New York’s first, and only, floating dance party

Following the success of Sunset Sounds, we knew new yorkers were craving experiences that took them out of the city with their friends. So we set out to create something that had never been offered before: a floating DJ set for a fleet of rafts carrying 300 people down a river. We called it Squadron

Just like Sunset Sounds, the core of the idea was to remove the transportation barrier that kept car-less new yorkers in the city, so we included round trip charter bus transportation in the ticket price. We also engineered a way to broadcast an on-shore DJ set to massive bluetooth speakers placed on various rafts.

The Experience

Squadron sold out within an hour of going on sale, so we knew we had a winning concept. Executing this concept was a completely different beast. Safety was the first thing we tackled, including check in points throughout the float and embedded lifeguards/nurses.

We then had to work through the technology of keeping the music in sync across all the rafts, which required a FM broadcast of the set that spanned the 3 miles of river.

Finally transportation and decompression. We worked closely with bus partners to coordinate multiple pick up points arriving to the river load in at the same time (3 hours away from the city).

For post float decompression we built out a landing area with inflatable lounges, food, a large campfire and continued music – sponsored by Sweetwater Brewery. Attendees then had the option to stay and camp on the riverside for the night or head back to the city after the float.