Tacos, tequila, and sunrise shenanigans! My return to Sundream Festival, this time in Baja California, was everything I hoped it would be – plus so much more!
For the second year in a row, last month I made my eagerly-awaited return to sunny Mexico to embark on a three-day music festival curated by Rufus Du Sol – Sundream. Once again, I have been left completely in awe of the all-encompassing sensation that is Sundream. This time in an entirely new, but equally impressive location.
Like millions around the world, I’m a super fan of Rufus Du Sol’s music – especially after attending their inaugural edition of Sundream Tulum last year, held on the iconic coastline of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. That ended up being, without a doubt, one of my favorite weekends of the year. My festival-loving friends and I speculated about whether there would be another Sundream, or if it would just be one of those special one-off festivals that we talked about for years to come.
Fortunately, Rufus Du Sol soon announced the second installment of Sundream, and this time, they’d be bringing it to an entirely new location in Mexico – introducing SUNDREAM BAJA.
Set amidst a series of scenic, sprawling gardens just outside the small town of San Jose Del Cabo, Sundream once again delivered an unforgettable experience held across two weekends that will forever hold a special place in my heart. All festivals should be like this.
And while I know the majority of the internet is sharing videos of Sundream because Elon Musk made a surprise appearance – off his face most likely on a “Tesla” pill – let’s not let that overshadow the magical festival that Rufus Du Sol pulled off.
Let’s dive into my breakdown of the festival, and what made it such a special weekend getaway!
Sunny San Jose Del Cabo
While I’m sure there are many out there who preferred Tulum as the destination for Sundream, I’m definitely on #TeamBaja now. I absolutely love this part of Mexico, and really believe that it’s going to become the next go-to hotspot for house and techno events in Mexico. After what I experienced at Sundream Baja, I can say that with certainty.
Everything about San Jose Del Cabo for a destination music festival location makes sense. The airport is only a 20-minute drive from town, car rentals are extremely cheap (and you can actually avoid the classic Mexico car rental scams), there are tons of affordable accommodation options (from Airbnb to budget hotels), as well as a wide variety of luxury hotels and villa rentals.
There’s an array of things to do in the Los Cabos area, besides immersing yourself in the Sundream experience. Exploring the stunning Baja coastline, discovering the plethora of beach clubs, scuba and snorkeling trips, sunset catamaran odysseys, heart-pumping ATV excursions, incredible restaurants, tequila/mezcal tastings, and cultural day trips – it really does have it all.
Finally, there’s actually UBER down in San Jose Del Cabo at extremely affordable rates! While this little benefit may not seem that important, it is such an important selling point compared to Tulum, where taxi drivers are notorious for ripping you off every chance they get. The presence of UBER here just takes that added hassle and stress out of the equation.
Bringing Sundream to Baja was such a smart and visitor-friendly move, and the unique backdrop of the desert landscape combined with the serene bliss of the Baja coastline was the perfect setting.
The Sundream Baja Venue
Held at the El Ganzo Sculpture Gardens, the spacious 12-acre park was ideal for an intimate festival gathering.
After entering through security, attendees were blessed with a unique walk through the “soundscape and rock gardens”, which replicated the lighting set-up Rufus Du Sol had showcased during their iconic Live From Joshua Tree set. It really set the scene for what was promising to be a game-changing weekend of music.
You soon arrive at a cashless top-up point and small market / Sundream merch area, where there was a fun selection of festival outfits and hats. It’s where I purchased my newest festival kimono, which I am absolutely OBSESSED with and that I received dozens of compliments on from other attendees. Shoutout to Follow The Crane for making such incredible festival-perfect pieces – I’ll definitely be putting in another order soon.
Continuing down the path, you soon enter the main festival area, a sprawling space with so much room for everyone, especially compared to the previous year’s venue at Papaya Playa Project in Tulum.
There was something to look at from every angle. An array of eye-catching artistic sculptures, a food market with benches for dining, several bars, a massive spinning LED exhibition, and a glittering LED field of lights with towering palm trees served as a special backdrop.
It soon occurred to me just how much work the team behind Sundream clearly put into designing and kitting out this impressive venue – making it a festival to remember. Everything was so beautifully lit-up with various colors – it really did feel like we were in a festival wonderland. Just the way a festival should be.
Sundream Baja Stage
One of my favorite things about Sundream is that there’s only one stage, which eliminates all that festival FOMO of missing a set. Everyone at the festival is there together, at the same set, to experience the performance as one. It’s a unifying experience you often forget the importance of, especially at festivals with stages all over, and people constantly coming and going.
Sundream really leveled up their stage production for 2023 with impeccable lighting, sound, lasers, and an enormous colorful LED backdrop that was absolutely awe-inspiring to witness first-hand.
The visuals displayed on the LED screen which served as the backdrop for each set were so well curated, and really added so much to the experience! For me, the real pièce de résistance of the event were the insane lasers utilized during Rufus Du Sol’s LIVE set on Thursday night.
Sundream Closing Weekend Music
With two different festival weekends comes two different line-ups, but this year I actually found there were a lot of repeat acts across both Weekend 1 and Weekend 2.
