@VibeWithAde here to tell you all about my weekend at Freaky Deaky 2019. All the ghouls and spooky kings and queens headed down to Houston, Texas for Freaky Deaky this Halloween weekend. This event was previously called Something Wicked which was what I first attended in 2017. So technically this was my third time attending this festival and it's definitely my favorite so far... A new venue, five stages, a maze and two days of insane fun.
We traveled from Austin to Houston on the day of the festival. Freaky Deaky was held at Houston Raceway which was the first time they used this venue. New venues can always be a challenge to navigate, to see how they transform the space and facing issues like mud, traffic, security, etc. This was also my first time being in VIP for Freaky Deaky and it was a treat, to say the least. Here’s how it all went down for the Freaky Deaky fam.
This was the most decorated and themed the festival has ever been and I was so excited to see what they had done with the venue. They added more decor, more live performers, and the stage production was the best they’ve ever done. They had a maze in the middle of the festival and a Freaky Deaky sign to take fun photos at. Both had super long lines so we decided to skip these to catch some of our favorite sets. One thing I love about raving in Texas is that the Texas rave fam has the most welcoming crowds. We headbanged and shuffled with new friends all weekend long.
With five stages, it can be super overwhelming at first since the venue was double the size of the old venue; however, it was super easy to get from set to set. The Shrine had headliners like Rezz, Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren and even house music on day 1 with Walker & Royce b2b Shiba San and Malaa. The Big Top was where I bounced around all weekend featuring house artists from Lane 8, Green Velvet, AC Slater, and Yotto. The Crypt featured the heavy hitter bass artists like Ganja White Night, Space Jesus, and BTSM. Haunted Hollow was a new addition this year featuring drum and bass artists like Delta Heavy and hardstyle artists like Da Tweekaz and Lady Faith. Finally, The Rising stage featured local and up-and-coming talent. This was such a diverse lineup that played to everyone’s different music tastes.
My only issue was sound bleed was very real between the stages. I could be at the house stage, Big Top, and hear the beats of the Shrine stage not too far or hear the heavy bass coming from The Crypt. I hope that if they keep this venue they can resolve this issue for next year. Another not-so-fun festival moment with this new venue was the issue of getting home. We lucked out by driving and leaving early each night, but I know some other ravers had some very real issues getting home. Nonetheless, we kept the good vibes going all weekend long.
Out of all the festivals I attend, I look forward to the outfits at Freaky Deaky the most. It is so fun to see what everyone does to bring out their best Halloween looks. Everyone is dressed up in some sort of way whether it’s a meme costume, group costume, ravey Halloween costume or decked out spooky look, I love seeing everyone’s creative spins on their festival outfits. I also loved seeing people decked out in their Vibedration packs seeing the Vibe Tribe frolicking all around the festival (be sure to tag @vibedration in your pics from this weekend!). I wore a spider queen look for day one and did a disco is dead look for day two which was probably my favorite outfit I’ve ever worn to a festival.
With such a diverse lineup featuring artists a lot of artists I’ve already seen and ones I haven’t, I really just let the music and the vibes take me where my group and I wanted to go. If I was feeling like shuffling, I could go over to Big Top stage, if I wanted to head-bang, I’d go to The Crypt and if we were taking a break we could chill in the back of The Shrine stage. Having this flexibility was so nice and leaving day one I didn’t really have any standout sets that blew me away since we were going from set to set, but I was still grooving along.
Day two brought the house heat for me and I was in heaven. My favorite of the whole weekend was Phlegmatic Dogs b2b Volac where a huge shuffle meet-up was in the back and I got to see so many of my friends. The rest of the night had heavy hitters like Chris Lorenzo, AC Slater and Green Velvet, which we balanced out with some bass sets like BTSM, Kill the Noise and Ganja White Night. We also caught a little bit of Armin van Buuren and Martin Garrix because you can't go wrong with these names and it was so rare to have them on a Texas lineup.
My third Freaky Deaky was one for the books. I took a break this weekend from curating content for my YouTube channel and just totally lived in the moment. When I first went to this festival in 2017, I went by myself and made tons of friends. This year felt like I was commemorating how I’ve been able to build a community of solid friends in Texas. Everywhere I turned I was greeted by a friend and it felt great to feel like I’ve made this place my home. Being present and just enjoying good times with good company was much needed. I hope this gives you a view of how great Freaky Deaky 2019 was! For more Freaky Deaky advice, you can find me on Instagram @vibewithade and find more festival content on my website and YouTube channel. I can't wait to vibe with you at Freaky Deaky 2020!
