By Rachel Bui
Photo by @HenryHwu
New York City’s Governors Ball (Gov Ball for short) returned this year with a new location – Flushing Meadows Corona Park. This change in venue turned out to be an ideal location: not only was the festival in a proper park (which offered often overlooked benefits like trees and grass to compliment the vibe), it was also located by public transportation, making it more accessible for festival attendees to get to and from the venue. By holding the festival at the park, this allowed some flexibility in the spacing between stages, which wasn’t terrible to trek when traveling between stages for different sets. And with a lineup so strong, there was a lot of traveling between stages rather than camping at certain stages.
Another thing to note besides the music was diverse food options for everyone. A particular vendor to highlight is Everything Legendary, a plant based food company founded by Duane Cheers. The company had previously been on Shark Tank and secured funding from Mark Cuban, and has partnered with Live Nation to serve as a vendor at many of its locations. Flavorful, I can hardly tell it’s vegan.
The weekend was opened by Awfbeat, a fresh-faced duo who are “hip-hop inspired” when it comes to their music. As two young men who don’t take themselves too seriously, it was entertaining and fun to watch them perform their set.
Rina Sawayama was one of my favorite performers of the weekend. A triple threat (can act, sing, and dance), she utilized all of her talents during her set, creating a theatrical performance. It was mesmerizing to watch her switch between flirty, vulnerable, awkward, and confident within her set while belting out her lyrics.
Other highlights of the festival aside from the headliners (Lizzo, Odesza, and Kendrick Lamar) (in no particular order) include KayCyy, Saba, Giveon, Ari Lennox, Remi Wolf, aespa, and Lil Nas X.
all photos by Rachel Bui except where noted