And while the Opening Weekend attendees may have been blessed with Afterlife legends Tale of Us and previous Sundream star Monolink, I’d argue that the Closing Weekend had a better line-up. It featured one of my favorite DJs in the entire world, Dixon, as well as Bedouin, Cassian, WhoMadeWho, and Ukiyo. But hey, it’s not a competition. (With that being said, Opening Weekend might have actually been the superior event, since Rufus Du Sol did play the Official Party on Thursday night – so there is that.)
One of the things I love about Sundream is that each day the festival has a different schedule. Thursday night (RDS Live Show) ended at 1 AM (with an after-party at Crania), Friday night ended at 3 AM, and Saturday night is scheduled to end at 5 AM.
What most Sundream attendees know by now if that they’ll be treated to a surprise sunrise b2b set that goes until 7 AM – but more on that later.
My Sundream experience began on Thursday night when I arrived a little ahead of time to catch the early sets of Modern Tales and Weval who both put on fantastic shows, although to quite a limited number of guests. I had actually never heard of Weval before, but I truly loved their music now and have been jamming to their recent album on repeat since returning home.
The real party began when the Danish trio WhoMadeWho came on stage, and once again wowed the crowd with a stellar show that was the perfect opening set for the big event of the night.
By the time 11 PM rolled around, the venue was this time packed out, with everyone there to see Rufus Du Sol’s iconic LIVE performance. I personally believe every festival addict needs to experience a set by this world-class group at least once in their life.
After the show ended, the festival moved the party over to Crania for the Official After-Party, which ended up being a major highlight of the weekend. This exciting new music and arts venue in San Jose Del Cabo really blew me away. With unique artwork and design, the party here was poppin’ off until sunrise, with WhoMadeWho and Ukiyo nailing their sets.
Since I partied well into the morning, rested and then went out to a great dinner at the iconic Acre restaurant, Friday night was a slow start for our group. We showed up just in time to catch the last hour of Colyn’s set, which while entertaining, was the only disappointing set that I encountered all weekend. Sorry, I said what I said. Jimi Jules then came on and picked up the pace, dropping an eclectic array of heaters.
However the real star of Friday night, and one of the best sets of the weekend, definitely belongs to Bedouin! I’ve been lucky enough to see this outstanding musical duo on several different occasions now, and every time they never cease to amaze me. Their sets are always buzzing, with an incredible collection of soulful tribal music and dancefloor killers.
My only complaint about Friday night at Sundream was that there were simply not enough people. While the venue was extremely generous for an intimate festival gathering, the festival felt like the perfect size on Thursday and Saturday, but Friday just didn’t draw in the same numbers. The only way I rationalize this is that people mainly come for Rufus Du Sol, and since Friday is the only day they don’t come, they skip this day and save their energy for the final night.
Speaking of Saturday night, I have to say this was eight hours of some of the most EPIC music I’ve heard in my life. No exaggeration.
I arrived halfway into Cassian’s set, who was playing a solid selection of melodic techno that had the crowd going wild. Next up was the Innervisions head honcho himself, Dixon, who played two hours of quality tunes and unreleased heaters that had me dancing the entire time, but my Shazam’s kept coming back with bad news.
Finally, Rufus Du Sol’s DJ Set on Saturday night has now officially claimed its rightful place as my favorite set I’ve heard in all of my festivals. Ever.
Now, I’ve seen their DJ sets many times in the past. Hell, me and a friend even flew to Bali to catch them play a DJ set on December 30th last year. They have somehow stepped up their game even further, and this two-hour spectacle at Sundream was GOD TIER. It was the perfect blend of afro-house, melodic techno and quintessential Rufus Du Sol grooves and left me truly stunned, even as a seasoned festival pro (and also had billionaire Elon Musk rolling balls).
I even whispered to my friend towards the end of their set, saying “Oh wow, I’d hate to have to follow this”. Fortunately, Astra Club (DJ Tennis b2b Carlita) was up for the challenge and continued the outstanding party vibes with ease.
At around 5 AM, Rufus Du Sol & Cassian hopped back on the decks for a 2-hour surprise set that concluded the festival in the most magical way imaginable. My own festival crew, and everyone else in attendance, were dancing like wild until 7 AM, but unfortunately had to move the party elsewhere as it wrapped up for another year.
Sundream Festival 2024
Having had the pleasure of attending both Sundream events now, both in Tulum and Baja — I think it’s pretty safe to say that Rufus Du Sol SHOULD be making this a yearly occurrence. However, only time will tell. Fingers crossed.
The only other question I have now is…will they return to Baja (which I would personally recommend), or perhaps find another equally new and exciting destination to host their third edition for a whole new festival experience?
All I know is that whenever that announcement comes, I’ll be sure to update this post, and I’ll be booking flights to wherever it may be. Guaranteed.
To conclude, I’d like to thank all my fellow “Sols” who joined me on this wild ride. The Rufus Du Sol vibes are simply unparalleled in the current world of festivals, and the love and energy in the crowd is something I really appreciate. I can’t wait to do all over again.
Thanks for reading everyone, and be sure to follow along and say hey on Instagram if you attended Sundream or plan on going next year!
Very impressive. Love it.