Awesome People We Met at EDC UK 2015

This past weekend, more than 35,000 Headliners from throughout the UK and beyond descended upon the National Bowl, located an hour and a half north of London, for EDC UK. Here, the crowd demonstrated that while there are subtle differences between the United States and the United Kingdom—elevators are lifts, fries are chips, and people drive on the other side of the darn road—ultimately, everyone speaks the language of dance music and its various dialects, including trance, bass, house and techno.

And what a glorious day for a party. Although the UK is famous for grey skies and rain, the weather was warm and utterly pleasant, with blue skies and sun for the majority of the event. As it’s the peak of summer, the sky stayed light until roughly 10pm, which meant there were loads of fireworks set off in the festival’s single hour of darkness.

As always, there was a dazzlig array of things to see and do during the show, and the green, wooded venue offered a lush natural backdrop to the day’s events. The festival featured some of the most intense carnival rides we’ve ever seen, fantastic art, standout sets by artists including Pendulum, Sub Focus and Jamie Jones, and a stylish crew of Headliners who proved that citizens of the UK are serious party people.

Here are 11 especially awesome Headliners we met during EDC UK 2015.

Name: Liyana, photographed with her friend Reena
From: Malaysia (studying in London)
Age: 24 (It was her birthday!)
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? We’re really excited about Tiësto tonight.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? Different walks of life come together. It doesn’t matter people’s color or background; everyone is coming for the love of the music, so it feels like love here.

Name: Seache
From: London, UK
Age: 18
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? Hardwell!
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? It just makes everyone go mental. It’s awesome.

Name: Kelly
From: Essex, UK
Age: 20
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? Sub Focus.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? The vibes, everyone getting together, and the energy.

Name: Matt
From: Nottingham, UK
Age: 29
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? It’s so relaxed and so chilled out here. Everyone is so cool and happy.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? Everyone can have a place in the UK scene, because there’s a genre for everyone. Here today, there are a bunch of different stages to go and be happy. I’m just about to go over to the bass stage, because I love that sound, and I’m also getting geared up for Tiësto tonight.

Name: Carla
From: Italy
Age: 21
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? Being able to dress how you want, and people don’t care if you’re behaving weirdly. I like that.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? The people, hands down.

Name: Patricia
From: Botswana
Age: 21
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? Seeing Hardwell at kineticFIELD was awesome. Just the vibe overall is amazing.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? Being together and having the freedom to do what you want while you’re here. I love it.

Name: Tyler
From: Arizona, US (studying in the UK)
Age: 21
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? I’m ready to go to the mainstage. We’ve been exploring all of these other areas and haven’t spent much time yet in the Bowl, so I’m excited for that. The whole experience is really exciting as a whole.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? I’m studying abroad here in the UK, and everyone is so nice, and I’m having such a good time. It’s just a lot of fun.

Name: Frenchie
From: I live between France and San Diego.
Age: 32
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: Twice, and I was just at EDC Vegas.
What’s been the best part of your day so far? I’m loving every minute of this. I live for this. The best part is connecting, uniting, giving my light to people, and showing them how it’s done. Peace, love, unity and respect is what it’s all about.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? The best part is that they actually let you wear what you want without judging you. If you go to France, they’ll give you big-time dirty looks. Here, you can be who you want, and they embrace you and credit you. I like that.

Name: Cameron
From: Silverstone, UK
Age: 19
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? Seeing so many people out enjoying the music and weather.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? It’s exciting, and it’s always changing. There’s a massive variety, so you have to keep on your toes to know what’s going on.

Name: Alison and Tim
From: Northampton, UK
Age: 43 and 44
Number of times you’ve been to EDC UK: First
What’s been the best part of your day so far? We watched the trailer for EDC Vegas, and we both sat there and said, “We’ve gotta do that.” We loved being in the center of the crowd for Hardwell. Being here is kind of like being in a little time machine, and you just kind of float off. It’s lovely.
What’s the best thing about UK dance music culture? Face painting.