Escape: Psycho Circus is an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

music festival held in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

around Halloween. It is one of

Insomniac Events Insomniac (formerly Insomniac Events) is an American electronic music event promoter and music distributor. Founded by Pasquale Rotella, it is the organizer of various music festivals, including its flagship electronic music festival Electric Da ...

music festivals, running annually since 2011. There are Halloween walk-through mazes, themed stages, and costumed performers. Genres include

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

, house, dance,

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aok ...

, drum and bass,

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, dance-punk,

hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and hardcore. Early hardstyle was typically written at 140 BPM (''bea ...

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

, and more. Stages that have been hosted by the event include Insomniac's brands: Audiotistic, Basscon, Bassrush, and Factory 93. Stages have also been hosted by artists such as

Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He beca ...

's ENTER., Jamie Jones presents Paradise,

Laidback Luke Lucas Cornelis van Scheppingen (born 22 October 1976), better known under his stage name Laidback Luke, is a Dutch DJ and music producer. He notably remixed the Robin S. song, " Show Me Love" which charted at No. 11 on the UK charts in 2009. He ...

's Super You & Me, and

Nicole Moudaber Nicole Moudaber is a Lebanese/British event promoter, record label founder, radio personality, and DJ/ producer. She is the head of her own imprint MOOD Records and runs an award-winning weekly radio show, In The MOOD. Biography Nicole Moud ...

's MOODzone. The event was originally named Escape from Wonderland, but was later changed to Escape: Psycho Circus. The event is centered around Halloween and traditional horror themes.

History

2011

The festival debuted in 2011 under the name "Escape From Wonderland". It was held by Insomniac Events at the National Orange Show Event Center (or NOS Event Center) in San Bernardino, CA, featuring artists;

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), better known as Afrojack, is a Dutch DJ, music producer and remixer from Spijkenisse, South Holland. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album '' Forget the Worl ...

Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ, record producer and remixer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career ...

Cedric Gervais Cédric DePasquale (, born 7 June 1979), better known by his stage name Cedric Gervais (), is a French DJ, record producer and actor residing in Miami Beach, Florida. In 2013, he produced a remix of Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness", for whic ...

, and

Crizzly Christopher Lee Marshall, better known by his stage name Crizzly, is a DJ, and music production, producer. Currently based in Austin, Texas, he began DJing in 2010, developing a style that incorporates dubstep, crunk, hyphy, drumstep, and Trap mus ...

2012

For Escape's second year, they returned to the NOS Event Center in Southern California.

2013

Escape From Wonderland took place in the

San Manuel Amphitheater The Glen Helen Amphitheater (originally Blockbuster Pavilion and formerly Hyundai Pavilion and San Manuel Amphitheater) is a 65,000-capacity amphitheater located in the hills of Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California. It is the l ...

in Southern California, .

2014

In 2014, the festival adopted the name ''Escape: All Hallows Eve'' and returned to the NOS Events Center in Southern California.

2015

For 2015, Escape Halloween's theme was ''Escape: Psycho Circus.'' It was hosted in the NOS Events Center in Southern California. The lineup included Adam Auburn,

Eric Prydz Eric Sheridan Prydz (, ; born 19 July 1976), also known by his many aliases including Pryda () and Cirez D (), is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He rose to fame with his 2004 hit single " Call on Me", and saw continued chart success with " Pr ...

Joris Voorn Joris Voorn (; born 25 February 1977 in Tilburg) is a Dutch DJ and record producer who lives in Amsterdam. Voorn is the co-owner of the Amsterdam-based labels Rejected (with Edwin Oosterwal) and Green. Biography A DJ competition in Enschede star ...

, and

Paul Van Dyk Matthias Paul (; born 16 December 1971), known professionally as Paul van Dyk () is a German DJ, record producer and musician. One of the first true renowned DJs, van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy Award nomination in the newly a ...

amongst many others. 2016 For 2016, Escape returned with the theme ''Psycho Circus'' to the NOS Center and hosted Yellow Claw, The Chainsmokers,

Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 ...

, Armin van Buuren, and

Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-first on its 20 ...

among others. This is the first year

's ENTER. did not host the Cannibals' Tea Party, techno stage.

2017

Escape: Psycho Circus took place at the NOS Events Center in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

featuring Tiesto,

DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is an Algerian French music producer and DJ, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called "Turn Do ...

, NGHTMRE,

Marshmello Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His songs "Silence", "Wolves", "Friends", " Happier", and " Alone" have been certified multi-platinum in several ...

, and more. Audiotistic hosted a stage and Basscon brought hardstyle to the Halloween party. Bassrush hosted The Chopping Block for two nights. Factory 93 hosted both nights at the Cannibals' Tea Party with Jamie Jones presented Paradise on and

's MOODzone.

General event information

The event is held at the National Orange Show event center in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 ce ...

. The event center holds four main stage tents. The four stages at this event are the Slaughterhouse, Ghouls' Graveyard, The Chopping Block, and Cannibal's Tea Party. Along with the performance stages, the center holds mazes and art galleries that are tied into the Halloween-themed atmosphere.

Community

Since 2011, Insomniac has worked with a charity in the San Bernardino area. They allocate $1 per ticket transaction and $10 per guest list attendee. Below are a few of the charities that Insomniac has worked with in the past few years: Brent Shapiro Foundation Starting in 2005, Brent Shapiro Foundation works to bring awareness to alcohol and drug dependency. San Bernardino Sheriff’s PRCA Pro Rodeo San Bernardino Sheriff’s PRCA Pro Rodeo, started in 1957, hosts a rodeo and hopes to foster a better relationship between law enforcement and the community. San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra Music in Education Program Founded in 1929, the San Bernardino Symphony gives access to symphonic music available to those in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Second Harvest Food Bank The Second Harvest Food Bank began in 1980 and distributes food to those in need.

References

External links

* {{Insomniac Events Concerts and Festivals Music festivals established in 2011 Electronic music festivals in the United States Music festivals in California