Electric Love Festival #Boutique

Picture: IG @tatti.kopp97

It has been a while since we’ve seen so many festivals happen all over the world in a while. But with covid outbreaks either easing off or countries in better positions to handle the current outbreaks, it’s nice to see the world dancing the again. This weekend was one of those weekends. Massive festivals like Beyond Wonderland and Creamfields took place over the weekend with impressive line ups and stage productions that keep pushing the culture forward but there’s one festival that I wanted to shine a light on for a second.

Electric Love Festival is an EDM festivals that has been held annually since 2013 in Plainfeld, Austria. This year’s line-up included headlines such as Afrojack, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki, and DJ Snake just to name a few. There are 2 reasons why I wanted to talk about Electric Love Festival. First it is going to be the festival crew and second, the opening ceremonies.

You won’t find any corporate sponsor in this festival because they are more focused on the “social, cultural and ecological innovation” of their creative processes. The entire festival is one giant piece of art created by artists for artists. Every single crew member is asked to keep in mind how sound, design and technology can work together seamlessly while at the same time preserving the grounds the festival is located on and reducing its environmental impact. They will even go out of their way to make sure the affordability of the festival is more for the festival goer compared to other festivals. It’s about spreading art/awareness, for art/awareness' sake.

Picture: IG @v_g.18

Second reason I wanted to spotlight this festival is its opening number. Every year is a

different festival theme. This year it was called #Boutique. Other years they have had themes like: #FeelTheLove, #FreshFruitsOldRoots, and #DiscoverYourStory. With these themes they always hold an opening ceremony where they rework major EDM songs into orchestral arrangements complete with choirs. Electric Love Festival takes developing the arts in the region very seriously, so these orchestras are always made up of local musicians, street artists and school choirs. This touched me because I am someone who has always loved music and growing up one of my favorite times playing was when the choir, band and orchestra got together to make the symphonic orchestra so to imagine how these amazing students felt playing this massive stage. (Check out the opening numbers of previous years below) Not to mention that the lineup will consist heavily of local DJ’s, not just mainstream names.