Randall’s Island, NYCSeptember 2026
Experts Only · year two
I Almost Skipped Experts Only 2026. I’m so glad I didn’t.
I bought my two-day pass and ferry tickets a very long time ago. By pure coincidence, my best friend’s wedding ended up on the same weekend, and going to it was a no-brainer, so that left me Sunday. Then Sunday turned cold and rainy, and I spent two or three hours trying to talk myself out of going. Here’s the story of how I ended up on a nearly empty ferry to Randall’s Island anyway.
The weekend
Two-day tickets, bought a long time ago
I had already paid for my ticket.
I had already paid for the ferry.
John Summit was playing on Randall’s Island.
And somehow, on Sunday afternoon, I was sitting at home trying to convince myself not to go.
This was the second Experts Only Festival, on September 19 and 20, 2026, a year after its sold-out debut. It came back to Randall’s Island with three stages, and John Summit was once again at the center of it all. (Last year was my very first Experts Only, and you can read all about that one here.)
I’d bought a two-day festival pass and two-day ferry tickets a very long time ago. By pure coincidence, my best friend’s wedding ended up being the same weekend.
Going to the wedding was always a no-brainer.
So I sold my Saturday ticket to my sister, Tiffany, and spent the beginning of the weekend in Pennsylvania celebrating one of the most important people in my life.
That still left me Sunday.
How the weekend worked out
Tickets bought a very long time ago. The overlap was pure coincidence.
Sunday
Running on whatever comes after fumes
Sunday morning, I left the wedding and drove from Pennsylvania back into New Jersey.
And I was exhausted.
Not just wedding-weekend tired, either. I’d barely slept the two nights before, and work had been incredibly demanding for weeks leading up to it.
Past empty.
Then there was the weather.
New Jersey was cold. New York was cold. Everything was cloudy, misty, rainy and damp. It was exactly the kind of gloomy September day where your body is practically begging you to put on comfortable clothes, cuddle up with a blanket and do absolutely nothing.
Which sounded wonderful.
Except…
I had an Experts Only ticket.
The debate
The sunk-cost debate happening in my head
I probably spent two or three hours going back and forth.
- Go.
- Don’t go.
- Go.
- Stay home.
- But you paid for it.
- But you’re exhausted.
- But John Summit.
The debate, on a scale
Tap a weight to take it off (or put it back). Or use the two buttons, in order.
Two or three hours of this.
It was physically paining me not to go, because I’d already spent the money.
At some point, I had to remind myself of something I think is really important:
The money was already gone.
Whether I went to Experts Only or stayed home, I wasn’t getting it back. I could force myself to go simply because I’d paid for it, or I could decide based on which option would actually make me happier right now.
That realization should have made staying home easier.
Instead, I got stubborn.
I was going.
Logistics
There was also a slight ticket complication
Because Tiffany had used the two-day pass on Saturday, it was activated on her phone. So once she got back from the city on Sunday afternoon, I needed her phone.
I basically took it, went home, changed as fast as I could, barely had time to prepare or eat anything, and headed straight for New York. I had quite a commute ahead of me.
At this point, I was very late.
Experts Only ran from 3 to 10 PM each day, and I didn’t make it to the ferry dock until around 7. John Summit was going on at 7:30. There was no universe in which I was getting there before he started. I’d basically missed the whole daytime part of the festival.
But I’d finally made my decision. Now I just needed to get there.
If you ever split a two-day pass: in 2026, Experts Only’s general admission passes were NFC passes that lived in your phone’s wallet, and they could only be transferred once. Work out whose phone it’s living on before the weekend.
The ferry
Possibly the emptiest festival ferry ever
This part was hilarious to me.
Last year, when I took the ferry to Experts Only, we were packed in like sardines. (Here’s that trip, if you want the before picture.)
This year?
There were five of us.
Granted, it was Sunday evening, I was arriving ridiculously late, and most rational festival-goers had been on Randall’s Island for hours. Last year I went way earlier, and on a Saturday.
Still, going from a packed ferry one year to feeling like I’d chartered a private boat to Experts Only the next was pretty funny.
It was also kind of peaceful.
In 2026 the Experts Only ferry left from the East 35th Street Ferry Landing, took about 25 minutes, and ran from 2:30 PM until after the show ended. The ferry pass had to be bought in advance.
Randall’s Island
Fine. I’m standing in the rain.
I’d thought about stopping somewhere to buy a poncho. Then the festival sent out a text saying they’d be handing out free ponchos.
Perfect.
At that point I stopped trying to make the night comfortable. If I had to stand outside in the rain for a few hours, I’d stand outside in the rain for a few hours. It was still better than nothing.
I just wanted to get there.
And as the ferry approached Randall’s Island, everything changed.
- You could hear the music.
- You could see the lights.
- There were fireworks and pyrotechnics going off.
Suddenly the cold, miserable day I’d been looking at from home didn’t matter nearly as much.
I rushed through security, got inside, grabbed a drink and basically inserted myself into the crowd.
It was epic.
Around 7:30
And there was John Summit
This was what I’d come for.
I’d seen John Summit at the very first Experts Only in 2025. This year there were three stages and a lineup covering house, techno, indie dance and some of the biggest names in bass music.
He was already playing by the time I got in.
Sunday night on the main stage
They play on their own with the sound off. Tap one for sound.
Then, SUBJOHNICS
Metal, techno and John Summit in a blender
Sunday also had something I hadn’t seen the year before: SUBJOHNICS.
