Created just five years ago, We Belong Here has quickly become one of the fastest-growing EDM festivals. This year, it took another step forward by expanding from two to three days.
Behind this growth is, of course, the music, with artists such as Kaskade, Chris Lake, Gorgon City, and Tiësto featured in the February edition. But the festival’s success goes beyond the lineup. We Belong Here has built a strong connection with its audience, rooted in its overall concept. Held at historic Virginia Beach Park, just minutes from downtown, the event offers an open environment that allows attendees to move freely between its three stages, with transitional spaces designed to integrate with the natural beauty of the surroundings.
Contributing to this immersive atmosphere across the site and its three stages —including the 360° main stage— is a carefully crafted lighting design featuring over 100 CHAUVET Professional fixtures supplied by Technical Arts Group.
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One of the key ideas behind our design was that the production should not be confined to the stage, but instead surround the audience. By placing lighting elements throughout the site —across the main stage area, pathways, and surrounding structures— we created the sense that the production wraps around the crowd rather than being something viewed from a distance. This helps the audience feel immersed and makes the entire festival space part of the show, explains designer Moshe Baskin.
Creating and maintaining this atmosphere was a central goal for the production team, including Baskin, festival production manager Riad Feratovic; L1 operator Michael Salvatore; house lighting designer Jeffrey Giancaspro; lighting technicians Mokishini Luis, Jean Pierre (“JP”) Pesantez, Nicolas Moreno, Randy Castro and Joseph Eskew; as well as laser vendor Coherent Desi and laser operator Will Kent.
Another key objective was to design a versatile system that offered maximum creative flexibility to visiting lighting designers. “We created a ‘playground’ with eight different fixture types and staggered configurations specifically designed for versatility”, says Baskin. “We also aimed for a balance between video and lighting. A key part of that was restraint: the system was designed to support the lasers, not compete with them. We avoided saturating the stage with LED during laser moments and ensured that beams and atmospheric effects enhanced them rather than taking away their impact”.
On the lighting side, 58 COLORado PXL Bar 16 motorized battens were used, 22 of which were mounted on the overhead structure to provide top lighting for performers. By taking advantage of their 90-degree tilt, the team was also able to highlight the stage architecture and nearby floral installations, giving them a dual role. The remaining battens were distributed on towers to deliver immersive lighting across the site.
The rig also included 50 Color STRIKE M fixtures, arranged on the stage’s back grid. Their staggered positioning alongside blinders created a powerful wall-of-light effect, essential during high-energy moments.
One notable absence from the main stage’s setup was a video wall.
Not having LED screens is a core part of the festival’s identity. We Belong Here deliberately avoids using them. Since the beginning, the idea has been to create a visual experience driven by lighting, lasers, and stage architecture rather than large video surfaces, says Baskin.
According to the design team, this approach creates a more immediate and immersive environment —exactly the kind of experience that has resonated with We Belong Here attendees.
