SoCal’s destination poolside dance party once again got crowds in motion earlier this month in Palm Springs, Calif.
The August editions of annual dance fest Splash House returned to the desert enclave Aug. 12-14 and then again on Aug. 19-21, 2022. These August events conclude Splash House’s first ever three-weekend season, which launched this past June.
The back-to-back weekends drew 7,000 fans per day to a trio of hotel pools, where a cadre of producers including Nora En Pure, Elderbrook, Malaa, Sonny Fodera, Dabin and PNAU delivered sets as daytime temps reached the low 100s. After dark, the party continued with nighttime sets at the Palm Springs Air Museum (yes, a real museum for real airplanes!), with sets from Claude VonStroke, SG Lewis, Seth Troxler and more.
The summer 2022 Splash House events marked the event’s first parties since 2019, with the pandemic shutting down the 2020 and 2021 editions. Those years notwithstanding, we’re staring down nearly a decade of Splash House, with the event debuting in 2013 during the peak of the dance music boom and becoming a destination fest for artists from around the world.
“It’s kind of hard to do live bands by the pool, I’ll tell you that,” Splash House Founder told Billboard in 2017. “DJs definitely work. Just the setting of the desert and Palm Springs — everywhere around you is palm trees and mountains — there’s certain styles of electronic music that just fit perfectly with the setting and atmosphere. It all fits and makes sense for me.”
Whether you were posted up on a pool floatie during the most recent iteration or simply couldn’t get there, you can get a sense of the fest through some of the music played there. Below we’ve got three sets as scorching as the desert heat in August, with a hypnotic set full of bounce and swagger from L.A.-based producer Elohim, summery sounds as light and refreshing as an ice-cold hard seltzer from French duo Polo & Pan and a tough, often pummeling and occasionally ecstatic set from fellow Frenchman Dombresky. Check ’em out below.
