Booming bases, skateboards, and massive mosh pits, Warped Tour 2025 at Long Beach was packed full of people and loads of entertainment. From just walking around the venue and seeing so many people dressed in unique styles to moshing with all the other fans of your favorite bands, this year’s Warped Tour was fun and inviting for all ages.

Warped Tour is a festival that started in June of 1995 and has returned annually since then, aside from a 6-year hiatus from 2018 to 2025. The festival is the biggest punk/emo festival and has a large occult following. This Warped Tour was hyped up as it would be after a long break since the last festival, making everyone stoked for the return of many great bands and newer artists to the punk and emo scene. While most people were hyped, others were concerned about the festival’s lineup; people knew it wasn’t going to be amazing with many bands from previous years stating they weren’t coming back due to poorly planned festivals of the past. All being said, though, this year’s festival was one to remember.

I went to Warped Tour: Long Beach with my close friends, and together we got to experience the event for the first time. Not only was it the largest punk festival ever, with over 85,000 people attending the event across the two days, but it was also so fun and different from any concert I had attended. So much was happening, with constant performances on all the stages around the venue and tricks and stunts from X-Game level skateboarders and pro dirtbikers. There was even a pop-up performance by Pierce the Veil, who wasn’t on the original lineup for the event, and a guest appearance by Tony Hawk. Every performance was so impressive and interactive from the bands and performers.

I also want to shout out some of my favorite performances I got to see at the festival. While everyone did an amazing job, a few stood out to me, partly because they were bands I had really enjoyed, and also because of their interactions with the audience. I was really surprised by the performance of the Aquabats, a band I had only heard a little from before going to see them at Warped Tour. They wore comical superhero outfits and tossed out pool floaties into the crowd. Their performance was fun, interactive, and just super enjoyable. The Vandals, Pannywise, Sublime, and 311 were fantastic and exciting because of the sound and theatrical visuals played on the large screens around the stage. I loved seeing how happy these bands were to be there and perform for so many people.

While Warped Tour was extremely fun, it was also extremely crowded. My main complaint with the event was the lack of seating and proper cooling. While free sunblock and water were given out, they came in small amounts and were hard to come by around the event. The seating situation was absolutely awful. There were a few designated areas for venue goers to sit with fans pointed to them, but they were always incredibly crowded and near impossible to sit in. With how bad the heat was and the UV rays were on both days of the event, and the fact that it was a one-time entry each day, I expected a little more care in this aspect of the event. That being said, they did attempt, but there is always room for improvement.

Altogether, this event really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So much was happening at every stage, and so much fun was to be had with all the staff and performers’ interactions with their audience. Some tips for going to Warped Tour in the future would be to bring sunscreen, stay close to friends, and enjoy the show.