Beyond Wonderland has been a famous festival on the West Coast for years. Held in both Southern California and at The Gorge in Washington, Beyond Wonderland just expanded to the Midwest for the first time. Beyond Wonderland Chicago had its inaugural year from June 1-2, 2024, at Northerly Island in Chicago.
Heatwave Festival was held at the same venue at a similar time last year. Chicago-based Auris Presents partnered with Insomniac Events to expand the event significantly in 2024 to create Beyond Wonderland Chicago. It’s the first Insomniac event in the Chicagoland area since EDC Chicago in 2013, and likely the start of more collaborations in the future.
The weather at Beyond Wonderland Chicago was a huge part of the weekend. Day one was a rainy, windy day, with the rain never quite stopping despite what the forecast predicted. This resulted in the entire venue getting covered in mud. The areas around the stages were mostly okay, but walking throughout the venue was a struggle.
However, the festival was still a successful one by all counts. Separated into four stages, Beyond Wonderland Chicago used the entirety of the Huntington Bank Pavilion venue and the surrounding Northerly Island area. If it wasn’t for the mud, the festival would’ve been extremely easy to navigate. The layout still worked well though, and the stages were separated nicely.
Queen’s Domain, the main stage, hosted some of the biggest names in the scene like Tiesto, Kaskade, Diplo, and RL Grime. Some of our favorite sets at this stage came from Wax Motif and Alesso. It was on the grounds of a permanent amphitheater area with both VIP and GA seating options. Queen’s Domain definitely met the expectations that come with a festival main stage, and this is where we spent most of our time at the event.
On the other side of Wonderland was Mad Hatter’s Castle, which mostly hosted dubstep and bass artists. SVDDEN DEATH and MARAUDA played the some of the stage’s heaviest sets next to performances from Dimension, Habstrakt, Rezz, and Apashe. There was also Cheshire Woods, a stage that hosted a mix of all genres. Day one featured artists like Audien b2b Jason Ross and Trivecta, while day two had Of The Trees, Daily Bread, and Maddy O’Neal.
The fourth stage, Caterpillar’s Garden, was the house and techno stage. The bright and detailed decor under a tent structure was reminiscent of the elrow tent at ARC Music Festival. The vibes at Caterpillar’s Garden made it easy to stay at the house tent for several sets.
There are high expectations that come with an Insomniac event. Beyond Wonderland Chicago was a very well run first year festival and shows tremendous promise for the future of the city’s scene. Since the departure of the once famous Spring Awakening Music Festival, there has not been a go-to EDM fest during the summer months in Chicago. Beyond Wonderland is here to change that.
There really aren’t many complaints when it comes to Beyond Wonderland Chicago 2024. The audio and visual production was impressive, and there were art installations, amusement park rides, onsite characters and performers, merchandise vendors, and other interesting additions to the festival grounds.
We can’t wait to see what the Beyond Wonderland experience is like in 2025. Weather in Chicago is always unpredictable, but let’s hope the festival gods bless Beyond Wonderland with better weather next year. It will be an even better experience once we can comfortably walk around the festival without worrying about losing our shoes in the mud.
Overall, Beyond Wonderland Chicago was a very satisfying two day event. The music, vibes, and venue all resulted in a fun festival weekend. Northerly Island is a difficult location to access, but it’s still a nice spot considering the recent difficulty of securing outdoor venues in the Chicago City Limits. With bikes, ride shares, public transportation, and parking lots, there are plenty of transportation options to Northerly Island that get easier to handle after going to a few shows there.
We’ll definitely be attending Beyond Wonderland Chicago next summer. It fills a void that has been in the Chicago festival scene since the pandemic. Let’s hope this is just the start of a successful partnership between Auris Presents and Insomniac Events with many more new and improved festival weekends still to come.
Photos: Beyond Wonderland Chicago
Story: @michael__premier
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