After 2 years of restrictions, it now time to return to our favorite summer activity! In order to guide you through this summer 2021, we set up a list of small independent festivals happening in Europe.
From Hypnotic and Deep Techno to Ambient, Experimental and Psychedelic sounds, here is our top 5 selection of festival to attend:
30.06 – 04.07: LAS Festival (Poland)
You may not have heard of the LAS Festival yet, but it is definitely one of our favorite discoveries of the year. More than just an exciting line up, this event truly reflects the full festival experience that we are looking for: a long rave with some quality music surrounded by art and nature.
Taking place in the middle of the Polish forest, close to the Czech and German borders, the LAS Festival will celebrate its 5th edition this year, offering a 5-day musical experience on 5 different stages. From Hypnotic Techno and Ambient to Psytrance, House and Drum’n’Bass, each crowd will find the music of their choice.
Our attention will be particularly directed to the Tree House floor, presenting a variety of Techno acts, with a focus on hypnotic and deep sounds. This stage will host some of the masters of the scene, such as Dasha Rush or Valentino Mora, as well as some of the best Polish artists like Aksamit, Vi or Axis Operandi. Guests will also have the chance to hear great Berlin-Based DJs Fiedel, Setaoc Mass and Denise Rabe, for some more mental and dancefloor vibes.
Not only focused on the musical aspect of art, the LAS Festival also offers a particular visual experience with a specific scenography on each stage, VJing and artistic installations. Their goal is to create an immersive experience, highlighting the link between art and nature.
“Our vision and wish is not only to make a party. We wish to try to connect spirituality with music and nature. Also united different music societies – there are beautiful effects of such synergy.” (Jakub, LAS Festival)
The LAS festival starts this Wednesday and there are still some tickets available on their website for 360zl (less than 80 €). Only 4 hours drive from Berlin, 3 hours from Prague and 2 hours from Wroclaw, if you are in the area we definitely recommend you check it out.
More info and tickets: https://www.facebook.com/events/418814329025327
07.08 – 08.08: Rhythm BĂĽro: Natura 2021 (Ukraine)
Natura festival, organized by Rhythm BĂĽro, will give you one more reason to visit Ukraine this summer – the new party hotspot in Europe.
Happening once a year in nature 30 km outside Kyiv, this 30+ hours event presents on different stages a great selection of Hypnotic Techno and Ambient Dj sets and live performances at night, as well as some House vibes during the day.
This year’s edition will gather a very sharp line up of artists, with DJs sets from Claudio PRC, Marco Shuttle and Cinthie, as well as great live performances from Grand River, Na Nich & Vera Logdanidi, Saphileaum and Zavoloka.
“Historically, we’ve been mainly focused on techno music with our warehouse raves in the city. But Rhythm Büro is more than just another techno party, and we wanted to prove this by presenting something different. It’s always about presenting high-quality acts to the audience who are open to new experiences. We are lucky to have supporters who trust our vision, all this combined creates the unique atmosphere of Natura.” (Rhythm Büro)
Since its creation in 2015, Rhythm BĂĽro has been occasionally maintaining its main tradition of creating events in secret locations. The exact localization of the festival is revealed only one day prior to the event to the ticket holders.
From the superb camping site between the pines to shuttle buses from the capital, everything is organized to accommodate their 4000 guests and offer the chance to experience the beautiful Ukrainian vibe. If you’re interested in attending this, know that plane tickets and life one site fit also a short budget holiday plan and you can purchase a festival ticket for 999 грн (around 30€).
More info and tickets: https://rhythmburo.com
13.08 – 15.08: Monument Festival (Norway)
Monument Festival is an intimate three-day festival, focused on highlighting the symbiosis between music, art and nature. For its 2nd edition, they will host their festival in the middle of the magnificent Norwegian forest, in the little farm of Søre Risteigen gård, very close to Oslo.
Gathering an international community of music enthusiasts for many years, Monument began organizing their festival in 2019 to bring together their audience with their favorite artists. This year’s edition will present various live performances and DJ sets from diverse talented artists involved in the Hypnotic Techno scene and affiliated genres, such as Jane Fitz, Garçon, Forest Drive West, Paula Koski or Eyvind Blix. The final Line up hasn’t been fully released yet, but we can tell you that some incredible names are going to drop out in the next weeks.
Taking care of the environment is a priority in the development of their project and therefore they are developing different forms of sustainable art and environmental-friendly artistic concepts. Various visual projections and art installations will be on the program, as well as Yoga classes every morning.
