Review: Riptide Music Festival Keeps Getting Better!

Riptide Music Festival took Fort Lauderdale beach by storm over the weekend of November 23 and 24. Riptide proved its fourth year in Broward County was bigger and better than before, with headliners such as The Killers, The 1975, and Jimmy Eat World.

For those who are wary of the words "music festival," Riptide proves its possible to have a jam-packed lineup of incredible performers while also having an atmosphere that's fit for all ages! Located at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, the festival featured not only music, but art, fashion, and food.

The art portion of the event allowed for many Instagrammable opportunities for guests, while also showcasing local artists. The event's Underground Village featured interactive and immersive art installations for attendees to enjoy in between performances.

This year, Riptide brought Queer Eye style guru Tan France to host their Underground Fashion Showcases, which brought another layer (pun intended) to the festival. From France giving a Quick Queer Eye transformation to one of the festival staff members to hosting the festival's first-ever fashion show, he proved that even though fashion side of Riptide is new, it was worth participating in!

On the culinary side, of local restaurants and food truck booths lined the entrance, which allowed attendees to enjoy a taste of what Fort Lauderdale has to offer. Riptide also included cooking demonstrations on the Maximus Culinary Stage. The festival had many drink booths, as well, from Aperol to Tito's vodka, giving guests a variety of choices for a beverage to enjoy the beautiful weekend with.

Now for the main event: the music. Riptide Music Festival proved that it won't be going anywhere anytime soon by producing an incredible lineup for the two-day event. Riptide had the main "Sharkwrecked Stage" and secondary "Underground Lauderdale Stage," and it also featured the Ford Blue Lounge, which featured bands and other artists.

Over the weekend, bands like Judah and the Lion and Reel Big Fish took to the Underground stage with high energy sets. The Sharkwrecked Stage saw performances from bands like Silversun Pickups and The Revivalists on Saturday, rounded out by show-stopping sets from The 1975 and The Killers. The latter which featured a lucky 17-year-old fan get on stage and showcase his unbelievable drumming skills during The Killers song "For Reasons Unknown." Sunday saw New Politics, Barns Courtney, and Switchfoot knock it out of the park. The night ended with a killer performance from the British band Catfish and the Bottlemen followed by headliners Jimmy Eat World, who ended the two-day festival with an incredible set!

Riptide Music Festival may be a relatively young festival, but if this year is any indication, it's a force to be reckoned with, and it will just keep coming back bigger and better every year!

To post a comment, you must register and login.