EDM & Hip Hop Fest Deep Tropics Returns to Bicentennial Park This Weekend, Aug. 27-28

While we’re busy gearing up for next weekend’s return of Bonnaroo, as well as looking ahead to Pilgrimage, Furnace Fest, Moon River, Louder Than Life, Shaky Knees, and other nearby events in the coming weeks, the area’s later-than-usual festival season is actually kicking off with a festival even closer to home in just a few short days. That would be Deep Tropics, the EDM and hip hop heavy event that’s been taking place in Nashville for a few years now, and will return this weekend, Aug. 27-28, at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, where the last iteration of the fest previously took place in 2019.

Boasting a two-day, two-stage lineup packed with hip hop that mostly skews local and EDM/DJ performers from all over, Deep Tropics is the type of boutique event that’s become more and more popular as the major festival landscape has gotten more crowded in recent years. Giving a particular eye to curation and aesthetics, this year’s event will “host a massive, ancient temple inspired stage” and the promise of “intricate lasers, choreographed LED, moving lights, and art installs.” The event also has a deep commitment to becoming the nation’s greenest festival, and has launched a nonprofit initiative, Deep Culture which aims “to curate experiences that activate transformation of self, community, and planet,” with plans for zero waste initiatives, and to not only to be energy and water neutral, but to offset more than they consume.

The Friday lineup boasts CloZee, Dombresky, ESCPE, LP Giobbi, Luttrell, Sango, and Whethan on the Meru Amphitheater stage, and Billy Cave, Bobi Stevkovski, DJ Smoke, Dylan DeMarcus, MUUS, Namir Blade, Reaux Marquez, The BlackSon, and Xavier BLK at the Congo Soundsystem stage, while Saturday features Cassian, CharlestheFirst, Claude VonStroke, Hourglass, Joe Kay, Moon Boots, and Yung Bae on Meru, and AB Eastwood, Brian Brown, Daily Bread, Devon James, Qemist, $avvy, Subrinse, Spekti, and Tim Gent on Congo Soundsystem. Tickets for both days, which run from 3:30 to 11 p.m., are still available at both GA and VIP levels here.

Additionally, Thursday pre-show events will take place at 9 p.m. at The Back Corner, with LP Giobbi, Treasure Fingers, and Lux Velour, and 9 p.m. at Aile 5 in Atlanta, for those making the drive, with Qrion, Paraleven, and Akarsh. Expect late night sets each night as well, with Friday boasting Mr. Carmack and KDSML 11 p.m. at a still-secret location, and Luttrell, Qrion, HAUMS 11 p.m. at The Back Corner. Saturday late night includes Green Velvet and Cassian 11 p.m. at Brooklyn Bowl; Soulection, Joe Kay, Jared Jackson, and Jon Santana 11 p.m. at The Back Corner; and Lab Group with Chmura 11 p.m. at Acme. And finally, a post-party will go down Sunday at noon on the Nashville Underground rooftop, with Soul Clap, Cruel Mistress, Devon James, Jhenetics, Knyghts, and Maggie Vanderbilt.

While Deep Tropics was one of the first nearby fests to announce with Covid policies already in place, most other major events have rolled out more aggressive requirements in the face of the recent Delta variant-fueled surge, leaving Deep Tropics’ rules looking a bit more lax by comparison. Instead of vaccine or negative test requirements, they’ve reduced overall capacity at the event (which, already, is much smaller than many festivals), and are working on something of an honor system in asking those who’ve displayed symptoms or knowingly been exposed to Covid not to attend. We’d prefer to see more aggressive measures in place, and hope that if you do choose to attend, you limit your exposure to people in the outside world afterward. Read the full Covid policy here.

If Deep Tropics is on your weekend agenda, you can check out the full schedule for the main event below, and head to event’s site and socials at the links at the bottom of the page for more info.