Apart from “having fun” festivals are a means of expression, a platform for counter-culture, a space for connection, and cultural attractions while fostering the local scene. Paradise City Festival calls that Communal Dancefloor Energy, and I had the chance to experience that one.

Paradise focuses on sustainability and takes on the role of supporting artists in less commercial fields. The contribution to the local Belgian scene is palpable, and it’s visible that the team ventures outside small circles or default agencies. Both patterns are no rarity in the scene. At Paradise City, you find artists who don’t have a booking agency, confirming that the team has a genuine interest in the artists. Giving access to unfamiliar sounds is a role festivals can take on - if they want. It is an impactful one knowing that an event like Paradise City had 43000 visitors in three days. 

Of course, you can find headliners like Dixon, Partiboi 69 or Marlon Hoffststadt on the lineup and that led to some raised eyebrows in our oh-so-sophisticated underground scene. But here it comes: It’s all too easy to judge the booking of bigger names as a “sellout”. Simply put, the ecosystem of fostering fresh talent works like that. To give different artists space, you need the ability to pay for them. To pay them, you need to sell tickets and maybe have a sponsor deal here or there. To sell tickets to a broader group, you program according to a broader range of interests. 
Yes, we all love grassroots and DIY, and we wish for more of that. Agreed. Yet, it requires more contributors to create accessibility to unique artists and sounds. Let’s not forget: diversity also means diversity of sound and blending scenes. It’s a cycle.

Gilles De Decker and Zoé Devaux, the booking team of the Festival, therefore curated stages that invited discovery and slowed things down, bpm-wise, to complement the bigger stages. Let’s take the “Sweet Spot,” a floating stage that featured many of our Delayed friends with a scenic lake and the Kastel de Ribaucourt as the backdrop for the music. With a clear emphasis on live sets, it was also Aspetuck’s first European Festival gig. It’s not unusual to have pretty blasting tunes in the early afternoon of a bigger festival. Having Aspetuck’s gentle sounds leading us into the day is not only rare, but it worked, too. A small, but dedicated crowd stuck around, later also grooving to the lush, vivacious tunes of Hame. Paradise City has supported the Dutch DJ and producer for a while and having played at the festival made a difference for him. Not only that: it was interesting to see how trapped we are in our circles sometimes - a festival visitor from Amsterdam said, “crazy that I have to travel to Brussels to learn about such a talent from Amsterdam”. Festivals are bubble breakers, too.

As Saturday progressed (and so did the humidity), the Italian duo Orion created a beautiful and connected atmosphere. The intense rain even had a positive impact on the crowd’s vibe - the people braved it and the stage became fuller. The cheerful smooth vibes of the earlier hours now turned into a proper party, with plenty of cheering and hands in the air. A bit later, following an enchanting Martinou live set, we could witness a - for many people bold - programmer decision. Following the emotive bounciness of Martinou, we found Yousuke Yukimatsu on the timetable - one of the most unpredictable DJs I know. Heavy Metal, Gabber, Trance - we find everything in his sets. A DJ that played the main stage of the experimental Unsound Festival, programmed just after Martinou?!  He started with a hardcore banger that left many of the dancers on the floor with wide eyes, visibly disturbed and almost in shock. 

To see these moments of crowd confusion is something special. The Japanese DJ built an unexpectedly deep and decelerated techno journey that led the way into the night. Ambient techno pioneers Voices from the Lake and Sybil were in charge post-sunset and the “Sweet Spot” turned into a melting pot. Never judge a DJ by his first two tracks, I guess (not everything needs to “seamlessly blend” to work out eventually). A fun fact about the festival is that Yousuke replaced the Galcher Lustwerk and played a cheerful house set. It‘s these moments when I am in awe of the craft of a DJ. 

Noticeably, we weren’t served Party Fast Food here - it was a thought-through programming, an unfolding story that left the crowd in a psychedelic techno orbit at 1 am. It was as if the little Sweet Spot stage was its distinct universe. Hearing people say “Oh wow, I wasn’t expecting to find that here, but I loved that,” or asking “Who is that artist? I need to check them out” means the team of Paradise City did something right. Unfortunately, the calmer and softer parts of the music were a bit overtaken by the audible sound of the main stage earlier in the day.

My discovery took me to some of the other nicely designed stages with a more extroverted and crowd-oriented sound. Back to fun: while I’m not super into the newer big room sound, Partiboi 69 and Gerd Janson b2b were very vibey and joyful together. Festivals are mood enhancers and unifying agents! Every single time I attend one, I wonder how we can have as many group hugs outside the festival environment. 

by Angelina Nikolayeva

And then there was Plantasia, a little leafy refugio away from the intensity. The hidden stage featured an even wider spectrum of sounds in an inspiring flow. There were the funky organic grooves of Cami Layé Okún and, later in the evening, more experimental textures with the elusive artist 7038634357. It was a brilliant mix of local and international artists. As this was a rather secluded and small stage, booking artists from overseas is more than unusual looking at the increased travel and production costs. Australia-based (!) Alex Albrecht, for example, kicked off his EU tour (check him out while you can!) at Plantasia. His set was full of dream state-like floaters, carried by deep basslines and perfect to either rest, cuddle, contemplate or sway. Spaces to slow down and listen became an essential component of a festival for me.

Now, it wasn’t my first time at Paradise City and I came with a good portion of scepticism. I always liked the vibe and programming of the festival, but it felt a tad “in-between” to me. This time I came with fresh eyes and not the ones of the “Giegling Fan” that brought me there. I felt inspiringly challenged in my conceptions. Maybe a bit of everything is not clear enough, but I reframe it now. The different bits allow for more inspiration and discovery. The best part of a festival should be its openness, to connect people and connecting people to music - whatever genre or background. A platform of togetherness and exchange and giving different moods a stage. And if people discover something new that is off the beaten track for them, even better. 

After all, attending cultural events does not confirm our positions and tastes; it feeds us with the same input for convenience. They are a platform and playground for discovery and creative expansion. And while I discovered Partiboi 69 and had a good wiggle, I hope others enjoyed discovering the likes of Orion, Hame, and Sybil.