Superfly tailors each of its festivals to their host cities. Just as Outside Lands’ San Francisco-styled putt-putt golf course wouldn’t make sense in Manchester, Tenn. — the site of Superfly’s other—mega festival, Bonnaroo — the fun and art features at—Denver’s Sept. 2018 event won’t be an exact copy-paste of Phoenix’s Lost Lake.
But it’s also a shame, because Superfly’s brand new Lost Lake music festival, which took place in Phoenix Oct. 20-22, was inspired. From Burning Man art installations to fun takes on familiar lawn games,—the festival was a wellspring of imagination.
Below are five things we saw at Lost Lake that we hope come to Superfly’s as-yet-untitled Denver festival in 2018.
1. Oversized yard games
If you ever wondered what it would be like to play a game of pool on a 56-foot-long pool table, Lost Lake was way ahead of you. From its bowling-and-billiards mash-up to the door-sized wickets of Colossal Croquet, the festival’s Lost Playground section turned familiar events on their heads (and over yours).
“What we’re doing with the—games, that’s art,” said Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly. “There’s a specific thing we’re trying to draw out — that sense of child wonderment and play.”
2. Weirdly wonderful art installations
If Lost Lake’s games were like art, its actual art was just as much fun. Superfly contracted entertainment curator Walter Productions — a mainstay at Burning Man, Nevada’s radical art gathering — to help outfit the festival with giant art cars and other interactive installations. Throughout the weekend, attendees clambered into “Walter The Bus,” a 2:1-sized re-creation of a vintage Volkswagen bus, and “Big Red,” a plus-sized Volkswagen Beetle. Each were tricked out with thousands of LED lights that flicked on after dark, rendering each a mean selfie machine. Artist Ela Lamblin’s “Inter-species Communication” was another highlight: a giant steel bird that attendees could control by pulling down on a rope attached to its wings.
3. A transformative experience
Half of Lost Lake’s visual wonderland didn’t come to light until it was dark. After nightfall, the art and natural landscape around the park lit up, making the park look scarcely recognizable. Superfly enlisted Andi Watson, Radiohead’s lighting and set designer, to accent the festival’s natural features and create surprising set pieces as it transitioned from day to night. It’s an effect Farman said he plans to carry over when Superfly launches its festival in Denver next year.
4. Splashy headliners and top local artists (sometimes all at once)
Chance The Rapper, ODESZA, Huey Lewis and the News — Lost Lake brought big names from all walks of life to Phoenix. It also gave seven local bands the chance to play to the hundreds of festival attendees that got there early enough to hear them. On Saturday, it did one better, hosting a Super Jam, a Bonnaroo-born tradition that lumps performers from its bands together to collaborate on a one-of-a-kind set. During the set, Phoenix singer Luna Aura got the chance to rub elbows with Huey Lewis, Calexico and The Dap Kings, among others.
5. Surprise, surprise
Drunk frat boys, long lines for overpriced food — Lost Lake fit the bill for the average music festival in many ways. But like a good first date, it didn’t give its charms away. Each day brought a different surprise that required you to be in the right place at the right time. There was a face-painting pop-up for an hour on Friday; and Native American performances in—a miniature amphitheater in honor of the festival’s host, the Phoenix Indian School, throughout the weekend. Using an app, the festival sent out alerts when these pop-up events occurred. (It took two whole days before I stumbled on a sprawling section of shuffleboard, volleyball and other park games tucked behind the festival’s eponymous lake.)
The thing about these right-time, right-place surprises: Not everyone gets to see them. Pity those who missed metal flowers in the middle of the lake, for example, that shot fire in the sky (except for the ducks on the lake, which were the least pleased and most surprised).
“That (sense of) discovery, a surprise, a really cool place to hang out — I feel comfortable in saying you’re going to see that (in Denver),”—said David Erlich, a representative from the festival.
