The festival will offer versions of its real-life elements through new virtual realms when the event returns from a two-year COVID-19 hiatus this month
by Angela Ufheil for 5280.com
The best music festivals are worlds unto themselves. Burning Man, for example, feels like a Mad Max–esque fever dream, while Coachella is a celebrity-studded carnival.
Since it started in 2006, Sonic Bloom, one of Colorado’s biggest electronic dance music festivals, has cultivated a techno-psychedelic summer camp vibe—and, this year, a trip into the metaverse will solidify that brand.
For the uninitiated, the metaverse is a developing network of 3D worlds that exist on the internet, à la Ready Player One. Like the characters in the 2018 sci-fi film, users can don goggles and explore virtual realms, where they interact with others.
The ever-expanding metaverse has long fascinated Annie Phillips, a Denver artist who, in 2019, designed metaversal replicas of her RiNo digital-art gallery, IRL Art, so customers could virtually peruse the exhibition space on different platforms.
“People look at the metaverse as checking out of reality,” Phillips says, “but it’s a cool way to still experience art and feel connected to a community.”