Countdown NYE hit Downtown Los Angeles with a bang, catapulting dance music lovers across all galaxies into the new year with a celestial experience.
Insomniac transmits an invite to our otherworldly homies every year for Countdown NYE. The aliens landed to party with us earthlings before lifting off and voyaging out to galaxies unknown, perhaps with a little more appreciation for Earth’s dance music scene. And now, it’s 2026.
This year, the call to get down and groovy came with new directions as the end-of-year Southern California bash set up camp in unknown terrain for former Countdown NYE attendees. Insomniac’s celestial celebration landed in Downtown Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) for the first time since the festival’s inception.
If you scanned the airwaves before your voyage into Insomniac’s alien-fueled experience this year, you probably caught wind of Countdown NYE 2025 coming to LACC rather than returning to the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, where it has previously taken place. While the venue change came with some expected challenges, LACC also served as the perfect locale for any EDM lover to blast off into 2026.
With a stacked lineup, Countdown NYE offered more than enough music to at least whet the palates of the vast musical tastes that make up the dance music scene. Southstar and Marie Nyx sent techno lovers into another galaxy. Techno Tupac provided the soundtrack to unite lifeforms from across the universe. Sub Focus and MPH were the catalysts that pumped up festival attendees for the long overnight voyage into the new year. Above & Beyond struck the stars as the clock ticked down to midnight.
The one-night year-end phenomenon was one I could not pass up. Surrounded by options across our planet — from Decadence in Colorado and Arizona to PROPER NYE/NYD in San Diego — I made the hard but conscious decision to full send it to Countdown NYE this year. With the rain adding the risk of the party halting, I donned my space gear and piloted my spacecraft down the wet streets of LA.
Surprisingly, I was met with little traffic and no parking issues as the venue was surrounded by open parking lots. Though the fight through the rain to the venue was cold and wet, the stars aligned when I finally set my sights on the entrance to Countdown NYE. A burst of warmth from the giddy crowd made the short wait through security a cosmic experience. The entrance just ahead was paved with cosmic dust. Everywhere I turned, I saw evidence that I was about to enter another world. Suddenly, I was swallowed into the abyss.
Experiencing Countdown NYE in a New Home Base
After surging through a long hallway, I entered the center of the fest, which organizers dubbed the Biosphere. The Beatbox stage, one of four stages, sat right near the entrance. Its music spilled over into the Red Light District, where a cosmic strip club with alien exotic dancers mesmerized the crowd.
Up the stairs, the Mothership stage and Nebula stage were side by side. While there was concern that melodic tones and vibrations from Mothership, which served as the main stage, would bleed into the crowd at the Nebula stage, the mix of the two genre-based stages could only be heard upon entering the South Exhibit hall, where both were housed. A big wall between the two stopped any possibility of sound bleed. Underneath it all stood the Twilight Zone stage, which was literally and figuratively on a level of its own.
With Countdown NYE now inside at LACC, headliners didn’t have to worry about the weather raining on their parade. Festival attendees partied through major storms in 2018 and, most recently, at the end of 2023, making the prospect of coming back to the NOS Event Center for the end-of-year bash somewhat of a dread. Perhaps this was the catalyst for the change. But with change comes challenges.
Rocky Terrain and a Sold-Out Environment Led to Shaky Solar Sailing
Countdown NYE at NOS stood at a whopping 120 acres; at LACC, it was a mere 720,000 square feet. While the space was used well, a crowd surge at the end of John Summit and SLANDER led many to question both the programming and carrying capacity of the otherworldly event.
After dancing my heart out at Summit at the Mothership Stage, I caught the tail end of SLANDER in a comfortably packed VIP section at the Nebula stage. But as I made my way out of the South Exhibit Hall, where both stages stood, PLURR slowly disintegrated. Goddesses, archangels, and other beings collided. With little to no space to move, the fantastical aura in the air began to fade. Wall-to-wall bodies from the top of the stairs to the center of the Biosphere almost vaporized the vibes.
As party-goers headed to their next set, however, the crowd began to clear, and it was back to the party is always meant to be. Despite the brief lapse in PLURR, I traded candy and trinkets with all kinds of beings, danced with even more, and offered comfort to others.
Finally, I made my way to the Beatbox stage, where Techno Tupac was lighting up the sky. Before beaming up, I fueled up at the Federation Food Court, which sat just outside the doors.
Astronomical Lineup Serves as Catalyst for the New Year
A pit stop at the Twilight Zone for Southstar led to a heavenly moment. The vibes had reached an all-time high as celestial beings headed down to the floor of the parking lot where the stage was erected.
For techno lovers, the Twilight Zone was where it was at. The stage featured a long list of new and established artists serving up hard techno, acid techno, and more. The likes of AK Sports, Marie NYX, and Cera Khin all graced the stage. Southstar shouted to the heavens, with a callback to Avicii’s “Levels,” as I beamed with appreciation. It’s always amazing to me that at least one artist at every fest I’ve attended shows respect to the legend. Iterations of the widely popular track are many, and Southstar pulled no punches with his tribute.
Next stop was the Mothership, where the stage was set for an epic countdown into the new year. While there may have been questions about set time choices, the lineup served as the perfect space shuttle into 2026. As the clock struck midnight, I hugged loved ones and new friends under earth-shattering lights set to the backdrop of Above & Beyond. For trance lovers, it was a moment that transcended reality. I ventured into 2026 with a blur of genre-mixing excitement.
Bouncing between Nebula and Mothership, I was inspired by Sub Focus, rode a comet through Madeon‘s DJ set, and spiraled into the rhythmic high-energy of MPH. But perhaps my favorite set of the night goes to Crankdat, whose production elements, sonic skills, and technical quality pushed the rocket ship we were all on together into overdrive.
It was at that point of the night when the sui generis rave beings who came for the music and not the party were still there. As a magnificent light display stretched across the crowd, every bass tone and high-end detail could be felt.
My feet became weary, but I rounded out the one-of-a-kind odyssey in the best way possible: with more dancing at Ship Wrek. I was spacebound, and with my fellow otherworldly beings joining in on the cosmic journey into the new year, I traversed the cosmos as the night gave way to morning.
Mission Accomplished for Countdown NYE
Looking back on my spaceflight through Countdown NYE brings pure jubilation. Insomniac may have experienced some bumps and bruises along this year’s voyage, but as always, the festival left a lasting imprint.
To the rejoicing of many, the Red Light District returned, but was much smaller than in past iterations of the festival. The crowds were not too bad, although some folks predictably got way too drunk. But, thankfully, as always, Insomniac’s Ground Control was on it.
Food and drink options were plentiful — but bathrooms, not as much. Perhaps it simply comes down to placement, but if people are emptying their tanks outside, that suggests there needs to be better planning around the lavatories.
With that being said, the decked-out performers, dancers, and artists from our universe and beyond fully immersed us in the alien-theme experience. The vibes were right, PLURR is indeed alive and well. As the new year kicks off, we can look to the stars and know that it’s not going anywhere.
If you’re wondering if you should make the trek to Insomniac’s Countdown NYE next year, just remember to pack your PLURR, bring extraterrestrial homies, and be ready to set sail on an out-of-this-world experience.
