Electric Castle Festival

Electric Castle Festival

Genre Electronic music  · Electronica  · Electronic Dance Music  · Tech House  · Experimental  · Alternative
Location(s) Banffy Castle, Cluj, Romania
Years active 2013 – present
Website
http://electriccastle.ro

Electric Castle Festival is the biggest Romanian music festival.[1] It takes place annually on the Bánffy Castle domain in Cluj County, Romania. The festival tries to offer a full experience to the participants by creating a mix between the unique location, filled with beauty and history, daylong urban activities (like extreme sports, audio-video production workshops) and a large variety of music.

History


2013

Main Stage Show

The first edition of Electric Castle Festival took place 21–23 June 2013. More than 32.000 people passed through the festival’s gates over those 3 days and the 4 stages were crowded with over 90 artists. Around 4.000 people had a camping pass, 600 people were registered in the organising team, out of which 370 were volunteers. Also, the official website of the festival had a daily traffic of 10.000 unique visitors.[2]

2013 Lineup:

Morcheeba, Pendulum DJ Set, Feed Me, James Zabiela, Fritz Kalkbrenner, Dope DOD, Dub Pistols, Stanton Warriors, A Skillz, Krafty Kuts, Wankelmut and Telepopmusik and many others.

2014

Main Stage - The Cube

The second edition of the Electric Castle Festival took place 19–22 June. It had an audience of 79.000 (11.000 only in the camping area), becoming the biggest Romanian music event ever.[3] This edition went under the slogan of "bigger, stronger, better", with 4 festival days, 5 stages and over 130 artists.[4]

One of the first headliners of the festival, Rusko, was announced to perform in December 2013.[5] Rusko was about to perform for the first time in Romania. The list continued with artists like Thievery Corporation, DJ Fresh and Bonobo. Due to medical reasons Rusko had to cancel the concert being replaced by Dub FX.[6]

Die Antwoord were announced as the headliner in March 2014,Gramatik and Sasha being the last names announced to perform this year. Die Antwoord have included Romania in their world tour for the first time as well. Their concert will represent the release of their new album called Donker Mag.[7]

The number of invited artists is around 130, the number of stages on which the artists will perform also rising up to 5.[8] The audience will have the opportunity to choose from the Main Stage, the Dance Garden, the Stables, The Mill and The Wall. Different workshops and activities will also be held during the day at some of the stages.

2014 Lineup:

Die Antwoord, Thievery Corporation, Bonobo, Dub FX, DJ Fresh, Gramatik, Chris Liebing, Kraak and Smaak, Wilkinson, Foreign Beggars, Delta Heavy, Oliver Koletzki, Dub Pistols, Akua Naru, DJ EZ, Suie Paparude, Notes and Ties Orchestra, The Correspondents, Adam Freeland, Fred V & Grafix, Gramophonedzie and many others.

2015

The third edition of Electric Castle is taking place 25-28 June.

The castle

Banffy Castle - By the lake view

Bánffy Castle (or Bonţida Bánffy Castle) is an architectonic Baroque monument situated in Bonţida, a village in the vicinity of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was built in the 15th century and it was owned by the Bánffy family (of which Miklós Bánffy was a member). The owner is Katalin Banffy.

The castle was desecrated during World War II by German troops and neglected by the communist regime in Romania; it is currently being restored by the Transylvania Trust as a cultural center. Through the presence of the Transylvania Trust and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, who are the organizers of the International Built Heritage Conservation Training Centre set up within the Castle, the high quality restoration and long term protection can be ensured.

Through a partnership between festival's organisers and the authorities the castle is going to get connected to the national electricity network.[9] Also Electric Castle Festival is supporting the restoration process by donating an amount of money earned from the tickets sale.[10]

Awards

On its first edition in 2013 and was nominated by European Festivals Awards for the Best New Festival and Best Medium Size Festival titles,[11] later on being shorlisted at the Best Medium Size Festival among festivals such as Melt!, Balaton Sound, I Love Techno or Volt.[12]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Electric Castle Festival.

References

  1. ↑ Magradean, Vasile. "Peste 79.000 de participanti la Festivalul Electric Castle". Mediafax. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  2. ↑ "Peste 32.000 de spectatori, la Electric Castle. Vezi cifrele evenimentului". Ziua de Cluj. 2013-06-27.
  3. ↑ "Record de spectatori la Festivalul Electric Castle de la Bontida". Gandul.info. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  4. ↑ Osan, Adina. "Peste 130 de trupe şi artişti vor concerta la Festivalul Electric Castle de la Bonţida". Mediafax. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  5. ↑ http://muzica.metropotam.ro/stiri-evenimente-muzicale/rusko-primul-headliner-de-la-electric-castle-2014-art1414230058/
  6. ↑ "Rusko nu mai vine la Electric Castle". Ziua de Cluj. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  7. ↑ http://highsound.ro/die-antwoord-headliner-ul-festivalului-electric-castle/
  8. ↑ http://highsound.ro/doua-luni-pana-la-electric-castle-au-mai-ramas-5-000-de-abonamente-disponibile/
  9. ↑ "Consiliul Judetean Cluj conecteaza castelul Bánffy la curent, pentru Festivalul Electric Castl". Stirile Pro TV. 11.04.2013. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ↑ "Organizatorii Electric Castle: O parte din vanzarea de bilete merg la restaurarea castelului". Ziua de Cluj. 2013-06-22.
  11. ↑ "Electric Castle nominalizat la European Festival Awards". Ziar de Cluj. 2013-10-15.
  12. ↑ "Electric Castle și Fusion, nominalizate la European Festival Awards 2013". Infomusic. 09.12.2013. Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links