SAN BERNARDINO, CA – Last weekend, for the second time I stepped through the looking glass and into a rave where fantasy became reality. Beyond Wonderland SoCal 2025 once again transformed the NOS Event Center into a breathtaking dreamscape where art, music, and imagination collided spectacularly. The festival grounds bloomed with vibrant colors, fantastical characters, and immersive art that transported attendees into the world of Alice in Wonderland. From towering mushrooms to twinkling fairy lights and mesmerizing projection mapping, every corner of this electric wonderland invited discovery and delight.
Stage Designs: Creative Wonderland Realms
The Queen’s Domain stage presented a striking visual centerpiece with its massive LED display surrounded by heart-shaped and checkboard elements. While simpler than past designs, the stage provided a fitting backdrop for the festival’s headlining performances and created memorable moments throughout the weekend. What lacked in stage design complexity was made up with top-notch pyro, lasers, and light displays. For me, the cut-out design lacked the wow factor or the magnificence of the main stages that Insomniac put together for Beyond Wonderland in the early 2010s.
Caterpillar’s Garden stage and Cheshire woods were my favorite stages, but their designs were pretty much repeats of previous years. Caterpillar’s garden featured an immersive floral design underneath a megastructure, while Cheshire woods had a psychedelic canopy vibe, with trees and printed textiles adorning the front of the stage.
The Madhatter’s Castle stage showcased dynamic LED panels and light strips, with a straighter and more simplistic design than last year’s curved design. Meanwhile, The Looking Glass stage was moved to an outdoor area behind Caterpillar’s Garden which I preferred to its old indoor space. The stage featured an innovative and striking design with reflective pillars enhanced by captivating lighting that created mesmerizing visual effects. The indoor Sea of Wonder stage delighted with its maritime theme, complete with tentacles, screens, and a boat centerpiece that celebrated the oceanic realm of Wonderland.
Adventures Beyond the Stages
Beyond Wonderland created countless opportunities for exploration through various rabbit holes and side quests. Hidden DJ sets, secret art installations, and interactive experiences rewarded those willing to venture off the beaten path, adding layers of discovery to the festival experience. Through colorful doors I stumbled upon a rubber ducky trading fountain and a minigolf course—the possibilities seemed endless!
The Mad Tea Party area emerged as a true festival highlight for me. This interactive space featured the energetic Beatbox Art Car which featured Country EDM on Friday Evening. The space hosted imaginative Alice in Wonderland themed art installation and playful performers hosting a make believe tea party. I especially enjoyed Frick Frack Black Jack, where I bet trinkets and kandi for fun and whimsical items. The clowns at Frick Frack always do a great job at keeping things silly, saucy, and sassy.
As a sober raver, I especially enjoyed the upgrade to the Consciousness Group tent. Their area was greatly expanded with 1 Million Strong next door, and featured couches and art installations for a greatly improved and more comfortable sober sanctuary. I always try to attend at least one meeting at Consciousness Group when I go to an Insomniac festival, and seeing old and new faces and sharing in the community always brings me joy and a deeper sense of connection.
DJ Sets
The musical offerings at Beyond Wonderland SoCal 2025 were nothing short of spectacular. My favorite performances included brilliant sets from Audien, Astrix, Seven Lions, Zeds Dead, Sabai, Said The Sky, and Cosmic Gate.
Audien thrilled fans with several reworks and edits of EDM anthems. The crowd erupted during his rework of Alesso’s “Lose My Mind” featuring vocals from “I Wish It Was You.” His mashup of Martin Garrix’s “Gravity” with lyrics from Zedd’s “Remedy” kept the energy high, alongside his festival anthem “Hindsight.”
Zeds Dead delivered a nostalgic performance featuring tracks like “ONE OF THESE MORNINGS” from their latest album while mixing in several IDs both old and new. Seven Lions opened memorably with “Don’t Leave” featuring Ellie Goulding before taking the audience on a journey through an eclectic range of bass music, house, and his very own melodic tracks. Illenium created a magical moment closing Saturday night with “Good Things Fall Apart,” as thousands of voices joined together in perfect harmony.
VIP Experience
The VIP experience offered excellent upgrades compared to previous years. With how overpacked the venue felt, VIP felt like a relief from navigating tightly packed crowds. The Queen’s Domain VIP area featured a barber shop, trinket trade, kandi-making station, concierge, and more. The Caterpillar’s Garden VIP featured a hookah lounge. Some of the VIP bathrooms trailers got overwhelmed and overflowed during peak hours, despite them being way nicer than the GA and GA+ porta potties.
The Beyond Wonderland Community
The festival attracted a diverse crowd that embodied both the best and worst of rave culture. Instances of rudeness and pushing in crowded areas were relatively common, and I saw several people vomiting or passed out on the ground. Despite some of these trashier aspects, the PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) spirit remained very much alive through kandi trading, creative totems, and a majority of friendly interactions.
Beyond Wonderland SoCal 2025 delivered a wonderous experience. Outstanding musical performances and immersive environments made the event memorable, though crowd management issues and some underwhelming (in my opinion) stage designs presented opportunities for improvement in future iterations. For ravers planning to attend Beyond Wonderland SoCal in coming years, prepare for a plethora of truly immersive moments, but also be ready for tightly packed crowds, and long walks or shuttle lines to the parking lots. We recommend showing up as early as possible to get parked in one of the closer lots to the venue, and we also recommend dishing out the extra cash for VIP if you are able to.
If you’ve already attended Beyond, and you can only attend one Insomniac festival in Southern California per year, I recommend trying Dreamstate (for its vibes) or Nocturnal Wonderland (for its picturesque venue and camping). Beyond Wonderland, Escape Halloween, and Countdown are all wonderful magical worlds within themselves, but they seem to share the problems that the NOS venue brings of overpacked crowds and pickpocketers. Despite these challenges, all of the festivals that Insomniac hosts at NOS events center are well worth experiencing at least once for their immersive environments, incredible musical lineups, whimsical performers, and fun-filled themes,
Beyond Wonderland SoCal 2026 tickets are on sale now at socal.beyondwonderland.com.
