We recently interviewed the man behind Tropical Dreams Festival Shane Burke bout Tropical Dreams 2027 happening on January 15th – 17th at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA. Tropical Dream is one o the only Old School Rave Festivals in existence and unlike primitive camping festivals its going down at a Hotel taken over by ravers.
Interviewer : Aeryk NYCRavers
Interviewee : Shane Burke
Tropical Dreams lands in mid-January, right in the dead of winter. What’s the thinking behind throwing a tropical escape when everyone’s coldest?
After doing events and producing events for other companies for close to 2 decades I noticed that winter events were always themed towards snow/cold etc. Spare people who are into winter sports most of us in New England don’t want to be reminded it’s cold! Tropical Dreams was our play on Christmas in July, but in reverse!
What’s new for 2027 that returning attendees should be most excited about?
As usual we have dug deep on this lineup and brought out countless artists that have never played one of our events in our 22 year history! Beyond that we have some fresh ideas for decor and our mural art company we hire PNLZ has a large assortment of pieces that have never been showcased at our festival before!
If you had to sum up what sets Tropical Dreams apart from other festivals, what would you say?
This isn’t a festival that happens to have a hotel. The whole hotel gets taken over by ravers for the weekend. How does that change the experience, and what happens when there’s nobody but your own people in the building?
Having the entire building to ourselves makes it truly special. No one is banging on your door complaining it’s too loud, and you know that everyone you run into is there for the same reason you are, to have an amazing time with positive and uplifting people! The hotel staff is fantastic. They get to know our attendees and go out of their way to ensure everyone has an amazing time.
Every festival has its own personality. How would you describe the crowd that Tropical Dreams attracts, and what kind of culture are you building around it?
Tropical Dreams attracts people that are truly passionate about the music and the community they’re involved with. No matter what huge act is in town that weekend our crowd of loyal regulars still choose us and that means the world to me. The community is always spawning ideas to make the event more fun and inclusive without any guidance from our team. We try to view this as everyone’s festival. What you bring to our community is what helps make it special.
What part of the lineup or programming are you most excited for people to experience?
Personally I am excited about booking two of my favorite acts of all times. Grammy award winning Todd Edwards has produced music with Daft Punk and Moon Boots has been releasing countless highly sought after tunes encompassing all aspects of electronic music history. Beyond that we have two incredible turntablist acts in Dj Godfather and Q Bert ready to put on a mind blowing show. Also if you’ve never seen Lee Ross before you’re in for a serious treat. He creates house music live as a one man band with saxophone, flute, and vocal effects along side a keyboard and some drum machines.
For someone who’s never been and is still deciding, what would you tell them?
Our event team has been at this for 22 years at this point and we have people who attend that have been there for us since day one! Our reputation of quality creative electronic music acts, stellar av production and a vibe/culture that is warm/safe/inclusive has ensured successful events in an industry where event producers come and go quickly. Our events are so well trusted that we sold 400 tickets in the first month before a lineup was even revealed.
What’s the moment you hope people remember most once the weekend’s over?
We hope people remember they’re finally involved in a community that loves and cares about them and that they should take that positive attitude out into the world and make it a better place.
We hope to see you there this January! There also is a dope documentary about the festival you can check out here.
