trips to Something Wicked, Middlelands, and Sun City Music Festival but my favorite festival experience is definitely TomorrowWorld!
The Deven Times 