If there was one advantage to the cooler weather, it was the opportunity to sleep in. If only our anticipation of what was ahead would have allowed it.
Instead, we set out to explore. Partly to get our bearings, and partly because we were curious what Hulaween looked like on a Friday morning before the music really got going.
We’d planned to catch Bike Club with OPIUO, one of the festival’s Hula Hangs activities. Unfortunately, in our haste to put together our schedule, we’d overlooked one rather important detail. It was an actual bike ride. As in, bring your own bicycle and ride it. We’d somehow imagined something a little more virtual. Who knew in this the year of our lord, 2026?
Since the group was headed to the river, we figured we might as well go that way ourselves.
We missed the bike ride, but what we found was an entire scene unto itself. Hundreds of festivalgoers stretched along the sandy riverbank. Some were swimming, beach balls sailed overhead, and a DJ provided the soundtrack. It was a full-blown beach party tucked away from the stages and something we need to make more time to enjoy next year!
After a winding trek through Hulaween’s massive campgrounds, we eventually meandered back toward the stages, arriving just in time for Karina Rykman.
We’d spotlighted Rykman ahead of the festival following the release of her sophomore album, Late Checkout, which explores everything from bright indie rock to heavier, guitar-driven sounds. Her bass playing is a big part of what makes her music so distinctive, but it’s her infectious enthusiasm onstage that really brings it all together.
Even the heavier moments couldn’t compete with Rykman’s seemingly endless energy. She bounced around the stage with the determination of someone who had personally decided that every single person in the crowd was going to have a good time, whether they liked it or not. And frankly, we weren’t about to argue. It was exactly the jolt we needed for an early afternoon set. Of course, only at a music festival would anyone consider 3:15 p.m. early.
From there, we booked it over to Spirit Lake, where Serenity with Steller was already getting underway. It was our first real opportunity to explore the area, and even in broad daylight, there was almost too much to take in. Art installations, elaborate stage designs, and unexpected little spaces filled the wooded landscape. Everywhere we looked, something else caught our attention. And this was before the sun had even gone down. We had no idea just how much more was waiting for us.
At the Incendia Stage, with its striking geometric dome structures, we found a much calmer scene than its appearance might suggest. People lounged on couches or settled onto the ground beneath the trees as Steller led a session focused on mindfulness, reflection, and journaling. Some listened quietly while others put pen to paper. Afterward, Steller stayed to speak individually with anyone who wanted to talk about the experience. It was a remarkably personal moment in the middle of a festival that, just the night before, had been rattling our bones with bass.
We also got our first glimpse of the House of Lost, one of Spirit Lake’s more intriguing attractions. But we’d have plenty more to say about that later.
Then it was time for the first of many performances by the band that brought everyone together in the first place: The String Cheese Incident.
More than just the festival’s host band, String Cheese is the musical foundation of Hulaween. Their adventurous approach to live performance, willingness to wander between musical styles, and decades-long relationship with their fans have helped shape the festival into what it is today. For many in attendance, the opportunity to catch multiple Cheese sets over the weekend is reason enough to make the trip to Suwannee.
Their first Friday set demonstrated that versatility, opening with “Star” before moving into the sprawling “Best Feeling,” a longtime collaboration with Keller Williams. From there, the band worked through “Johnny Cash,” “Close Your Eyes,” and “Get Tight,” eventually closing with “Way Back Home” and “Desert Dawn.” The extended arrangements gave the musicians plenty of room to explore, while the crowd seemed perfectly content to follow wherever the music went.
It was a reminder that while Hulaween has grown into a sprawling celebration of electronic music, art, and seemingly endless surprises, String Cheese remains at the center of it all.
After String Cheese, we headed back to camp with the entirely reasonable intention of sitting down and having something to eat. Ironically, we were snacking on actual string cheese when the unmistakable sound of someone absolutely throwing down reached us from the festival grounds.
That someone was AK SPORTS.
The Australian DJ wasn’t even on our schedule, but what started as a quick investigation turned into one of Friday’s most exciting discoveries. We abandoned our plans for a leisurely meal, grabbed our food, and headed back toward the music.
At the DEF Off Limits Stage, AK SPORTS was delivering a relentless barrage of hard techno, with pounding beats and a pace that barely allowed room to catch our breath. As dusk settled over the grounds, the full extent of the stage’s production began to reveal itself. Lights flashed, lasers cut through the gathering darkness, and bursts of fire erupted around the stage, adding another layer of intensity to an already explosive performance.
