Desert Hearts, held on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation, began in November 2012 and has firmly established itself as the antithesis to other popular, modern festivals. The founders admit to basing the event on other more established festivals such as Burning Man or Lightening in a Bottle, but on a smaller scale in order to create a more intimate atmosphere.
The animus of the four-day event, where the music never stops, is born from the lack of basic amenities such as running water, power sources, cell phone reception (organisers held their own satellite phones for emergencies); there was a strict no readmission policy so one had to commit to the experience and forgo modern amenities for four days.
The atmosphere created is therefore incredibly tight-knit which works when there are only 3000 people in attendance; people just seemed friendlier than your usual festival-goer and they were there to fully experience the festival mantra of ‘House, Techno and Love’. It is easy to totally disconnect from the outside world for this long weekend and it was noticeable the lack of people on their phones: no selfies and no snapchat in this remote part of California desert.

Obviously the music is the main draw for most and the Funktion One sound system does not disappoint during the 72 hours of continuous music. The vibe in the morning sets was more mellow and chill, then as the afternoon rolled around the funk increased noticeably (Super Flu were a personal highlight), and as the cold nightfall approached the techno became deeper and deeper (Extrawelt on the opening night were very popular), until sunrise dawned and the whole cycle began again. The presence of only one stage adds to the intimacy – you don’t have festival go-ers comparing artists whose set times clash and one committed family grooves in front of the same DJ.
Non-exclusivity was a huge part of the festival vibe and as such there was no security to stop people dancing on stage behind the DJ, or even on top of the speakers. It was often in the smaller details that this togetherness was reinforced: from the DH necklaces (dispensed at the price of one hug) or the fact that every wristband had VIP on it – no superior tickets holders or restricted access areas. Intimate is the only way to describe the atmosphere and the festival slogan of ‘One stage; one vibe; one love’ rung true for the duration of the event. A big shout must be made to the DH crew who were running the Saturday set list and provided streams of fire and entertainment – their passion of music and for the festival itself was so evident and created an incredible vibe in the chilly desert night.

To focus solely on the music, however, would be to miss much of the essence of the festival. Beyond the house and techno was a continuous presentation of performers, yoga and live art. The scenery on this small festival sight was intricate, extravagant and vibrant so attendees really felt that they had gone down the rabbit hole and entered into wonderland. As Lee Reynolds pointed out in a previous interview with WWD, there was more art on show than at any other festival of comparable size – this included a vast landscape painting which was illuminated by lights all night with seats permanently faced towards it. At the same time it never felt overwhelming, due to the small nature of the event. A Connect 4 tournament board, (with some strategists displaying remarkable skill considering sobriety levels) and a table tennis table were located on the edge of the dance floor and were regularly being made use of. Sofas on the edge of the dance floor meant that you could relax and enjoy the music – something that was essential at times considering the relentless and perpetual nature of the music – but added to the stress-free vibe that was so contagious.

DH stresses ‘radical self-reliance’, a necessity given the lack of running water, so it was a welcome surprise the delicious food that was available to buy (falafel and asada fries were supreme); food trucks adorned the middle of the festival site amongst vendors of all manner of clothes, jewellery and odd-things that any budding alchemist would need. Having said that, money was of little necessity given the general feeling of the festival people. Rarely have I been in such a charitable, selfless place for such a sustained period of time (a special thank you to the man distributing ice-cream sandwiches on Saturday morning). The free bar on the edge of the dance floor was one of the more obvious symbols of this but perhaps the most lasting impression in my mind from the weekend was the efficiency of the tidy-up operation.

‘Leave no trace’ was continually spoken and heard during the weekend – goers were required to clean up after themselves and leave the Indian Reservation in the same way that they found it – but when departing in the mid-afternoon on Monday it was incredible to see how much this was taken to heart. There were no cans, cigarette buts or plastic bags to be seen, everyone had binned their waste and taken it to the professionally hired trash disposal men working at the entrance to the festival, therefore impossible not to pass on your way out.
Desert Hearts will continue to flourish and attract a greater audience but will maintain its core values of good music and charitable people. Seldom does a festival leave such an impact on the goer beyond the quality of music but this one does not disappoint. It was possible to be a little intimidated as a younger participant of the heavy ‘hippy’ vibe but the reality was so welcoming and crazy and enjoyable that it is easy to realise why people are returning year in year out to this staple of So Cal Techno festival.
Words by Tom Whitley
Photo Credit: Juliana Bernstein / Get Tiny Photography