It’s a wrap! One of our yearly summer highlights: Dekmantel Festival. The ninth edition of the festival – defining the future of electronic music, navigating the limits of the musical spectrum, and having connoisseurs from all over the world flock to Amsterdam – was one for the books. Together with Dekmantel Festival and Amsterdamse Bos, we build a circular place for discovery, quality, and connection.
Liedeke, main producer ARTFX for Dekmantel Festival: “We are very proud of the longstanding collaboration between ARTFX, Dekmantel Festival and the Amsterdamse Bos. Because we are involved from the very first edition, build-up and breakdown are realized in no time. Dekmantel has a strong focus on finding sustainable solutions, and we support them in waste management and circularity. This way we keep improving ourselves”. Waste materials are being separated, for audiences as well as for crew members during the buildup and deconstruction of the site. Once again, free pocket ashtrays were handed out, to keep the lush fields of Amsterdamse Bos healthy and clean. And, new this year, we worked with a fifth garbage bin at the festival: the food waste collected here goes into a big composting machine. The compost that is generated finds its way back to the Amsterdamse Bos – closing the loop to restore the soil of the ground.
Again, we rebuild the now famous round main stage, which is designed like a puzzle. Liedeke: “Working together with the same producers every time, it’s the fourth edition we construct the enormous stage that takes a lot of thought and measuring, and that fits like a glove. We set out GPS points in a great 2D drawing of the terrain, and work from there”. New this year was The Nest stage, an open construction by set and production designer Bob Roijen (RAITO) who created an intimate stage with a slanted roof. With its dark, warm atmosphere and rays of sunlight coming through the roof, The Nest turned out to be a wonderful addition to the already proved Dekmantel stages.
On to the next one!
