The Ultimate Guide To Forbidden Kingdom Music Festival

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By Kaitlyn Finley

Raveraide Blog Writer

Going to Forbidden Kingdom and want to learn more about the festival?

Calling all headbangers, bass baddies, and all my wompy kings and queens! The weather isn’t the only hot thing happening in Florida this June! Forbidden Kingdom Music Festival is taking place at the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando on June 9^th and 10^th this year. If you’ve never heard of this festival before, it’s basically Florida’s mini Lost Lands. Forbidden Kingdom brings out the hottest names in genres like dubstep, riddim, drum and bass, and more. The festival’s theme is all about medieval times, dragons, and warriors, so get ready to go to battle with the bass! There’s also literal Forbidden Kingdom lore called “The Forbidden Tale” which you can read about here. It truly is such an amazing festival and everyone I know who has gone absolutely adores it. Now, here’s everything you need to know!

Ultimate Guide to Forbidden Kingdom

Forbidden Kingdom 2021 Recap Video

1.) How do I start planning for Forbidden Kingdom?

If you’re reading this section, you most likely bought your ticket already. Yay! I promise you won’t regret it. Now, you’re probably going to want to buy a neck brace… You’ll thank me later.

Since Forbidden Kingdom is just a regular two-day festival with no camping, it’s a pretty simple festival that doesn’t require too much planning. However, I always say it’s better to over-plan so everything goes as smoothly as possible! First things first (and I say this for every festival), you want to make sure your body is in its best possible physical condition before the festival weekend. This is especially important for Forbidden Kingdom because trust me, the music will have you going absolutely feral. Pre-fest preparation is vital because it will help improve your energy, stamina, and immunity, which will come in handy for the two long days and late nights. I usually recommend exercising regularly, eating nutritious foods, and getting plenty of good sleep every day for at least one or two weeks before the festival. Most importantly, hydrate, hydrate, HYDRATE! Pro tip: Drinking Raveraide is a great way to get your hydration up. 😉

Next, you want to thoroughly plan and coordinate your travel and lodging plans. If you’re going with a group, make sure everyone plans everything together and stays on the same page about everything. Try to do this earlier than later, because things just get more stressful and hectic the closer you get to the festival! A great thing about Forbidden Kingdom is that it takes place in Orlando, so the traveling process is pretty straightforward and there are plenty of places to stay. If you are taking a plane to Florida, you will most likely fly into the Orlando International Airport, which is about a 25-minute drive from the festival venue and a 25-minute drive from Downtown Orlando. To get a good idea of where exactly the venue is, click here to see a map of the surrounding area. There are hundreds of different hotels you can choose from that are close to the venue, and you can use this link to find a good one. If you’re friends with someone who attends the University of Central Florida, I definitely recommend staying with them to save some money. UCF is only about a 20-minute drive from the venue!

In regard to transportation to and from the festival, Uber and Lyft will be available, but I personally prefer coordinating rides with people or having a designated driver. I say this because it’s pretty easy to get an Uber or Lyft when you’re going to the festival but getting one when you’re trying to leave is a nightmare. Last year, I was stranded at a gas station for a whole hour just waiting for an Uber! If you can’t find anyone to ride with or no one in your group wants to drive, try to schedule an Uber or Lyft ahead of time to make sure you can secure a ride.

2.) What will the weather be like?

This information is extremely important and can potentially make or break your festival experience, so LISTEN UP! Forbidden Kingdom is happening in June, so here’s a quick equation that tells you what you need to know: June + Florida = HOT. I won’t even bother sugarcoating this to you guys, it’s going to be real spicy outside. Florida temperatures can get well into the 90s in June, and the powerful sun does not care about anyone’s feelings. Forbidden Kingdom’s gates also open at 1pm, so the first few hours of the festival happen during the hottest times of the day. I’m stressing this information so much because it can be very dangerous to party in intense heat, especially if you are partaking in any shenanigans early on in the day.

Luckily there are a few things you can do to protect yourself and get some relief from the heat when you’re at the festival. First of all, make sure you use lots of sunscreen! Last year I was able to bring in a travel-size sunscreen which I used to reapply every hour. Some other useful things you will want to bring are sunglasses, body wipes for the sweat, and some kind of cooling device like a fan or cooling towels. More importantly, please remember to drink tons of water. The heat will unfortunately increase your chances of dehydration by a lot, so you need to have water on you at all times during the day. Your best option is to bring a hydropack. Inside the festival, there are a few shaded areas you can hang out and there is an indoor stage if you need a break! Once the sun goes down, it’s still pretty warm but is much more comfortable.

As for the actual weather, it will most likely be clear and sunny, but there’s always the risk of rain. Forbidden Kingdom goes down in rain or shine, so just keep an eye on the weather forecast the week of the festival and bring a poncho just in case if it looks like there might be some rain!

3.) What do I bring with me into the festival?

