But understanding that time had passed, we didn’t expect our friends and family who had only grown older – and some of which more weary of crowds – to flock back into nightclubs or into a sea of people in front a festival main stage.

If we wanted to recreate our fondest moments of dancing carefree with the people we loved, there needed to be a new path forward.

We lived through an era where the fixation was “who” is performing. But what if we shifted the focus to “where” are they performing. We agreed on our first principle: that We Belong Here events would only take place in unique, scenic locations. Historic buildings, impeccable views, or maybe even a festival on a beach in Miami.

The biggest appeal of experiencing dance music is the ability to actually dance to it! No amount of massive production or visuals could take the place of that feeling of comfort to move around and let loose. And nothing ruins a night more than feeling like a sardine. We agreed on our second principle: all We Belong Here events would feature an oversized dance floor ensuring there was plenty of room to, well… dance!

Our third principle followed naturally: We Belong Here events would not feature LED Walls or visuals, and whenever possible we would put the artist in the middle of the dance floor. And thus, the 360 Stage was born.

A party is only as good as the food that is served right? We don’t know if this is actually true, but we found ourselves saying this often while comparing the events we wanted to throw to the more formal affairs that become more frequent with age. Our fourth principle: We Belong Here events would provide delicious food, and enhanced amenities to make the time spent off the dance floor more comfortable and enjoyable.

Now flash forward to today… We Belong Here has escaped our imagination and made it into reality. It is now the byproduct of the dedication of an entire team, and tens of thousands of fans who have attended over the years. You’ve made We Belong Here more than a series of events; you’ve played a crucial role in buidling a community.

We feel nothing encapsulates what We Belong Here is, how its grown and where its heading more than the Miami Festival. The first edition took place on Historic Virginia Key Beach Park in late February 2022, and the overwhelming positive response to this first edition made overcoming all of the associated hardships to keep it going worth it. We are now proud to be heading towards our 5 Year Anniversary in the same location we started. Finding the right balance of growth while keeping the magic and intimacy of that first year is a constant but exciting challenge.

It’s for that reason we have committed to not overgrow the festival, and keep it at a size significantly smaller than most major festivals. Our growth instead will come in the form of going full force bringing this festival experience to more unique locations across various cities in the US, and maybe one day abroad. Bringing the festival back home to New York — in the heart of Central Park — was a surreal way to kick off this path.

We are not here today without every single person that has believed in the We Belong Here vision. That is a humbling thing to understand and has materialized in a strong desire to give opportunities to others. We now pursue an even greater goal of empowering the next generation of creativity to flourish regardless of their economic status. To start, we’ve teamed up with Scratch Academy (founded by Jam Master Jay) to fund paid-in-full scholarships that allow young adults to pursue music and DJing as a legitimate professional career choice. These scholarships are a reflection of everyone who has come together to be a part of We Belong Here, from organizer to attendee and beyond – and they are only just the beginning of the impact we hope to make.

If you’ve made it this far, we hope our story resonated with you in some way. Whether it inspires you to go out and chase your own dreams, or get out to a We Belong Here festival and dance like no ones watching, we hope you find where you belong.

“Much love”

Charles & Justin

CAREERS

PARTNERSHIPS

SCHOLARSHIPS

PRIVACY POLICY

DO NOT SHARE MY INFO