Inside the Disco(ball) Glory of La Luna

The mini-festival is the best type of festival, and this weekend MATTE Projects’ La Luna hit all the right notes. Formerly known as Full Moon Festival, it has always been the perfect event to move past the tired and bloated mega-festivals that dominated your early twenties in favor of something buoyant, lean, and curated for your…let’s call it mid-twenties.

If you got there early you were treated to the perfect weather for the outdoor spaces where there were two stages, but also plenty of places to just lounge around for a pseudo-picnic/bbq vibe. Van Leeuwen ice cream; vegan tacos from Jajaja, or gyros from new Brooklyn favorite Gertie; both cocktails and mocktails featuring MatchaBar or Recess drinks, all helped maintain the relaxed energy we’ve always enjoyed at La Luna. Of course once vinyl maestro DJ Harvey hopped on the decks it signaled a change; such is the power of the disco legend, to quickly transform any event into a full blown dance party. That continued inside on the main stage, where the equally revered Moodyman, The Black Madonna, and DJ Tennis all pushed the energy. But there was more surprises still: the newly opened basement allowed for an extra stage, and doubled as the site of the after-hours party that went into the early Sunday hours. MATTE Projects once again delivered the summer party we all look forward to, but we’ll let the pictures (and the Soundcloud streams of Harvey and Madonna’s best mixes) do the rest of talking.

[Photo: Cesar Soto]

[Photo: Sam Wallander]

[Photo: Cesar Soto]

[Photo: Cesar Soto]

[Photo: Sam Wallander]

[Photo: Sam Wallander]

[Photo: Cesar Soto]

[Photo: Cesar Soto]

[Photo: Sam Wallander]

[Photo: James Emmerman]

[Photo: Cesar Soto]

[Photo: Sam Wallander]

[Photo: Jackie Lee]

[Photo: Jackie Lee]

[Photo: Sam Wallander]

[Photo: Jackie Lee]