written by Ariana Assaf
Snowglobe is adorable. Truly. It makes me feel how I wish the whole holiday season would make me feel…except for decorating a Christmas tree is positively onerous to me and I hate Christmas music.
A five-year-old, mid size festival in a relatively unlikely environment (I may have gone to school in Michigan, but I’m still from California and 40 degrees is cooooold), Snowglobe draws a nice mix of kids who will happily chat to you about their futures in finance while you’re being herded like cattle through the bathroom line, and snowboard bros with the same vocal inflections. Comprised of predominantly electronic acts, the festival features lots of new-wave future bass, a healthy dose of dirty dirty dubstep, and main stage performances perfect for singing along.
I made the 7ish hour drive from LA to Tahoe no problem; many others come from relatively close by as well and forgo expensive flights into Reno or Sacramento in favor of road tripping—just be sure to check road conditions and bring tire chains just in case. There are plenty of accommodation options; most people find hotels/motels/AirBnBs near Heavenly Ski Resort and utilize the official festival shuttle (picks up at Stateline) to get to and from the festival each day. Limited parking is available at the South Lake Tahoe Middle School, about a 10 minute walk away.
Snowglobe pulled off a substantial expansion this year, with the Main Field—where the main stage, Big Air ski jump, and VIP area are located—having doubled in size. The festival stuck with a three-stage layout, but adjusted the design of the Sierra stage to take advantage of the larger area they now have to work with. Lots of bottle-necking tends to occur when making your way to Sierra, so plan ahead and get there early if you want to be able to actually lay eyes on your favorite act. Like last year, the fully enclosed Igloo tent provided a nice break from the snow and slush that will inevitably invade your snow boots…or maybe all my friends and I just have shitty boots? In any event, we wore plastic bags around our feet on the last day.
I had quite a bit of non-festival related excitement going on during Snowglobe weekend, and while I would have loved to make it to StéLouse and RL Grime on day one, the universe had other plans. Fortunately, I made it in plenty of time to realize that I’m no longer as infatuated by The Chainsmokers as I was when I met the group of people I celebrated this New Year’s with at their show over Thanksgiving break last year at The Shrine. That said, the top 40 darlings provided a nice contrast to fresh faced, recent high school graduate Whethan, as did songstress Marian Hill to Pretty Lights prodigy Big Wild. That might not be an entirely accurate way to describe him, but he—along with Chris Karns—was a stellar choice of support for PL’s shows this summer. Other highlights included Dirtybird staple Justin Jay and my favorite discovery of the weekend, Sofi Tuckker, a groovy, Alunageorge-type duo with housier beats who sing in Spanish.
All in all, the weekend felt like a total success. Me and my OG Snowglobe crew—you know who you are, shoutout Brandon for being OK with me still owing him $200 a week after we got back (or at least pretending like he was)—had managed to gather a solid sample of other people we love and herd them up to the mountains for a weekend that ultimately ended in my sister melting over being given a piece of kandi that read “I CHOOSE U,” and deciding she wanted to make her own. Win.