Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and picture your favorite summer camp memories. Maybe you remember canoeing and splashing your friends, giggling so hard that paddles floated away. Maybe you treasure the late-night storytelling, excited faces gathered around a flickering campfire under the stars. Perhaps it’s simply the feeling of the childlike wonder that we all carry deep within us. Maybe you enjoyed nature, or the crafts, or the games and laughs shared with your strangers-turned-friends.
Hold on to whatever that image may be. Maybe you can still feel the breeze from that summer on your arms. We all long for those days, from time to time. Now add in all of your life’s adventures since those days. Sprinkle in your favorite songs. Remember the first time you danced with your friends, and the most recent. Think about the last time you expressed yourself fully, with no reservations.
Where Summer Camp Wonder Meets the Underground
If this caught your attention, we at Electric Hawk would like to introduce you to the upcoming Onset Festival. Cradled among the watercolor fall foliage of Massachusetts, this event is shaping up to be a very special one. From September 18th to 20th, the beautiful Berkshires will be home to a celebration of art, music, and community-building.
Just in time for sweater weather, this is a completely grassroots event focusing on showcasing art forms like aerial silks, fire performers, and of course, a vibrant lineup of independent musicians.
We had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Onset’s very own co-creator, Erica Leh, to get an inside look at the heart of this festival.
Handpicked Sounds for the Onset Experience
The soundtrack to this festival wouldn’t be brought to life without the talented acts playing all weekend long. The lineup is curated with care by about seven people from the Onset team, who are all longtime artists and festival goers themselves!
Bringing his signature styles of future-funk seasoned with bass is none other than the weekend’s headliner, Vincent Antone! He will keep the dancefloor moving and grooving! Performing two sets for the weekend is the Brooklyn-based Supertaste! We are incredibly excited for their disco-fueled maximalist grooves. For those curious about the lower, darker side of this lineup, Jack The Lantern and Aezon will be the sets to catch! This lineup is the honeymoon cabin of funk, groove, and bass. There is a lot of variety from artist-to-artist, which will undoubtedly lead to a weekend of music discovery for everyone! Step outside your niche and find a new favorite!
When asked about the curation process, Erica spoke excitedly about the selection. The team selected artists to play that they have all individually seen perform before, proving that they value the entire experience from a personal view. The lineup is diverse, spanning sounds that are funky and groovy to bass-heavy and darker. The curators put in a lot of heart in bringing out artists that will keep the crowd dancing together all weekend. Each day of the festival is also arranged with intention by set times, so that each set blends seamlessly with the next. From day to night, this lineup is hand-crafted to bring people out of their shells and get curious!
Feel the Culture Through Every Frequency
For the sound-system enthusiasts out there, we cannot emphasize enough that this is a festival born of the culture, by the culture, and for the culture. Onset is organized by folks that love this as much as we do!
All weekend long, Raisin Sound will be providing sound rigs for the inside stage that sound and feel just right. They are a homegrown paraflex soundsystem start-up, founded by Riley Irving, Brian Endres, and Jake Manolt. From a love of DIY sound-system culture, the group focuses on providing that high-fidelity sound we all crave. They particularly value supporting the underground, the independent, and the spaces that care about intentional listening environments. The sound system itself becomes an integrated part of the entire experience, adding sonic brushstrokes to the entire body of art that is the festival.
For the outside stage, Soundz Organic is the sound-supplier. Their core belief is to cultivate healthy and supportive communities through art-fueled experiences. Standing right in alignment with Onset Festival, Soundz Organic operate with intention of fostering belonging and safety alongside the stacks! Providing a platform for expression and creativity to thrive, their stacks are right at home at this festival.
Outside of music, the Onset team has plenty of other ways to enjoy the weekend. As Erica described, Onset is a full experience centered around participation, creation, expression, and perhaps even discovery.
When asked what they hope their attendees feel from this experience, the immediate response was, “A good time with community!” We could feel Erica’s enthusiasm through the phone as she said that the hope is that attendees grow comfortable talking to new people, spend time in nature, and take a moment to breathe and reflect. The goal is to inspire individuals to participate, say “yes,” and create a ripple effect of desire to engage in their own local communities in the same way.
There will be plenty of opportunities to explore! Onset Festival is bringing a unique assortment of activities and surprises for everyone! From a bio-degradable glitter bar, to tarot readings, to yoga, there is a lot to engage with and stay curious about! Kayaking and canoeing await adventurous attendees. Rumor has it there might even be the beloved giant rainbow parachute from some of the best childhood playtimes…
Fire performances and jaw-dropping aerial performances add to the further immersion of the weekend. Aerial performers are a rare treat to get to witness at many events, so this is very special!
The festival grounds are reminiscent of those summer camps from childhood, with cabins and a community dining hall. Sitting right on a gorgeous lake, stargazing all night, and making new friends sounds like the perfect recipe for a festival full of core-memories. What’s a perfect camping weekend without some s’mores toasted by the Onset crew to top it all off?
Every single detail and feature of Onset Festival comes together to make a body of art itself!
We inquired about the specific name of this built-with-love artpiece. Erica explains that it’s a bit of a fun blend of a few meanings. In music terms, “onset” is the beginning of a soundwave, where amplitude rises from zero. In a more poetic lens, “onset” marks the beginning of anything. This independent festival is exactly that, the onset of something growing and building. This is the start of a journey with the goal of coming back someplace new. Onset Festival aims to be the spark that encourages finding the humanity in each day, and being happy getting a little weird with it.
Onset Festival is a beautiful, inspiring melding of those nostalgic summer camp moments and the weird adventure of being an adult all wrapped up in a weekend of music and exploration.
Pack your marshmallows, lanterns, an open heart, and a curious mind. We hope to see you there!
Use Code: HAWK for 10% Off
Stay updated with Onset Festival
Website | Instagram
Stay in touch with Electric Hawk & all our coverage
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Twitch | Radio Show
Looking for new music? Keep up with our weekly Spotify Playlist, Fresh Hunts. Updated every Friday with all the latest releases. Whether it’s the news from Onset Festival, your favorite artists, some old-school, or underground…we just want you to hear it.