We hadn’t planned to see AK SPORTS at all, yet once we got there, we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave. Even knowing OPIUO was already getting underway at the Amphitheatre, we stayed until the final beat. Sometimes the best festival discoveries are the ones that completely derail your schedule.
By the time we reached the Amphitheatre, OPIUO was already well into his set. The New Zealand-born, Australia-based producer combines funk, psychedelia, and plenty of bass, bringing a different kind of energy to the electronic scene with grooves that invite movement rather than relying entirely on hard-hitting drops.
LYNY followed, shifting things toward the heavier side of bass music. Known for his blend of trap and dubstep, the producer drew a sizable crowd as darkness settled over the Amphitheatre.
By then, the venue had taken on a life of its own. A glow rose from the crowd below, lasers cut through the trees, and the silhouettes of hundreds of people danced beneath the branches. From above, it was a striking sight, with the lights and movement transforming the wooded Amphitheatre into something that felt worlds away from the sunny festival grounds we’d explored earlier that day.
My Morning Jacket
And then came My Morning Jacket.
We’ve seen the band countless times over the years, but we’re not sure we’ve ever seen them quite like this. In fact, we’d go so far as to call it the best My Morning Jacket performance we’ve experienced. And considering we’d recently declared Gorillaz the runaway favorite for our set of the year, that’s saying something.
Scheduled for a staggering two and a half hours, the performance may well have gone longer. We honestly couldn’t tell you. Nobody was checking their watch, and nobody seemed particularly concerned about what time it was.
From the opening notes of Jim James’ “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)” through an expansive set that included “Circuital,” “Gideon,” “Dondante,” “Wordless Chorus,” and “Off the Record,” the band demonstrated exactly why its live performances have earned such a devoted following. There was plenty of room for the extended instrumental passages that have become a hallmark of their shows, but the performance never lost its momentum.
The covers alone could have made for an impressive evening. Marvin Gaye’s “Baby Don’t You Do It,” Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane,” and Sly & the Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” all found their way into the set, along with a particularly adventurous closing stretch that included the Grateful Dead’s “Franklin’s Tower” and Radiohead’s “The National Anthem,” featuring Karina Rykman on bass.
And then there were the lasers. So many lasers. We’d joked Thursday night that the reason we’d seen so few throughout the evening was that Excision had stolen them all. Apparently, My Morning Jacket had managed to get their hands on an even bigger supply. Beams swept across the sky, transforming an already spectacular performance into an enormous visual experience. And yet, somehow, the production never overshadowed the music. It simply made everything feel that much bigger.
By the time “Mahgeetah” brought the night to a close, we were left wondering how a band we’d seen so many times could still manage to surprise us this much. We’d arrived at Hulaween expecting some extraordinary performances. We just hadn’t expected My Morning Jacket to make such a convincing argument for the best of the entire weekend.
Spirit Lake After Dark
After My Morning Jacket, we headed back toward the DEF Off Limits Stage for one of the night’s secret sets. Presumably, there was a schedule floating around somewhere, but the performances were secret enough that we had absolutely no idea who was behind the decks. Whoever it was, the heavy beats provided a fitting soundtrack as we wandered deeper into Spirit Lake.
We’d gotten our first look at the area earlier that afternoon, but after dark, it was an entirely different world. Trees glowed in brilliant colors, witches lurked among the strange sights, and elaborate projections brought the lake itself to life. Images danced across the water, transforming the landscape into something that seemed to exist somewhere between a dream and a particularly elaborate Halloween fantasy.
Every turn revealed something new, and with music echoing through the trees, it was difficult to know where to look next. We’d been impressed by Spirit Lake in daylight. At night, we finally began to understand why people talk about it as one of Hulaween’s defining experiences.
We made a stop at the Incendia Stage, where some damn fine house music had us dancing for a while, but something kept drawing us back to DEF Off Limits. Finally, determined to solve the mystery of who was performing, we took matters into our own hands.
We spotted someone who was so completely absorbed in the music that we figured they had to know who was playing. We asked, and without the slightest hesitation, our new acquaintance confidently confirmed that they did.
“That guy,” they replied, pointing toward the DJ onstage.
No matter. Whoever “that guy” was, we were having a fantastic time. It wasn’t until the following morning that we learned we’d been watching Of The Trees b2b LYNY.
Thursday had introduced us to Hulaween’s music, but Friday was when we really began to understand the festival itself. From an unexpected beach party and quiet moments beneath the trees to a showstopping My Morning Jacket performance and late-night adventures through Spirit Lake, we’d barely scratched the surface of what Suwannee had to offer.
And somehow, we still had two days to go.