I have never been to a music festival as large as Life is Beautiful. My husband and I really wanted to attend a festival this year and we truly had our sights set on FYF Fest in our city of Los Angeles. Well, that line-up simply wasn’t curated for Andrew and I so we decided to skip it. We were pretty bummed! We looked at other festivals but nothing seemed worth our time. I had read only excellent things about Life is Beautiful in Las Vegas. On a whim, we decided to risk it all and buy early bird tickets for the festival without knowing the line-up. I am not sure how but I don’t think I could have created a better line-up myself. When artists like Lorde, 2 Chainz, Haim and Gorillaz were announced, I just about lost my mind and started crying. We had our early bird tickets and now the line-up was amazing? I couldn’t wait till the festival.

Flash forward to Friday, September 22 and we were in our rental car, on the way to Las Vegas! We made a colorful pit stop at Seven Magic Mountains and a delicious diner along the way. We made it to Las Vegas about 30 minutes before 2 Chainz was set to go on stage. Seeing his set was a must so we checked into the 4 Queens Hotel, changed our clothes and RAN to the festival. Check-in was a breeze, which is always my first worry about any music festival or large event. I truly appreciated that there was a separate security line for people with no and/or small bags. I also liked that there were mandatory metal detectors. I much prefer to know that the event space is safe for all.

We raced to the Downtown Stage, which was the biggest stage. We had made it in time for 2 Chainz, considering he went on late. Win for us! When he finally came on, he did not disappoint, despite being confined to a wheelchair for a broken foot! I guess its true what they say; Pretty Girls Do like Trap (I do!). We had quite some time before Lorde went on and she was my artist I COULDN’T miss at the festival. We killed some time by seeing Sean Paul’s set (not great, as he didn’t really do much) and more importantly, we checked out the art at the festival. There was SO much art and I was impressed the entire weekend by the grand scale of the art installations. This really isn’t just a music festival. It is a music and art festival. If you like music or art in any capacity, you will find yourself quite pleased by this festival. I know I was and this was Day 1!

Lorde was SUPERB, not only because she is one of my favorite artists ever but her set was top notch. She was fully focused and committed to bring the audience the best musical experience possible. She succeeded and I am forever grateful to Life is Beautiful for booking her! We ended Day 1 by seeing Chance the Rapper close the Downtown Stage. Since we entered the festival in the evening on Day 1, we made sure to enter the event a bit earlier the next day so we could further explore the art! We hustled over to the art motel as soon as we got in on Day 2. It is exactly what it sounds like; an entire motel transformed into art, with every room being drastically different than the next. It was basically an Instagrammer’s heaven. The Art Motel was the most unique art installation I have ever had the opportunity to view!

Besides the immense amount of art we saw on Day 2, we also managed to catch Broods, Schoolboy Q, Cage the Elephant, Milky Chance, Whethan and Wiz Khalifa. Whethan is a DJ responsible for my favorite song of 2017; “Sleepy Eyes” by Elohim. I got to dance to this live and it pretty much made my year. Wiz Khalifa was SO COOL and I am happy I can say I have seen him live now.

By Day 3, we were exhausted but so stoked to see the Gorillaz close out to the festival later that night. We somehow managed to make it to The Strip on Sunday and we enjoyed a brunch buffet at The Mirage hotel. Of course, we did some slot machine gambling, as my husband LOVES it. I was so glad we stayed on Fremont Street instead of The Strip because the festival is located directly in Fremont Street. We simply walked to and from each day! After brunch, we headed back to our hotel, changed and got ready for the last day of Life is Beautiful. On Sunday’s schedule was Hippo Campus, De La Soul, Haim and Gorillaz. In between sets, we explored the festival grounds one more time. This festival has so much to offer that if you don’t take the time to actually discover whats around each corner, you will miss a lot. I am glad we took our time and I think we saw almost everything!

De La Soul ended up being Andrew’s favorite act of the entire festival. Haim was pretty good and lastly, Gorillaz were OUT OF THIS WORLD. I never thought I would see the Gorillaz live but it was so fun being there with some of their biggest fans. Everyone knows a Gorillaz song! At the end of the 3 day festival, I felt so many emotions. Exhaustion, happiness, and excitement that I had found an annual music festival that felt like it was created for my husband and I.

It has been a week since Life is Beautiful and I still have no voice, mostly from me screaming Lorde lyrics during her set. I have thought about the festival endlessly this past week and I am already excited to go back. I truly think Life is Beautiful is an excellent music and art festival. I know the line-up was in my favor this year but honestly, even if there weren’t too many artists I was excited about, I know I would have had a good time because the festival space alone is worth it. How often do you get to walk in Downtown Las Vegas in the street with no cars? Every attendee I encountered was kind and very excited to be there. I love that the festival encourages the appreciation and beauty of life. I also appreciated the safety of the festival. There was an incident on Saturday with a very drunk man. I spotted him being very inappropriate towards young girls. I quickly ran to a cop, told him the situation and the cops immediately grabbed the intoxicated man. I was so happy knowing that everyone, especially young girls, were safe at Life is Beautiful.

If you aren’t sure about Life is Beautiful, let me be the one to tell you that it is simply AWESOME in every sense of the word. I highly recommend getting your tickets when Early Bird is announced. It was $50.00 off of the regular price so our wristbands were $250 each. I would honestly pay $200 to see Lorde alone so it was worth it to me! I am so appreciative towards the amount of effort and work that was put into the festival. It made the cost of this trip COMPLETELY worth it. There was never a lack of things to do and the musical artists were top-notch and professional. I want to be a part of this festival for many years to come! This may have been my first trip to Life is Beautiful but if its up to my husband and I, it will not be our last.