515 Alive Music Festival

515 Alive is a two-day electronic and hip-hop festival that has run in the Des Moines area since 2003, most recently staged at Water Works Park on the edge of downtown. The event pairs a bass-heavy, camping-forward crowd with a lineup that blends EDM headliners and hip-hop acts on the same bill, and it built a loyal regional following as one of the few festivals of its scale in Iowa

Attendees consistently point to the festival's production and lineup quality, describing the acts and stage production as improving year over year, and multi-year regulars say they keep coming back for the atmosphere and the sets themselves. The on-site camping community is also cited as a highlight, with campers describing the campgrounds as a fun, roomy part of the experience once it was added

The 2019 edition (August 16-17) drew roughly 30,000 attendees against an original projection of about 22,000, and moved on short notice into the newly built Lauridsen Amphitheater, which sits at the opposite end of Water Works Park from the campground. That last-minute venue change forced organizers to add shuttle service between camping and the show, and it drew visible frustration from longtime attendees in the days before the event over the shuttle logistics, later doors, and price. Despite that rocky lead-in, attendee commentary during and after the weekend leaned positive on the actual show, crediting the lineup and production for coming together well given the circumstances