That’s John Summit b2b Subtronics: his back-to-back alias with one of the biggest names in dubstep, and one of the exclusive b2b sets of the weekend. The name is literally the two of them mashed together, Subtronics with a John in the middle.
And it was so much fun.
The best way I can describe it: at times it felt like somebody had thrown metal, techno and John Summit into a blender.
It was heavier. It was weird. It was energetic. And the crowd was completely into it. Everybody was totally jamming out.
Two ingredients: Subtronics and John Summit.
YOLO, I’m doing this. I danced. I jumped. I let myself get absorbed into the music.
For however exhausted I’d been a few hours earlier, I’d made it.
Just me
This time, going alone was what I needed
This was also really different from my first Experts Only.
Last year I went with Tiffany, Vinny, Nick and Zach, and that was more fun. Given the choice, going with my friends is what I’d pick.
But this Sunday wasn’t a normal day. Think about how I even got there. I’d just come back from a wedding weekend on barely any sleep, and then there was rushing at literally every stage of the journey:
- Get Tiffany’s phone
- Home
- Change
- Barely eat
- Into the city
- Ferry
- Security
- Crowd
On a turnaround that tight, being on my own worked in my favor. I didn’t have 100% of my energy to begin with, and as an introvert, being around people I know takes a different kind of energy than simply disappearing into a crowd. Sometimes you have to protect that.
And I actually like doing things alone. There’s a freedom to it that I really enjoy.
- I could stand wherever I wanted.
- Move whenever I wanted.
- Leave whenever I wanted.
- I didn’t have to keep track of anybody.
That night, I didn’t need conversation. I didn’t need to socialize. I didn’t need to entertain anybody. I just needed music.
I still wish my friends had been there. It probably would have been even better. But for that particular Sunday, alone was right.
Both things can be true.
Stand wherever. Move whenever.
Why it mattered
Sometimes you just need to go
This year has been difficult for me for a lot of different reasons. And lately, I’ve been extraordinarily busy.
So there was something incredibly freeing about standing there in the rain, surrounded by thousands of people and a lot of good, high energy, listening to electronic music and having absolutely nothing else to think about.
For a few hours, my entire responsibility was:
- Be here.
- Listen.
- Dance.
- Enjoy it.
Sometimes that’s enough.
The verdict
Was going to Experts Only worth it?
Eventually I had to make the whole trip home, give Tiffany her phone back, and get myself into bed considerably later than was probably advisable.
I was exhausted.
But I had no regrets.
So, was it worth it? For me, yes.
But strangely, I think the more important lesson is that staying home would have been okay too.
I’d already spent the money. Going wouldn’t magically unspend it. If what I needed that Sunday was sleep, warmth and recovery after my best friend’s wedding, staying home wouldn’t have meant I’d “wasted” the ticket any more than I already had.
But once I separated the money from the decision, I realized something else.
I actually did want to go.
I was tired. I hated the weather. I didn’t feel prepared. I was going to arrive ridiculously late.
But underneath all of those objections, I still wanted to be there.
So I went.
- I caught a nearly empty ferry to Randall’s Island.
- I stood in the rain.
- I watched John Summit.
- I experienced SUBJOHNICS.
- I danced by myself.
And after spending hours debating whether I should bother going at all, I ended the night thinking:
I am so glad I did.
If you’re on the fence
Going late, going alone, going anyway
If you’re heading to Experts Only (or any festival, really) and you’re running late, going solo, or talking yourself out of it, here’s what I’d pass on.
Separate the money from the decision
The ticket is paid for either way. Ask which option would make you happier right now, not which one “uses” the money. For me that was going. Staying home would have been fine too.
My late ferry was basically private
In 2026 the festival ferry left from the East 35th Street Ferry Landing, took about 25 minutes and ran from 2:30 PM until after the show, with the ferry pass bought in advance. Around 7 on the Sunday, there were five of us on board.
It’s rain or shine
In 2026 there were no refunds unless the event was completely canceled, and umbrellas weren’t allowed. On the rainy Sunday, the festival texted that it was handing out free ponchos.
Know whose phone the pass is on
In 2026, general admission passes were NFC passes in your phone’s wallet, with a one-transfer limit. If you split a two-day pass, decide whose phone it’s living on before the weekend.
There’s no re-entry
Once you’re in, you’re in, so get everything sorted before you head over. I barely had time to eat before I left.
Alone can be exactly right
Going with friends was more fun last year. But on a rushed turnaround with a low social battery, being on my own worked in my favor: stand wherever, move whenever, leave whenever.
Your turn
Have you ever almost skipped something?
Have you ever almost skipped something you’d already paid for? Do you go by the money, or by how you feel in the moment? And have you ever gone to a festival alone? I’d love to hear about it.
Year one
Year twoLast year’s reviewMy First Experts Only Festival: Seeing John Summit on Randall’s IslandRead it Sources
- Experts Only FAQ: hours, rain-or-shine policy, prohibited items, NFC passes and transfers, no re-entry, the ferry.
- Experts Only Fest 2026: dates and stages.
- I LOVE NY: Experts Only returns in 2026: the sold-out 2025 debut.
- I LOVE NY: the second wave: the three stages, the genres, SUBJOHNICS as an exclusive b2b.
- EDM.com: SUBJOHNICS, John Summit’s b2b alias with Subtronics.
Not affiliated with Experts Only. The Instagram story is from @expertsonlyfest.
