In the midst of widespread vaccination efforts across the United States, fans of dance music are now seeing event and festival plans tentatively firm up daily. Amongst those events, Austin based organizers are preparing to hold a limited capacity 3.3 edition of Seismic Dance Event across three dates, May 21, 22 and 23. One of the more boutique festivals in the country, with a striking lineup geared towards aficionados of techno and house, the event will be the first of its niche to deliver some of the genre's top talent back to performing in the US.
Providing much needed relief to fans eagerly awaiting a reunion on the dancefloor, the lineup is a breath of fresh air to fans of underground music. “We’re so excited to finally reveal the Seismic Dance Event 3.3 lineup that we've worked so hard on,” says RealMusic Events co-founder Andrew Parsons. “ It is our best yet and should help our fans dance out all their frustrations from the past year.” Exciting international bookings bless the lineup, including techno power couple Charlotte De Witt and Enrico Sangiuliano, Nicole Moudaber, a slew of Afterlife label staples such as Artbat, Mathame, Stephen Bodzin, Woo York, hard techno heavyweights like Spektre, and Anjuna beloved Ben Böhmer. North American deliveries include the likes of Richie Hawtin, tech-house giants Claude VonStroke, Tchami, Kyle Watson and The Martinez Brothers. These are only a few of the many notable names on this massive lineup, with a full list available on their website and viewable in the Seismic 3.3 lineup video.
While many might see even a spring festival with at most 2,500 fans in attendance as skeptical, organizers of Seismic and RealMusic Events have implemented reasonable and attainable guidelines for attendee safety, inclusive of daily check in screenings, strict mask enforcement, touch-point hand wash and sanitizing stations alongside a pod-style format, where attendees file into a spacious, limited capacity pod at each stage with personnel assigned to each pod to enforce social distancing and the mask requirement. Other pod-style events have been executed successfully and safely, documented with higher capacities than 2,500 with Seismic set to follow suit in accordance CDC, the state of Texas and Austin local guidelines. The festival will be taking place on a 7-acre, outdoor property in close proximity to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport for ease of access to both Austin locals and those choosing to visit from out of state. With a preliminary virus safety plan in place, more details to provide further reassurance are soon to come with a finalized COVID-19 safety plan.
Organizers have reasonably acknowledged potential changes to the event schedule given the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, with dates already set for a Fall 4.0 festival planned come November 12, 13, and 14. These November dates are the already assured fallback in the event of viral surge and tightening restrictions. Fortunately cases continue to go down nationwide and vaccination rates rise, eliciting further confidence by both organizers and hopeful attendees that the festival will indeed take place in Austin at the end of May.
With a day-by-day lineups to be announced in the week ahead, both weekend passes and single-day tickets for Seismic Dance Event are available in General Admission and VIP capacities. Details on tickets and payment options can be further explored on the events website. Stay tuned to the socials below for up to date info on developments as we approach the dates end of May.