In a land where music is taken seriously, where people are happy no matter how bad the weather is. A land where is everyone is free and the only thing people love is techno, that is what Awakenings Festival is all about. As a huge Drumcode fan, it was an honor and privilege to be a part of this incredible festival.
Awakenings Festival celebrates 20 years of techno, which took place on Saturday, June 24th and Sunday, June 25th, the premises of the recreational area Deelplan Houtrak was dedicated to Awakenings Festival, the best-known and largest outdoor techno festival in the world, with over 110 artists spread over 8 stages in capacious areas, among which 2 large-scale outdoor stages. Awakenings is known as the biggest techno festival in the world. Techno in all its diversity will be showcased; besides the biggest names of the contemporary scene, there is as always also lots of space for new talent, new sounds and the latest, state-of-the-art developments in the area of light, sound and stage set. Where techno artists from parts of the globe come together to The Netherlands to showcase their newest techno tunes and to celebrate the love of techno with all their friends and fans.
Living, breathing, eating, techno. Everyone traveled from all corners of the Earth for this one weekend in the Deelplan Houtrak, Netherlands. Everyone was dancing, everyone had a smile on their faces, great vibes, one of the best crowds during a festival. Part of the reason why music festivals are the greatest is that of making lifelong friendships, yet again at Awakenings. If you eat, breathe, sleep and live techno then is this is the festival for you, everyone wearing black-on-black with groovy shades, felt like I belonged here that this festival was made for me. Awakenings is made for every techno fan in the world, and where the legends of techno can let lose and play they want to play.
The experience was like dying and waking up in techno heaven, never seen a more beautiful crowd until Awakenings. Hearing and seeing some of the artists in past such as Maceo Plex, Pan-Pot, Chris Liebing, Alan Fitzpatrick, and Adam Beyer at other festivals this time they played an entirely different techno style, darker and heavy. It was an overwhelming feeling throughout the two-day festival. When it comes to the performances the DJs, not sure if it was something in the air or the fact that we were all at Awakenings but every single artist let loose at their fullest. Playing new releases and old releases of techno tracks, no boundaries no limits during Awakenings Festivals, just blissful, dark, dirty techno. Especially when Adam Beyer literally lit the crowd on fire with his deep dark set on Day 1, where someone had a sparkler and lit it up in the middle of the crowd, it was mindblowing watching the whole thing unfold. Another highlight during Awakenings was when Enrico Sangiuliano dropped ‘Moon Rocks’.
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Hearing the last 300+ episodes of Drumcode always puts you into a tranquil state of mind no matter where you are in the world. The illusion of being inside Drumcode is massive. All of the Drumcode fans together in one location, loving the same techno sounds and artists. Dancing together to the same beats, cheering and clapping together. The experience of Awakenings is the feeling when you are inside of Drumcode.
There were many highlights across the two days with sets from huge names from the worlds of techno such as Sven Väth, Joris Voorn, Pan-Pot, Nastia, Chris Liebing, Charlotte De Witte, Kobosil, Blawan, Sam Paganini, Floorplan, Ilario Alicante, Alan Fitzpatrick and Adam Beyer.
photo credit – BE-AT.TV
This latest broadcast from the leading streaming provider, BE-AT.TV saw people tune in from all over the world. All previous records were broken and in all more than 8 million viewers tuned in, while the streams had a social reach of over 77 million people and 600,000 engagements. Watch the sets from all 4 stages.
The set-up was a little confusing, trying to navigate both backstage and outside. However throughout the festival there digital LED screens to tell you where to go in case you were lost and who was playing at what stage. The stages had letters and not names, which made it a little bit more difficult if you are a first timer going to Awakenings. With mega swings that were not the one’s you normally see in the U.S. and delicious food there was also a cigarette stand and testing kit for your party favors. It was wondering seeing the testing stand, hearing many unfortunate stories at other festivals it was a comforting feeling knowing there were testing kits. Awakenings was the safest festival this writer has ever been to, having to been in a few out of luck events, there were no worried feelings at all. Even when you were exiting the festival when it was over because it was in the middle of nowhere.
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We have covered and attended numerous festivals like Miami Music Week, Ultra Music Festival, Mysteryland USA, Electric Zoo, Movement Detroit, Tomorrowland, The BPM Festival, never thought that there will be another festival better than those until Awakenings Festival. It is the true definition of Techno Heaven. Thank you to everyone that was involved and that was a part of the Awakenings journey, see you next year!
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TOP FIVE FAVORITE AWAKENINGS ACTS:
Adam Beyer (day 1)
Tale Of Us (day 2)
Maceo Plex (day 2)
Pan-Pot (day 2)
Sven Väth (day 1)
