Belgium’s best festival unifies a lab, an exhibition and a three-day dance craze.
With festival season just around the corner, we’ve sure got some big decisions to make. Our favourite artists are all lined-up, the weather promises to be superb and the overall picture of Summer ’19 already has our bodies ready to twist and turn. But if you’re like us—with good taste larger than your budget—you know it comes down to smart choices. Which festivity is your ultimate option?
Worry no more! What if we told you there’s a unison of a cutting-edge lab, an exhibition and an immersive three-day music celebration, all taking place at a former military site in the north of Brussels? No mere festival, but a movement that builds momentums of transformative energy, with art and music as catalysts for future change. If all this sounds good, and if interdisciplinary partying is your cup of tea, then pack your bags for Horst. Previously held in an idyllic castle at Holsbeek, the arts and music festival is off to a new chapter of its ever-unfolding development. In 2019, we see Horst settling down at former military site ASIAT: a 6-hectare urban space with over 20 warehouses arranged in a maze of corridors and greenery.
The re-location comes hand in hand with Horst’s introduction of a laboratory for creative pioneers to experiment, and an exhibition that spans autonomous artwork, community projects, scenography and architecture. Or, to put it simple, an intense collective experience. Horst 2019 will bring together over 60 talents, both new and established, Belgian and international.
In a consciously curated amalgam of artists, producers, DJs and performers, Horst satisfies a musical thirst for experimentation and sonic adventure. Joining in are heavy hitters Joy Orbison and Objekt, alongside electro/hardcore diva and Herrensauna regular SPFDJ, London’s ‘ball of energy’ Peach, and rave’s high priestess Eris Drew. And since the zhuzh won’t ever be complete without certain Glamcult favourites on the decks, expect Gesloten Cirkel (live), mad miran and Josey Rebelle to spread vitalizing beats with love. Count on this to be the end-of-summer highlight you simply shouldn’t sleep on. We’ll see (and feel) you on the dancefloor.
Horst Arts & Music Festival
13-15 September, 2019
Vilvoorde, Belgium
www.horstartsandmusic.com
Words by Valkan Dechev