Friday, May 23, 2025
RISE Festival is set to return to the majestic Mojave Desert from October third to fifth, 2025, celebrating a decade of transformative experiences with a groundbreaking new element for attendees: The Path. This immersive, contemplative journey guides guests through a harmonious blend of light, sculpture, and sound, inviting them into a meditative state before the festival’s iconic sky lantern ceremony.
At the heart of this elevated artistic vision are monumental installations crafted by three internationally acclaimed visual artists: HYBYCOZO, Whitaker Studio, and This is Loop. Their extraordinary creations combine expansive scale, light dynamics, and interactive design to evoke awe, spark reflection, and encourage joyful play. This collective artistry ushers in a fresh visual identity for RISE’s milestone year.
“This year, we wanted the experience of arriving at RISE to feel like crossing a threshold,” says RISE Art Director John Connors. “The Path is the first step into the world of RISE—a moment to slow down, take in the surroundings, and enter a shared space that invites curiosity, reflection, and hope.”
The Path: A Curated Arrival Experience to Center and Inspire
From the moment guests step onto the festival grounds, The Path gently guides them into presence and calm. This thoughtfully designed sequence combines sculptural art with wellness spaces to help visitors ground themselves amid the vast desert landscape.
One signature feature is the RISE Meditation Halos—elegantly constructed wooden pergolas draped with soft linens and furnished with comfortable daybeds. These serene sanctuaries offer festival-goers a quiet retreat to relax, breathe deeply, and meditate while taking in the surrounding natural beauty. This intentional pause creates mental and emotional space to welcome the transformative energy of RISE.
New and Returning Artistic Highlights Across the Festival
Beyond The Path, the festival showcases an array of breathtaking installations that invite visitors to explore themes of connection, transformation, and harmony:
- Trillion by HYBYCOZO: This visionary duo, Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu, present towering geometric sculptures inspired by mathematical and scientific principles interwoven with natural patterns. As night approaches, these pieces illuminate from within, casting evolving shadows that embody the spirit of unity and change central to RISE.
- Diamonds on the Desert by HYBYCOZO: A striking series of five sculptures draws inspiration from pyrite crystals, with the largest standing more than twelve feet tall. In daylight, their golden surfaces mirror the desert’s rugged elegance; after dusk, internal lighting transforms them into radiant beacons, creating a meditative glow that reshapes the landscape.
- Desert Winds by Whitaker Studio: Sculptor Lyman Whitaker’s kinetic wind sculptures introduce graceful, flowing movement to the festival. These elegant pieces respond fluidly to desert breezes, inviting contemplation of humanity’s elemental relationship with nature.
Pulse by This is Loop: This UK creative collective presents vibrant, kinetic artworks alive with radiant light and electric energy. Designed to inspire curiosity and playful interaction, these works perfectly capture RISE’s vibrant community spirit.
- Mirrors of Reflection by The RISE Collective: This brand-new installation features twenty-four soaring mirrored pillars arranged around a central monolith engraved with poetry. The reflective surfaces create a sanctuary for introspection, quietude, and shared connection among festival guests.
- Moons on the Horizon by The RISE Collective: Two ten-foot steel moons softly illuminated at the desert’s edge symbolize cycles, duality, and the mysterious allure of the horizon, adding a celestial ambiance to the festival’s environment.
- RISE HIGHER by The RISE Collective: A bold visual statement, this installation features four massive steel structures spelling “RISE” emerging from the desert floor. It serves as an iconic photo backdrop and symbolizes the festival’s ongoing journey of elevation and inspiration.
Combined, The Path and these mesmerizing art installations create a profound gateway into RISE Festival’s tenth anniversary—an intentionally designed journey of serenity, inspiration, and artistic celebration.This immersive gateway invites guests to arrive fully present, enriching their experience beneath the vast desert sky.
An Unforgettable Musical Journey
Complementing this rich artistic landscape, RISE Festival’s music lineup features world-renowned performers who each bring a unique sense of transformation and connection. Leading the lineup, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Calvin Harris, and John Mayer will ignite the desert with powerful and heartfelt performances, crafting immersive soundscapes that harmonize perfectly with the vast natural landscape.
With The Path setting a contemplative tone and the breathtaking art installations and music performances amplifying the communal spirit, RISE Festival’s tenth anniversary promises to be an unforgettable celebration of Imagination, mindfulness, and evolution amid one of the world’s most breathtaking landscapes.