Monument Festival isn’t only a nice Techno event, it’s also a chance to be part of an extraordinary adventure with our MNMT family and dance together in this mystical vibe – just sharing love, peace and happinessÂ
“We look forward to show all of our guests a magical trip to our new location where they will experience the stunning Norwegian nature merged with modern techno, friendship, dancing and a lot of love! This is the foundation of our Monument Family, which have members from all over the world.” (Henning, Monument)
The Monument Team is preparing everything to welcome their international guests in the best possible conditions. Some shuttle buses will be available from Oslo Central Station towards the festival side and people set up their tents in a beautiful dedicated camping area, where everyone can enjoy the peacefulness of nature.
For now, the festival announces sold out, but some more tickets will probably be available closer to the date. More info and tickets: https://festival.mnmt.no
18.08 – 22.08: Mo:Dem Mutations V.2 (Croatia)
Momento Demento, aka Modem is an international festival based in Croatia. At this point it doesn’t need an introduction anymore, as you all already heard about this magical land, but here is our sum up about this year’s edition.
Taking place in the beautiful Croatian forest, near Slunj, two hours from Zagreb, Mo:Dem is focusing on underground psychedelic sounds, together with an extraordinary production of visual and experimental arts. It is one of the best European festivals of its kind, alongside the Boom and Ozora.
When this year’s restrictions are pushing them to reschedule their festival to 2022, they decided to provide two smaller events for their public to still experience this unforgettable psychedelic gathering. Mo:Dem Mutations V.1 & V.2 will take place on the lower part of the Mo:Dem location, from 9 to 22 August 2021. Each event will feature four days of music (from Wednesday to Sunday), where guests will be able to enjoy some workshops, lectures and other fun and relaxing activities.
Mo:Dem features different genres of music, from Darkpsy and High Tech to Down Tempo and Experimental. As Hypnotic Techno goes in hand in hand with psychedelic sounds, this festival will feature a great selection of some of the best artists of the genre, such as Ness, Feral, Ntogn, Air Protection Office, Val Vashar or Klara. The full lineup has not been revealed and we’re very happy to see more big names being added to it soon.
Their policy is not to increase its number of visitors but to invest in the quality of its content. They devote their energy to producing all kinds of alternative artistic projects, mixing psychedelic visuals and environmentally friendly concepts. One of their best-known creations is their remarkable wood carvings that make up the stages and art installations. Vjing, mapping and light shows are also a very important point in the scenography of the festival and this whole aesthetic is designed to bring the spectator into a particular state of mind – into a surrealist magical world.
The MreĹľnica river brings another fairy-tale aspect to this wonderful festival location. Between the campsite and the stage, guests can enjoy a moment of relaxation at the edge of the waterway. It is also possible to rent some kayaks for more sporting activities or simply swim the fresh water to escape the hit the Croatian summer.
To get to Mo:Dem, the organizers arranged everything for guests to arrive easily. People traveling by plane will be able to book a fast shuttle bus ticket going directly from Zagreb, Pula, Zadar or Split airports to the festival site.
Some of the week’s tickets are still available for 135€ on their website, but all of the other editions have sold out very quickly, so you should get yours booked very soon. More info and tickets: http://modemfestival.com
03.09 – 05.09: Up to Date Festival (Poland)
For 11 years, Up To Date Festival has established itself on the Polish festival scene, combining various musical genres ranging from Techno, Ambient and Experimental to Rap and Hip-Hop.
Bringing together an audience of nearly 10,000 people, in the city of Bialystok, 2 hours from Warsaw, Up To Date Festival has become a strong music hub in Poland. Stepping away from regular festival trends and offering exclusive premiere concerts to its audience, the focus of this festival is to provide a space where quality and original music go hand in hand with art, creative visual and interesting design.
Most of the festival activities take place around three stages: Pozdro Techno, Central Ambient Salon and Beats. Behind each of them stand an original philosophy, a characteristic scenography and a specific selection of artists. Their goal is to present something different, new and fresh, while bringing together diverse music, culture and people
“We wanted to give people the kind of event that we ourselves would like to experience. We wanted to have someone to share it with – we didn’t make this event for some small elite or snobbish group, we created a festival for everyone, but in the way we would like it to be seen, experienced and lived. Most importantly, for years we have been doing everything we can to simply get the audience interested in music and art, which are important to us above all else – show another way of talking about culture and art.” (JÄ™drzej, Up To Date Festival).
So far, nearly 600 artists have performed at this festival. This year’s line up has not been released yet, but we can expect to be amazed when the previous editions hosted such talented artists as Anthony Linell, Acronym, Alessandro Cortini, Birds ov Paradise, Blazej Malinowski, Grand River, Marco Shuttle, Michał Wolski, Mike Parker, Milena Głowacka, Peter Van Hoesen, Retina.it, Svreca and many more.
This September weekend is the perfect time for you to discover new artists from different musical niches and explore the link between sounds and visual arts. The diversity of its stages makes the specific character of Up To Date Festival and certainly deserves your interest.
More info and tickets: https://www.uptodate.pl