Although Project GLOW provided awe-inspiring performances and hosted a welcoming crowd, the festival fell short logistically during its recent edition.
With large-scale festivals in the Northeast being few and far between, Insomniac and Club Glow’s Project GLOW has been poised to become a dominant festival in the region since it launched in 2022. Each year, the festival brings some of the biggest names in dance music to the RFK Festival Grounds in Washington DC. What started as two stages and a small art car quickly evolved into three upgraded stages with unique vibes.
This year’s edition of Project GLOW returned on April 27-28, and the two-day event served as a warm-up to EDC Las Vegas for fans and DJs alike. Anticipation grew as I drove from Philadelphia to DC for my third year at the festival. With an incredibly stacked lineup and a massive squad attending, I was beyond excited to be back dancing alongside one of the most PLUR crowds I’ve ever seen The festival continued to improve with each passing edition, and I couldn’t wait to see what the weekend had in store for me.
The first day of Project GLOW kicked off with cloudy skies, rain, and cool weather.
After waiting for the downpour to turn into a trickle, I set out to the festival, ready for an amazing day. Despite Saturday’s gloomy weather, crowds flocked to the RFK Festival Grounds donning rain jackets and ponchos, hoping to catch some of the first acts set to play.
I hopped out of the Uber and realized the walk to the festival grounds was much longer than the past two years. While moving crowds away from the crumbling exterior of the abandoned RFK Stadium was logical, the extended walk was greeted with groans from the crowd.
After trekking to the grounds, my festival fam was greeted by short security lines, friendly staff, and booming bass radiating from the stages inside. Night Tales kicked off my Saturday sets as I split off for a solo mission at the Pulse Stage. With a new design for the year, the stage was adorned with faux leaves, small square panels for visuals, and a slew of lights and lasers.
The skies cleared, and the party ensued as the crowd began to fill up ahead of nightfall.
With a $16 hot dog in hand, I reunited with my group, ready for a gigantic dance party at Deorro b2b Valentino Khan at the new and improved Eternal Stage. As “Deep Down Low” blasted through the speakers accompanied by pyro, the crowd erupted for the classic Valentino Khan track.
The energy stayed high as new fan-favorite Knock2 took to the stage. The powerhouse brought insane energy, leaving the crowd jumping for the entire hour. As he wrapped up, I headed into VIP for the final sets of the evening so I could have more room to dance.
Stage designs weren’t the only significant change in store for festivalgoers.
Many changes were made to the festival grounds, including the layout, which now had each stage placed next to each other. Along with repositioning the stages, the VIP area was downgraded to one large space that offered viewing for both the Eternal and Pulse stages.
After seeing the first few songs of Rezz, I decided it was time for a change of pace and began walking to the other side of VIP to see Tinlicker. The heavy bass from Rezz overtook the progressive house duo’s set, causing VIP pass holders to head to GA to avoid the sound bleed. While Project GLOW had previously received backlash for this, the new layout proved to be more of an issue than the years prior, with VIP getting the brunt of the sound issues.
Along with VIP having major sound bleed, the area itself was lackluster; with only three food vendors, one small restroom area, and no water stations, this didn’t seem worth the splurge. As night fell, restroom waits were longer than in GA+, and food options began running out around 8pm.
Illenium shut down Saturday night on the main stage with a jaw-dropping 75-minute set.
Eye-catching visuals coupled with lasers and pyro stunned the crowd as Illenium threw down some of his most iconic melodic dubstep tracks. As he played his mashup of “Pray” and John Summit’s “Where You Are,” fireworks erupted from the stage and sky. I couldn’t help but cry while taking in the magical moment surrounded by my friends. After playing many of his hits, the set culminated with a beautiful finale, complete fireworks to “Good Things Fall Apart vs. Sad Songs.”
While the set was fantastic, I had a concerning experience midway through it. I encountered someone who was having a medical emergency. After dragging them out of the crowd to find help, I found a member of staff, but they were unaware of medical resources being available in the VIP area.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone from the onsite medical team stroll by. After flagging them down, I was given nonchalant answers regarding helping the person in need and inappropriate comments regarding my outfit. I tried my best to shake off the experience and returned to the crowd after ensuring the individual received the needed care.
The sun was beaming, and temperatures soared as Sunday’s sets kicked off.
With cloudy skies nowhere in sight, I took the time to explore the various art installations on the grounds. The reimagined Electra statue commanded the space with a neon color palette and shimmering disco balls. Rise stood shimmering in all her glory on the other end of the grounds, shooting out fire. In addition to these staples, new photo ops were introduced, including a 3-D GLOW sign.
After snapping pictures and catching Nostalgix, the sun was beginning to take a toll. I struggled to find a place to rest with any shade and resorted to sitting on the concrete with half of my group shielding ourselves from the sun with any fans or pashminas we had brought. It left me feeling that some added shade structures would be a solid addition next year.
House music dominated on Sunday with major performances from ACRAZE b2b Wax Motif and LF SYSTEM.
As the sun set over Washington DC, the two ACRAZE and Wax Motif turned the Pulse stage into the place to be. The sounds of ACRAZE’s “Take Me Away” blended in with Pitbull’s “Hotel Room Service” blasted through the speakers, and the massive crowd grooved to the beat.
With this being their first time going back-to-back I wasn’t sure what to expect other than a high-energy performance with crowd appeal. I was pleasantly surprised by the flow of tracks, which made it feel like both artists equally contributed to setting the vibe.
As the pair left the stage, I finally went to scope out the Secret Garden stage to catch an intimate set from LF SYSTEM. Having played the Pulse stage earlier in the day, the duo used their second set to test unreleased tracks and have fun with the song choices. Although I was alone at the time, I never felt that way as groups interacted with one another and invited anyone who was solo to dance with them.
As Project GLOW came to a close, I ended my night with a double dose of Zedd.
As a long-time Zedd fan, I had high hopes for his performance and was not disappointed. As the crowd screamed along to “Beautiful Now,” an extreme sense of nostalgia washed over me. After closing out his set with the beloved track “Clarity,” I hurried out of the venue to catch an Uber to his after-party at Echostage with Knock2.
Exhausted from the day, I entered Echostage, ready to rally for the b2b set of a lifetime. The crowd was packed from wall to wall with seemingly more energy than all day at the festival itself. The updated production of Echostage was incredible, and the additional lasers made it feel like Project GLOW had been taken inside.
With Zedd being one of Knock2’s biggest musical influences, the legendary set was a huge milestone for the rising superstar. Knock2 took to the mic to give Zedd his roses and played his unreleased track “Hold My Hand,” which pays homage to him. The hyped-up back-to-back lived up to expectations and ended my festival weekend on a high note.
Project GLOW’s third year showed room for improvement while still delivering top-notch talent to the East Coast.
With a lack of music festivals in the Northeast, Project GLOW has filled a void for dance music fans. Insomniac and Club Glow have succeeded at providing a festival with world-class talent and great production in a central destination. The festival shows promise if it continues to upgrade the experience and listen to feedback from passionate attendees who want to attend the festival for years to come. I hope it returns to DC bigger and better than ever in 2025.
