Electric Pleasures Chattanooga 2026 was our Halloween weekend in the mountains: orange for Inferno Friday by the pool in 80-degree sun, ultraviolet purple for Saturday after a freezing morning, 15 DJs and a ballroom that was packed by 9:30. In Episode 268 we sit down the week after and walk through the whole thing, from hauling in the stage to the last shout-out.
One of the best reviews of the weekend came from our food truck. Big Dan from Big Dan’s Barbecue Chattanooga fed everyone by the pool, and at the end he told Dan, “we didn’t really know what to expect coming here,” and then, “Your people were the nicest, and they were all very friendly and respectful.” That is the room we want every first-timer to walk into.
Listen to Episode 268 on Buzzsprout or ▶️ Watch on Apple Podcasts.
Episode 268 chapters
- 4:44 Wednesday setup: building the indoor and outdoor stages
- 14:27 Thursday build-out and Jeff’s pre-party warm-up
- 20:04 Inferno Friday by the pool with 15 DJs
- 26:55 Why we skip pool games: the point is the music
- 35:03 Why Electric Pleasures does colors instead of costume themes
- 43:28 A freezing Saturday, game day and the unicorn squad
- 53:46 The room crawl
- 59:23 Saturday night in the ballroom
- 1:11:03 What’s next: Electric Pleasures in June and 2027
- 1:15:00 Thank you to our DJs, team and guests
How do we turn a hotel into a music festival?
The hotel isn’t built for a festival, so we build it ourselves. Setup started Wednesday with the outdoor stage and the indoor Cavern Club. As Dan put it, “We bring in all the audio, all the lights,” and then we move a ton of furniture so the space works for a party instead of a business conference.
Halloween decor turned into a Wednesday-night run to At Home, Spirit Halloween, Home Depot and Lowe’s with Diana from our team, after a moment Lacy called “the most husband and wife moment ever.” Thursday we built out the rest of the space and threw a pre-party, which gave our newest DJ, Jeff, a chance to warm up before the weekend.
If you’re still deciding whether this kind of weekend is for you, our guide to what to expect at Electric Pleasures Chattanooga covers the basics.
Why does Electric Pleasures do colors instead of costume themes?
Lacy explains it the way we always do: “basically, we say, What do swingers do? Okay, let’s do the opposite. So we do colors.” Friday was orange, Saturday was purple, and Dan loves that the whole ballroom gets lit in the color of the night, so everyone matches the room.
The same thinking is why you won’t find pool games on the schedule. We had 15 DJs, Dan included as DJ DTF, playing around 23 sets, and Dan was clear: “the point of this is the music.” He added, “The last thing I want to do is like take up half their set to play ring toss or something like that.” Lacy’s advice if a set isn’t your style: “We changed the DJs about once an hour,” so “if you just stick around a little bit, hopefully you’ll like the next one.”
Dan also talked about how welcoming the DJ crew is with each other: “there’s no like gatekeeping,” and “it’s almost like a community within the community.” Friday closed out with a late-night dubstep set from Justin Time, and Lacy, Daphne and Mike made their entrance together that night.
How did a freezing Saturday turn into the best night of the weekend?
“It was in the 80s on Friday,” Lacy said. Then “we woke up Saturday morning and it was freezing.” The morning stretch class moved inside, and Lacy honestly admitted, “I really thought Saturday was gonna be kind of a wash with the weather.” It wasn’t.
Lacy needed Alabama–Tennessee on, so she says she “ended up like ordering from Walmart delivery a 58-inch TV, and we ended up setting it up on our patio.” When the Eskimo Brothers took the stage at four o’clock, the unicorn squad came out. It started at Splash (catch Lacy’s Splash Atlanta weekend in Episode 261), and Bob from Naughty N’awlins brought a case of unicorn outfits. “It’s kind of now it’s like the traveling unicorns,” Lacy said. Because the weekend is built around music, Dan said, “it really was able to keep on rolling.”
The room crawl was a hit. Lacy and Daphne hosted a black-and-pink Halloween room, and a couple from Minnesota took first place: “They won by like a landslide.” The owner of Splash was so impressed that every room crawl host got something from him.
Saturday night was purple, and it was Jeff’s first official set in the club: “the ballroom was packed. Packed at 9 30.” Justin and Sophie played as a duo, Dan DJ’d after them, and Filthy Frequency fought through a controller settings hiccup mid-set. Lacy’s take on that: “I think having little things like that is also what makes this like real and raw.”
What’s next for Electric Pleasures after Chattanooga?
Dan’s verdict: “I think this weekend was one of the best ones.” On the episode we said Electric Pleasures will be back in June for a pride weekend and again next October for Halloween. For 2027 we’re cutting back to two Electric Pleasures and two Secrets weekends, which Dan figures works out to “about one event a month.”
June tickets open to Amplifier members first, Amplifier members get a discount on rooms, a percentage of the monthly dues goes to the NCSF, and room crawl hosts who win in June get a free room. Dan was honest about why we keep doing this: “there’s not a lot of money in it, but we do it because we love it.” Find dates and details at Electric Pleasures and on our upcoming events page.
Thank you to every DJ, volunteer, room crawl host and guest who made this one special. Want to come with us next time? Connect with The Swing Nation, and find this conversation and more episodes on The Swing Nation show page.