EDM is not all about festival FOMO. Some of the best parties happen at underground raves with unknown DJ’s spinning.

Even if you love EDM it doesn’t necessarily mean the music festivals are your style. Sure it’s fun to go see all of your favorite producers in one place for a weekend or two. But a lot of ravers have a better experience at local gatherings with a regular lineup of DJ’s playing music. Here’s why.

1. Less costly

Admission to a warehouse rave is generally an affordable $15 or so dollars. This seems like a fair price to go inside and see if it is a good party. After all a DJ set is people playing music over a sound system, so you can still dance, even if it isn’t some 20 year old European guy in the Top 100 list.

Music festivals and upscale nightclubs get away with highway robbery for beverage prices. Where as at a warehouse rave, if they have a bar, they will readily sell you a whole beer for less than ten dollars. This creates a feeling of camaraderie because it’s nice to know you are not getting ripped off by the host. You can get drunker without pregaming beforehand to save money,

You don’t have to pay for a hotel or camping, so you can just go to bed afterwards. Also traffic into and outside of the music venue is not an utter cluster fuck of human beings packed tightly together into automobiles, or very slowly making their way along the only pathway inch by inch.

2. Less likely to get busted

The whole point of an underground warehouse rave is that most people don’t know about it. On the other hand a music festival is massively publicized by the biggest celebrities in the world. There will literally be lines of squad cars there just waiting for you to drive under the influence or distribute narcotics. The official music festival website clearly states that inebriation is not permitted at the event. Oftentimes this is because they are conservatives in disguise.

3.More exclusive

If you are at the most famous music festival in the world then it has already become less cool because everyone knows about it. That is the utter and complete irony of being so cutting edge. The coolest celebrities actually hang out with each other at exclusive gatherings such as underground parties or warehouse raves. This makes it simpler to mingle and network.

4. Easier to meet people

People go to music festivals in groups and then hang out with each other at the event. At a warehouse rave the venue is smaller and the patrons have a greater sense of connectivity with the group. This makes it easier to meet new people and then have a nice time with them. There is less competition for mates, and it is more likely that you will be one of the most attractive guests.

5. More intimate music experience

At a music festival they have a lot of good performers, but they are all so far away on the stadium stage that you have to watch them on the television monitor. You could have done that at home on YouTube and not gotten rolled up for smoking weed. In a warehouse or even a nightclub you can stand close enough to the DJ too make out their face. And people are dancing because they go to raves for the music, not just to be at the coolest music festival on the planet that weekend.

Warehouse parties are often produced by local promoters who hire lesser known DJ’s. But they often book a headliner that is more well known to draw a crowd. Warehouse ravers get a nice mix of both worlds, and can still go out in their slutty raver costumes. Be sure to support your local warehouse raves and not just hang out at the mainstage at festivals like a total poser.

Read more about why EDM is the most tolerant and diverse musical genre. Did you know that ravers are the flappers of the modern age?