Electronica on the Prairies: Head out to the Grassland to Experience The Graceland Festival, Sep 3-4

The Graceland Festival is set to bring pulsing electronica to the wide open grasslands outside of Beijing on the weekend of September 3 and 4.

The 28-hour non-stop festival will be located in Datan, a small city four hours away from the capital by bus. In a press release the PR and marketing manager at Black Sheep, the event's organizer wrote: "The space dedicated to us will be an immense prairie hosting three electronic music stages."

Each of those stages will cater to an electro sub-genre: techno music, deep house, and psytrance. Performers include DJ Weng Weng (the mind behind Intro Festival and Lantern Club); Oshi (who has performed at a number of major international festivals like Glastonbury and ADE, along with opening for major electronica acts like Steve Aoki); Ouyang (a rock and electronic musician also famed for owning the Yugong Yishan livehouse); Guo Jian aka Bass Guo, who sings in the reggae outfit Longshendao); and trance DJ Atoned Splendor.

Aside from the music, there'll also be plenty of stimulation for all the other senses, including a tattoo artist exhibition, lamb leg for all attendees (or an entire lamb for each VIP ticket holder), and it wouldn't be much of an electronic music festival without performances from poi dancers. Alcohol will be provided from Beijing's booze overlords Cheers Wine.

A secure camping ground will be set up for attendees that want to sleep under the shimmering grassland stars, while Mongolian gers (yurts) will also be available to book for higher maintenance guests. Buses will leave from Beijing throughout Saturday morning and return to the city on Sunday evening.

Advanced tickets for this one-of-a-kind prairie-electronica extravaganza are selling for RMB 380 or RMB 480 including transport, whereas on-site tickets are RMB 550. VIP passes cost RMB 9,800, which include one Mongolian yurt, 10 tickets plus transport, one whole roasted lamb and vegetarian dishes and drinks. When in Rome ...

Want to find out more? Click here to go to the event's Showstart page.

Photos: Black Sheep, Judi Zhou