I returned to Freaky Deaky for my third year in a row and it was truly something special. I first went to Freaky Deaky (formerly known as Something Wicked) when I had just moved to Texas in 2017. I didn’t know a soul but was excited to immerse myself in the Texas rave scene. This year was a great reminder of how far I’ve come, how much I’ve grown and how at home I feel with the Texas rave family. This was also a special year because I got to do VIP for the first time at this festival which was super cool.
If you’re interested in attending Freaky Deaky, keep reading to learn why this festival has a special place in my heart.
Pre-Festival Planning
We live two and a half hours from the venue in Baytown, Texas. We drove to Baytown on the day of. We, unfortunately, did not plan ahead and booked our hotel at the beginning of October so a lot of the nearby hotels were already booked. Our hotel ended up being about a 20-30 minute drive. We also decided that we would drive to and from the venue because we didn’t want to have to worry about rideshare surge pricing and wait times.
Cost
- VIP Ticket – Free (Had I purchased VIP was $239.50)
- Parking – $10 ($20 each day split between four people)
- Hotel – $80 (split with my boyfriend Ryan)
- Outfits – $0
- Food & Drink – $60
- Total – $150
Freaky Deaky
This year they definitely stepped it up a notch with this new venue. I was super excited to see what they did this year. The whole festival got a serious upgrade with new stages, interactive components, and vendors elevating the whole experience.
Getting To and From Venue
Like I mentioned, the venue was about 20-30 minutes from us. We left our hotel a little bit before 4 pm on the first day and there was a lot of traffic to get into the parking lot and for rideshare dropoff. We ended up making it in just before the last 15 minutes of Shiba San b2b Walker & Royce (thankfully lol). Then getting home we left on the first day around 11:15 pm and was able to get out pretty quick so we were home by midnight.
I sadly heard a lot of mishaps for people that left at the end of the night at midnight. Rideshares cost over $100 and had ridiculous wait times. A lot of people ended up walking long ways just to call a rideshare. People waved down random strangers and offered them cash to drive them home which is super unsafe. I heard people that parked took them two hours to get out. Disco Donnie tweeted how the way the exit strategy was handled was not what was planned. He vowed that this would change for day 2 and be improved for people.
The next day we wanted to get there for VNSSA at 3 so we left around 2:45 and traffic was much easier. Leaving we left a little later about 15 minutes before the end time and we had a smooth exit strategy. It further proves my point that leaving you slightly before the end will save you the headache of getting home. Disco Donnie arranged shuttle buses to be outside at the end of the festival to help transport festival-goers to major areas where a lot of them were staying. I heard great feedback from those who did this. I thought this was super smart of him and hopefully, a shuttle system will be a plan for next year if they keep this venue.
Security
We had VIP so we went through VIP security. Surprisingly day 1 was super smooth then day 2 was a lot more strict so I think something might have happened that made them more strict. Just follow the guidelines online and you’ll be good to go. Security wasn’t consistent though which was frustrating. The girls in line with us had attached balloons to their Vibedrations, but security made them pop them, but then I saw a ton of other people with balloons attached to their backpacks. If that were me, I definitely would’ve been frustrated.
The Venue and Layout
This year the venue moved from Sam Houston Race Park to Houston Raceway. The venue was on the other side of Houston completely opposite of last year’s venue. It was in this big open space outside of the racetrack. They claimed that the venue was 2x the size of last year’s venue and it definitely was, but I still felt like everything was super close together.
Last Year’s Venue Layout 
This Year’s Venue Layout
With more space, they definitely used it to offer more vendors and food options. They also had a lounge for Pollen members, a place to make kandi, and you could even get a tattoo at Freaky Deaky which is crazy to me. There was also a maze in the middle of the festival, but there was a long line for it so we never checked it out.
The Stages and Production
The stages and production this year was some of my favorite. My only complaint is with this new venue came a lot of sound bleed issues between the stages. We felt like we were having to find the right spot at each stage so we didn’t hear sound from the other stages.
The Shrine was mainstage and had a ton of house music on day 1 and Rezz headlined that stage. On Day 2 you could find big-name acts like Steve Aoki, Armin van Buuren and Martin Garrix closed out that day.
The Crypt was for all the bass lovers. People were headbanging all weekend long to acts like BTSM, Kill the Noise, Ganja White Night, Space Jesus and Borgore.
The Big Top was where I mainly played to see some of my house favorites like Yotto, Lane 8, AC Slater, Chris Lorenzo, and Dombresky.
Haunted Hollow was added this year to include diverse genres from trance, psytrance, drum and bass and hardstyle. Finally, The Rising featured local up and coming talent.
The Crowd
Texas fam is always 10/10 with the best and most friendly vibes.
The Weather
The weather was pretty spot on. It was cold, but with the sun out it kept us warmed up. When the sun went down, the temperature did drop so having a jacket was clutch for this. The only con was because it rained earlier in the week, it was muddy. Not as bad as last year, but definitely left with muddy shoes after the weekend.
VIP Review
This was my first time doing VIP at Freaky Deaky. I heard in past that it wasn’t really worth it, but after experiencing it I think it was super worth it. The view from the viewing areas and having separate bathrooms was super clutch. Imagine’s VIP only had two big trailers, but Freaky Deaky’s had four so I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bathroom. They also had a station in VIP near the bathroom for certain toiletries. There was also food and drink options in VIP that barely had lines.
Day Recaps
Day 1
Day 1 was a little chaotic for us getting to the venue like I mentioned, otherwise once we were in we were having a solid time. I caught the end of Walker & Royce b2b Shiba San which was a solid set. We bounced around a lot from set to set so we didn’t really see a full set of anything. There were particular moments we loved from sets like seeing Malaa, Yotto and Lane 8 that I loved seeing on Day 1.
Day 2
Day 2 was a day for house heaven there were so many top tier house artists. My favorite set was Russian Style: Phlegmatic Dogs b2b Volac. We were near a big shuffle circle in the back and I got to see so many of my friends that made for a bumpin’ time. Some other highlights were Dombresky, AC Slater and Chris Lorenzo. We did get a little bit of bass in with BTSM as they’re always a good time.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Music
- Food and Alcohol Options
- VIP
- Crowd
- Stages and Production
- Vendors
- Security
Cons
- Traffic to and from the venue
- Rideshares
- Sound bleed between stages
Advice for Freaky Deaky 2020
I highly recommend this festival to anyone that attends. If they have it at this same venue next year, I highly recommend you book your hotel ASAP. Have a DD to drive to and from the venue to avoid the craziness of traffic. Go early, check out the vendors and activations. Enjoy it! I’m sure the lineup will be stacked so have fun. I’ll most likely be promoting Freaky Deaky again so be sure to use VIBEWITHADE on your tickets.
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