Live music, neon lights and plenty of food were all key parts of this year’s DUSK Music Festival on Nov. 9-10.

“My partner and I come every year to DUSK and it is always a lot of fun,” festival attendee Danny Kilgre said. “We really like the mixture of music that happens each year, so we are always wondering who is going to play each year.”

DUSK is an annual two-day music festival held at Jácome Plaza in November. The festival originally started in the year 2016 as the brainchild of University of Arizona graduates Steve Stratigouleas and John Rallisand. Today, the festival typically garners a total of around 15,000 guests and 40 artists. The event is characterized by its wide variety of music genres from EDM to indie bands from around the Tucson area.

The fact that the event is based in Tucson provides an extra appeal for Claire Lee, a fan experiences and ticketing desk member of the event staff.

“This is my second year working […] ticketing and stuff like that. I just love the community that [DUSK] brings, and especially the fact that they’re doing this down in Tucson,” Lee said.

“I’m actually from the Phoenix area where we always have a lot of big music events, but the fact that they’re able to do something down here — it’s really cool,” Lee said.

When it comes to the nitty gritty of DUSK, the decision of which artists are chosen to perform can make or break the festival for friends Brayden Verse and David Rugeder.

“We came because we really wanted to see Disco Lines and Steve Aoki,” Verse said. “We have only seen Disco Lines so far, and he was amazing. The visuals on the display on stage were really cool with the laser lights.”

“Disco Lines’ mixing was really good and he played all his hits. It was also very EDM and hardcore which is not what people expect when they show up to Disco Lines. But, he is really good and so was Bond, the artist on stage before him,” Rugeder said. “Bond played their usual songs, but they added a lot of bass to make it better for an EDM concert, which makes it more interesting for the audience.”

Both Verse and Rugeder agreed that they had no negative experience with how the event was run.

“The only issue I have had is my headache from head banging too hard to the music. But other than that, I have no complaints,” said Rugeder.

Kilgre and her partner also came to DUSK to see a particular artist: Masego.

“So far, we are really excited to see Masego. We haven’t seen him yet, but we are extremely excited about him performing tonight,” Kilgre said. “But, we also did just see Austeria and she was very, very good. I was about it.”

However, music is not all that DUSK has to offer for its many fans. Friends and food play heavily into the experience, according to Kilgre.

“We like everything here. The food is amazing and the people that we have met are awesome,” Kilgre and her partner said.

Although DUSK Music Festival just recently concluded, Kilgre, like others, is already anticipating its return and further ability to showcase the artistry and connection-building of music.

“I can’t wait for next year,” Kilgre said.