Who would have thought that a 10-minute drive from Brickell could teleport you to a magical realm. That is exactly what happens with We Belong Here Festival, now in its third year. This is a boutique festival with an emphasis on amenities and a VIP-for-all approach. It’s not necessarily a festival that the whole world is going to, but that’s what makes it so special. The whole event has an IYKYK vibe that makes it simultaneously fun, chill, intimate, and beautiful.
Venue
Virginia Key Beach Park has played host to many events over the years. Many will recall Rakastella that happens here during Art Basel as well as the Rapture Festival which used to take place during Ultra Music Festival. However, most of you will associate Virginia Key Beach with Resistance Island. This festival is definitely not that, however. While Resistance Island was a techno haven with the massive megastructure, We Belong Here has something of a Coachella atmosphere.
The mainstage is set in the sandy center of the park, with plenty of space for everyone without ever feeling too crowded. That’s not to say that the festival wasn’t busy, because it was quite busy at times. The emphasis here is on the experience, and you’ll never deal with pushing or overcrowding at this event.
If you walk away from the mainstage there are two stages nestled right on the beach, and this is what makes the festival so special. Not only are you partying on the beach, but it’s a totally different feel from South Beach. It feels like you teleported to a remote island in the Bahamas or Central America. At one point on Sunday, there were people on horseback trotting down the beach as Lane 8’s This Never Happened stage was in full force. Things got even more magical on Sunday evening, when We Belong Here was blessed with a blood red moon. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie, where at one point the moo was absolutely massive against the ocean and reflecting light onto the beach. Then as the moon went higher it looked almost like the sun with the amount of light is was reflecting. All of this happening while you’re carried away by the melodies of Le Youth is a memory I will never forget.
The Music
As a boutique festival, We Belong Here is carefully cultivating a vibe. It’s mostly house music here, with the main stage being more up beat and the side stages being more chill or tribal. It works perfectly with the remote natural setting. Day One saw some amazing sets from Wax Motif, Bob Moses, and Duke Dumont. The energy was high and vibes were immaculate for those sets, even while our team was focused on the main stage that day.
Having Lane 8’s This Never Happened stage on the beach was the best part of the festival for me. The gorgeous melodies juxtaposed perfectly with the ideal setting and the beautiful weather. This was the best weather we’ve had in Miami for several weeks if not months. The entire festival culminated in one of the most beautiful and transformative sets I’ve seen in several years. When Le Youth took the stage, it felt like the entire crowd was obsessed with his music from the first beat. He opened with the Sultan + Shepard remix of “I Will Leave a Light On” and the cheering/clapping started right away. Just as this was happening, the gorgeous full red moon was at its largest size sitting just over the horizon.
It was one of those sets that changes your life in a way you’ll always look back on. Every track had the crowd singing along in unison to every word, and Le Youth even took some moments to get off the decks and run into the crowd to hug people and belt out the lyrics just as much as we were. You could feel the love reverberating around the entire stage, and the feeling was truly electric. The scene was so perfect and so beautiful it brought a tear of joy to my eyes. Le Youth’s music is also incredibly personal and emotional, which drives this factor up even more than it might be at any other DJ set. It was a festival moment that simply could not be recreated at any other festival you go to. Where else can you see beautiful melodic house music at an intimate stage setting right on the beach at night? This moment alone makes We Belong Here an absolute must-try on your festival list.
VIP-For-All
We Belong Here aims to be a VIP-for-all type experience. It’s not literally all VIP, as the back of the mainstage is the strictly VIP area. However, the bathrooms across the event were either nice trailers or the Virginia Key Beach bathroom facilities. Beyond that, pretty much everything was widely available for everyone. In the VIP area, the non-alcoholic drinks were complementary, and the festival even offered options to arrive by boat. The Virginia Key Beach Park had enough parking for almost everyone, although the parking was not included.
The food options were excellent, as they were provided by Smorgasburg who you may know from NYC or Wynwood. The options were plentiful and high quality. Beyond that, there was a booth with free Celsius Energy drinks for everyone. I don’t know whether there was a limit, but we never found one. Festivals, take note: free energy drink stations are a total hit with the fans.
Conclusion
This festival is the anti-Ultra. Now knocking Ulta at all, but it’s just a different experience. This festival takes place during a relatively quiet period in Miami, with Music Week still a month away. It’s all about the experience, the vibes, and your close friends. Everybody who has attended the festival remarked about how much they enjoyed it. It’s the type of event that isn’t going to draw you in from the lineup or the hype alone, but once you experience it, you’ll want to keep going every year. Do yourself a favor, and bookmark late February of 2025 for We Belong Here when it returns to Virginia Key Beach Park.