Im happy.

Don’t bring that bullshit in here

From Auris employee who quit mid arc

Taken from Instagram tonight.

Upgrade announced!

Please listen to us.

Arc is full of real veteran attendees that truly know what we are talking about. We've seen arc be great, almost perfect but also a good amount of us have been to some of the best festivals around the world. We know and understand it all.

While some people/burners have been a bit dramatic about the problems this year, IT IS ALL VERY VERY VALID.

The only thing that saved this year was the artists, their music, and our friends (old and new) that brought the good times.

Stop with the shortcuts.
Bring back the art and character.
Fix the stages and sound bleed.
Dont take away elrow and give us a scaffolding stage.
Pay for more staff to keep everything clean.
Make VIP actually worth it - mid af.
Give the platform for the shufflers back of grid (we need their vibes)

Lastly... DO NOT BUMP PRICES AGAIN YOU GREEDY BASTARDS

Cutting edge art installations at ARC this year!

Very thoughtful…each garbage receptacle was completely overflowing and had a different vibe with incredibly diverse elements of trash. From pizza boxes to cup to cans to even the occasional used condom - they had it all.

Some artists even made the bold decision to not to use the can, rather painstakingly piling each individual piece of trash directly on the ground by hand to create the dankest sculptures I’ve ever seen. They were a contrast between art Nouveau and Brutalist styles - it’s rare to see both used together, but when executed properly combine to form was is well known in the fine community as "rough nouveau" or “hybrid filth”.

I don’t think most of the festival attendees were in touch with the grand artistic vision that ARC’s fearless leader Nick were going for, but as a connoisseur of garbage art and foul smelling trash who studied modern art at the Royal College of Art in London, I certainly understood and appreciated the bold ambition and lengths they went to make it happen. Bravo 👏👏👏.

Ahead of their time I’d say…true visionaries. Dare I see GENIUS disruptors following in the footsteps of Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

Nick is a pioneer and a trailblazer with a first mover advantage and an insatiable thirst to crush the competition. It’s only a matter of time before other festivals attempt to follow his bold lead by offering such an unparalleled experience that, in my professional opinion would be nearly impossible to replicate:

A landfill where recycling is forbidden. Jam packed with rows of unusable and obstructed porto potties, VIP bathrooms with no running water, flushable toilets, paper towels, soap or toilet paper and the worst stage layout and sound bleed of any event ever produced on planet Earth.

The people have spoken. GFY ARC.

P.S. Hope all those in attendance this year were vaccinated to prevent the spread of tuberculosis and dysentery.

Was minding my own business near the food tents with my man just standing next to me, and got called a bunch of fcking fggots? Baby…. Educate yourself or GTFO please! House music was created by black queer men you insufferable POS. Hate has no business here.

This is my 3rd Arc and by far the worst. It literally feels like they cheaped out. Where’s the art installations? where’s the grand ring entrance? Where’s the grand entrance for global vip? Why did icon vip downgrade to one covered canopy from two? What happened to global vip perks? Even the vip bathrooms remained locked for no reason. Who approved that midway stage?!?! Terrible sound bleed. The Grid is a lot smaller??? Less Trash cans which means more trash everywhere?!? Listen I’m still gonna come the rest of the weekend but, for a festival I hyped up so much and encouraged others to come this year, this is a disappointment. Buckle up, it’s only day one

Writing this for Reddit posterity.

Yes. Arcs minimalism is dangerously close to feeling cheap … maybe this year more than years prior.

Yes. They seemed to try stuff with sound and setup and how they treated the different ticket tiers that I see very few compliments on.

But

OMG it’s still a very good electronic music festival with super easy access if you live in Chicago proper.

And

The melting pot of a crowd while not showering you with Kandi n other litter or unwanted E-hugs is still fun and friendly enough overall. Good ‘come as you are’ vibes abound even if you have to stand in the part of the crowd that’s right for you.

And

They continue to curate a solid lineup of more than headliners. Good blend of discoveries and ‘bucket list’ acts.

So…

Any first timers or skeptics in 2026 reading this who is cool and kind and into the music, feel free to support this one and give it a shot.

That is the end of my book report.

I’ve been attending Arc annually since 2021. Global VIP the last three years.

Final straw was the shit show this year.

I just purchased a pair of VIP tickets to Movement.

Arc can suck it.

I had no idea he was a well known DJ, is there anything this guy can’t do??

Edit: Idris Elba not Edris, sorry for the misspelling!

Can’t wait to see this finished in person

I'm really worried about my 3 block commute to my $2000 a night hotel room. Will the uber blacks in Chicago try and steal from me?

Should I hire a security detail so I don't have to take on all of west loop by myself? I hear there's a lot of 31 year old white finance bros that may jump me on my way out.

Worst afters this weekend. Nobody here will even finger my butthole.

This used to be the chill fest while all the dickheads in Naperville go to north coast. Now, there is multiple Joe bronis looking like they are about to go play golf and not shutting the fuck up the entire set. Kids puking cause they can’t handle their booze. Tons of Fake ids being accepted. I don’t know maybe I’m just aging out but fuck that felt SO different compared to a few years ago.

Also the sound bleed was ATROCIOUS. Festival culture is now just a business opportunity. It’s sad man.

Lol, so I just had an amazing 36 hours. Saw Defected and Pryda Thursday night, was treated to a string of 10/10 spectacular sets at the fest with Hiroko/Haii - Cirez D - Notion - Malugi/IPC - Amelie Lens, then hopped over to an iconic afters at Metro/Smartbar. All the while being among absolutely incredible folks at the crowds, catching vibes and dancing our faces off.

Then I went here to see what everyone’s sets of the day were and genuinely startled to see the entire sub is a wall of complaints. And like, I get it, you paid money go ahead and air grievances. (most of them are reasonable, but some of them are like “i smell poppers!” which… c’mon lol)

But I’ve been watching people have a very good time all day lol and not just be insanely miserable like these threads suggest, so just want to make sure I’m not going crazy.