Forbidden Kingdom is a regular festival with no camping, so whatever you bring with you inside the festival is everything you got for the day. If you want to know what you are and aren’t allowed to bring in, check out the Acceptable and Prohibited Items List on the official website. At Forbidden Kingdom last year, I took on the role of ultimate rave mom, so I’ll just tell you everything I miraculously was able to stuff into my bag. The bag I used is this hydropack from Sojouner; it’s super spacious and works great! I started by packing the essentials, which include a small pouch with my ID and money, a pashmina, a tapestry to sit on, a fan, earplugs, a portable charger, and sunglasses. Some other things I packed that really came in handy were hygiene essentials (like deodorant, perfume, wipes, tissues, chapstick), bandaids, hair ties, sunscreen, gum, boom boom sticks, Raveraide, and a bandana. To enhance your festival experience, I would also bring little gifts and kandi to trade with! I always just go to the dollar store to find a bunch of little toys to hand out to people!

4.) What can I expect when I get to Forbidden Kingdom?

Four words. BASS. IN. YO. FACE. As soon as you walk into the festival, prepare to have your ears blessed and your soul blasted into another dimension. Forbidden Kingdom may be a fairly small festival, but the sounds and production are quite the opposite. Every single set goes astronomically hard, and even the first opening sets of the day will have you huffing and puffing. Absolute madness ensues as soon as those gates open! You can certainly expect lots of headbanging and the nastiest bass faces as far as the eye can see. There are four unique stages to explore, as well as an art car, vendor village, and plenty of neat things to discover. Don’t forget about the bars and all of the wonderful food options! The best thing to do as soon as you walk in is just to run around and see all the amazing things the festival has to offer! You can also expect to meet some of the coolest people ever! Bassheads are always a great crowd. Speaking of the crowd, you’ll definitely see some mosh pits at some of the more aggressive sets. If you see that pit opening up, you only have two options: prepare for battle, or RUN!

5.) Places/Things to check out at Forbidden Kingdom

One of my favorite activities at music festivals is to just run around aimlessly and see everything the festival has to offer. At Forbidden Kingdom, there are plenty of cool things to find! Here are a few that are definitely worth checking out:

Vendor Village! Forbidden Kingdom has a massive vendor area with so many incredible shops. In 2022 they had the vendor area under a giant pavilion, and it was a great place to take a break from the music and to get out of the sun during the day.
The drum and bass takeover at the Village Stage (indoor stage)! Where are all my DnB lovers at? On one of the days last year, there were back-to-back drum and bass artists playing all day at the Village Stage and it was INSANE. Hopefully they do the same this year!
All of the cool props and photo-ops! There are a bunch of awesome decorations sprinkled all around the venue that enhance the theme of the festival. Perfect for pictures!
The VIP area! From what I saw last year, the VIP area looked absolutely amazing. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go in (broke girl problems) but if you got that upgraded ticket, make sure to check it out!
The rail. At any set. This one is self-explanatory. You haven’t properly listened to bass music unless you’re holding on to dear life on the rail that’s one headbang away from disintegrating. If that’s your vibe, go for it!

6.) What will the music be like?

Forbidden Kingdom is a bass-only festival. You can find all kinds of bass genres like dubstep, riddim, drum and bass, experimental bass, deep dubstep, and more. Here is the 2022 lineup to give you a better idea of the type of music and the kinds of artists that will be at Forbidden Kingdom!

7.) What kind of expenses should I consider?

It’s a little hard to say exactly how much you will spend at Forbidden Kingdom because everyone will have different circumstances and experiences. To help you visualize everything a bit better, here’s a list of the main possible expenses that you should keep in mind:

The cost of the ticket plus any upgrades like GA+ or VIP.
All traveling expenses (plane tickets, transportation to and from the airport, lodging, etc.)
Gas money if you are driving or money for Uber/Lyft.
Money for parking (I believe it’s $20).
New outfits and anything you buy for the festival.
Food and drinks inside and outside the festival.
Shopping money to use at the vendor village.
Extra money for emergencies and miscellaneous purchases.

Annnnnnnddddddd that’s a wrap! Thank you so much for making it all the way to the end, it means the world that you took the time to read everything I wrote! If you read this post because you needed some Forbidden Kingdom guidance, I hope it helped you. If this is your first year going, I am so excited for you, and you are going to have a fantastic time! Just make sure to go with an open mind, no judgement, and your absolute best vibes. I will see all your wonderful souls in June! Peace, love, and PLUR. <3

Curious about what other big music festivals are going on throughout the year? Be sure to check out some of our other articles to see which festivals you might want to add to your travel plans:

This post was all about the ultimate guide to Forbidden Kingdom Music Festival.

Kaitlyn Finley

Kaitlyn was born and raised in sunny South Florida and is now living in Orlando. She is attending the University of Central Florida and working towards a bachelor's degree in marketing. Her music festival journey began in 2019 at EDC Orlando, and it was absolutely life-changing. Her love of EDM grew exponentially as festivals continued to gift her the joys of love, friendship, and belongingness. Her main goals in life are to attend as many festivals as she can and eventually have a career in the EDM entertainment industry. Experimental bass is her genre of choice, Okeechobee is her favorite festival, and LSDream is her current favorite artist. Follow her on IG @kaitlynsexperience!