Electric Gardens Sydney: Hula dancers, leotards, fishnet stockings, fluorescent disco sticks and a tonne of glitter-covered festival-goers

Electric Gardens Festival lit up Centennial Park in Sydney , Australia last weekend as the 3rd annual festival blasted the city. More than 11,000 partygoers danced for up to ten hours to an impressive line-up of internationally-acclaimed electronic artists as well as a plethora of homegrown talents. The godfather of electronica Fat Boy Slim, Nicole Moudaber, Gorgon City, Kilter and DubFire were just some of the DJ’s and Producers that played across the four stages, one of which was in collaboration with one of the temples of dance music culture, Circoloco.

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Electric Gardens Sydney is still a fairly young event since debuting in 2016, however, the smoothly-run dancefest is one well-oiled machine. Fuelled by progressive techno and house music, one would think the festival is a recipe for chaos, yet I have to say that the event organisers have mastered the skill of putting on an epic day of back-to-back bangers.

Two thrill-seeking carnival rides and a silent disco also ran throughout the day while VIP ticket holders had access to a closed-off Garden Party area decked out in bohemian tents, backyard games, a professional hair and makeup bar, canapes and a couple of complimentary drinks. On top of that, not only were festival goers given a cashback scheme with finished beverage cans but there were also minimal lines to bars and bathrooms and plenty of food choices, beverage selection and good vibes.

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Musically-speaking, there was a range of stand out performances at Electric Gardens. It is never an easy feat to play at the beginning of a festival, however, the underdog of the day Willaris. K certainly took his set to the next level. The Triple J Unearthed artist from North New South Wales Coast is best known for his hit banger ‘Alchemy’ and he bought a passion to the stage that ignited the tent, proving that it pays to arrive at any festival early. His dark sultry modern techno definitely shows signs of a new era in electronica.

Over on the main stage, an absolute remix-house legend played in the late afternoon. Known as a pivotal figure in the mainstream and underground dance-club world for the past twenty years,  Armand van Helden pumped old school tunes including ‘Music sounds better with you’ and ‘Bonkers’ featuring Dizzee Rascal.

The Beyonce of the techno world, Nicole Moudaber has been referred to as one of “the most underrated DJ in the world” by Carl Cox and she has performed at iconic events all over the globe, including Europe’s Tomorrowland. Her two-hour set of rebellious, worldly beats and deep techno melodies was accompanied by a dimming crimson sky with a silhouette of bats flying over the forest skyline. It was magic.

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Seasoned raver Fat Boy Slim headlined the main stage once darkness fell. Dressed in his signature Hawaiian shirt, the world-renowned Brit DJ and Producer surprised the crowd by adding snippets of his classic songs ‘Right Here, Right Now’, ‘Praise You’ and ‘The Rockafeller Skank’ into new remixes, enticing the crowd with a sense of 90’s nostalgia. His psychedelic light and graphics production created a sense of dancefloor euphoria which tripped out even the soberest attendees. As he played into the balmy summer night massive images of face warps, zooming torsos and a rainbow of colours played above him. All and all, a colourful end to an absolute colourful day.