'Benefit of the doubt': Some fans plan to give Elements Festival in Poconos another chance
The northeast's premier electronic dance music and art festival is making a comeback in the Poconos this year, and organizers are laying down some big changes in order to avoid the challenges that plagued the event in 2021.
Starting Thursday, early arrival guests will begin trekking into the Elements Music and Arts Festival's grounds in Long Pond, with the festival officially kicking off the next day. Pocono Raceway will play host to this year's extravaganza, and Elements co-founder Brett Herman described the new venue as "truly a dream come true."
Featuring notable acts like Fisher, Kaskade, Zeds Dead, Sofi Tukker and dozens more, mind-bending art installations and health and wellness programs, Herman noted that the new location will help to alleviate many of the issues that affected attendees' experiences at Camp Lavi in 2021.
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"The venue has been handling crowds that are many times the size of Elements for decades, the grounds are built for large crowds arriving and departing at the same time for the races," Herman said. "Plus there are real bathrooms, the venue is entirely solar powered, and there is tons of on-site parking!"
Among other changes, the Elements website makes mention of car camping for all — "no more shuttles!" — a shorter drive from Philadelphia and New York City, a drainage system, and increased accessibility with multiple paved roads and entrances, and the nearby Pocono Organics, which will help to provide fresh, locally sourced produce for vendors at the festival.
But even with all the conveniences afforded by the raceway grounds, festival-goers will still get to connect with nature, as the stages will be nestled among the nearby woods.
"We are thrilled to host Elements, and we can’t wait for their guests to see the magical space they created on our property," Pocono Raceway President Ben May said.
Elements' 2021 festival, which ran from Sept. 3 through Sept. 6 at the Wayne County grounds following a year off due to COVID-19, included EDM superstars such as Diplo, Griz, CloZee, and more, in addition to the plethora of interactive experiences and art installations.
However, the lead-up to last year's big event was marred by heavy rainfall from Hurricane Ida, leading to muddy grounds, parking problems and difficulty with infrastructure. Long waits to enter the venue area were common, along with complaints concerning lack of access to water, food, and clean restrooms.
"(We've looked at) every issue really — we read every single email from guests and are always striving to improve the guest experience," Herman said. "Last year was extremely challenging due to the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which forced the relocation of off site parking to backup lots. We've had several thunderstorms already here while building the event, and there's barely a puddle left afterwards, thanks to how well the grounds are constructed."
Fans plan to flock back to Elements
While some fans have sworn off the festival after last year's experience — and some have gone so far as to file a $5 million lawsuit against Elements Production, LLC; BangOn!NYC; Tested Contained Retreats, LLC; and Herman and Timothy Monkiewicz — others have opted to give Elements a second chance.
Rhode Island resident and EDM fan Shane Wallerick noted the long wait to get into the 2021 event as a motivator for avoiding future iterations of Elements, as he and his friend only ended up enjoying the show for one full day before leaving early Sunday to avoid another potential traffic jam.
While Wallerick noted that his experience on Saturday was enjoyable — "I loved all the people there, like the vibes were awesome, the music was outstanding, and I really had just an amazing time" — missing out on two-thirds of the festival was a significant letdown.
"It was kind of a disappointment that we only got like, one full day of the festival. And then it turned out that it ended up not being such a huge issue to get out of the parking lot for everyone else, but maybe that's because so many people left on Sunday because they were feeling the same way," Wallerick said, adding that he had no intention of returning to Elements in the future.
But after attending the Firefly Festival in Delaware, which Wallerick said "almost felt too commercial, too polished… too large… much less intimate than the Elements was," and hearing about the changes planned for Elements, he started to reconsider.
And I kind of started thinking, you know, I mean, aside from getting in, I really liked Elements a lot more," Wallerick said. "I still didn't plan on going, but then I heard that they were changing the venue. And then I think I saw the lineup, and I really liked all the artists, so I thought I'd take a chance and go again, and keep my fingers crossed."
Chris Dietrich, who lives in Media, Pennsylvania, will be making his third visit to Elements this year. A seasoned veteran of the festival, Dietrich described his 2021 experience as "excellent" — as long as you came prepared.
"The mayhem that happened, starting Thursday night into Friday, we could kind of see it coming," Dietrich said. "The staff had kind of warned a lot of people ask people to pull in their campsites a little bit, pull their E-Z UP back or take them down. We knew that the hurricane had delayed the construction and the fields are really wet, and so it was kind of an unknown thing going into it. And having experienced Elements before, it's a little rough around the edges, so we just had to prepare, not rely on them for much."
Reflecting upon the problems that permeated the venture for others, Dietrich said he "chalked it up to a few critical infrastructure mistakes, and a little bit of hubris on the part of the organizers."
"But the totality of the experience, the incredible stage presence, the art, the lineup, is some of the best in the northeast, and the total vibes of all the people that come there, historically, from New York City and from Philadelphia and areas in between. It's an experience that doesn't exist really anywhere on the on the East Coast, except for maybe Hulaween down in Florida," Dietrich said.
Tara Parvey will be making a trip from the southeast corner of the commonwealth to Long Pond for her fourth Elements festival this year, even though she did witness the long lines for entry, food, and water, along with accessibility issues.
"We had our own plumbing and showers, and I also brought plenty of food and water, so I wasn't at the mercy of the organizers. I was able to function and not worry about all those other things," Parvey said.Despite her own trip playing out rather well, the struggles that others went through in 2021 planted a seed of doubt about returning for 2022, Parvey said.
Following a public apology statement from the organizers, which Parvey said "seemed genuine," along with the acknowledgement of changes for the future, including the venue, she consdiered giving Elements another shot.
Though the changes and improvements appear to be a step in the right direction, Parvey is concerned that too much upheaval may affect the feel of the festival itself.
"One of the things I love about Elements was its location on those campgrounds, because it gave you the feeling of like, you know, adults at play camp, like we're at summer camp together at a festival. That's what it really felt like," Parvey said. "I don't know if they're going to be able to accomplish that at the raceway. And if they are going more toward this mainstream, commercial, 'Disney World' type festival, then I'm concerned about their ability to pull that off."
Many past attendees have opted to profess their stance on not returning to Elements this year, yet others are excited to give their favorite music and art festival a second chance. With a whole year of planning and numerous changes instituted by Herman and his crew — along with far more favorable weather — fans are amped up for a wild weekend.
"I'm gonna give Elements the benefit of the doubt here and give them another try, because I think they're ramping up rather than backing off, and I want to see them succeed," Dietrich said.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Embattled Elements Festival returns to Poconos, this year at new venue
