Boom Festival
Encyclopedia
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
which takes place in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
The festival features music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, video art
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
, installations
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, theater and a concept of crosspollination of different art forms.
The first Boom Festival happened in 1997 with a large influence on electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, but nowadays Boom is a multidisciplinary event.
Initially a psytrance festival, the first Boom had two stages: a dance floor, and a chillout area. Boom now incorporates a 'Sacred Fire' stage, for world music, acoustic sets and live bands, and 2008's Boom debuted the 'Groovy Beach', a stage for contemporary genres of electronic music, including Dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
, Breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
, Techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and Minimal
Minimal techno
Minimal techno is a minimalist sub-genre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition, and understated development. This style of dance music production generally adheres to the motto less is more; a principle that has been previously utilized, to...
. As well as expanding musically, Boom also encouraged different media to flourish, including an art gallery, natural sculpture, street theatre, fire-dancing, and the Liminal Village contains a large shaded space housing lectures, yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, films, meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
and discussions.
Principles
Boom's main focus is to develop a sustainability ethosEthos
Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of...
while providing a wide array of arts and culture line up. The Boom is known worldwide for its non corporate approach on entertainment.
One of the noble aspects of this festival is to be multi-cultural
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
. The Boom has a vast worldwide network of ambassadors and attracts audiences of all continents. This causes a contact between people of different cultural matrices, therefore encouraging the overthrow of inter-ethnic stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s.
Unlike the norm for international festivals of this size, Boom festival does not rely on any commercial sponsor. The objective is not only to keep the precinct free of any visual pollution
Visual pollution
Visual pollution is the term given to unattractive and man-made visual elements of a vista, a landscape, or any other thing that a person does not feel comfortable to look at. Visual pollution is an aesthetic issue, referring to the impacts of pollution that impair one's ability to enjoy a vista or...
as well as to defend the public against any marketing strategy,
although this is generally considered a good strategy some think that this should be compromised in order to ease the ticket prices.
Self Sustainability
In 2004, Boom started to develop a series of projects in order to become environmentally self-sustainable. These include the development of toilets that don't use chemical products, the treatment of residual waters using biotechnology, utilization of windWind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
and solar energy, recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
and the free supply of cleaning kits to participants (including pocket ashtrays and rubbish bags).
In 2011, it won, for the second time in a row, the title of YOUROPE Green 'N' Clean Festival Of The Year in the Festival Awards Europe which caused the UN to invite the organizing team to use the popularity of music as a means for raising public environmental awareness in a program called United Nations Music & Environmental Initiative (M&E) .
Past Editions
- 2010 - in Idanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-Nova is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 1,416.4 km² and a total population of 10,929 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 17 parishes and is located in the district of Castelo Branco....
- 2008 - in Idanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-Nova is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 1,416.4 km² and a total population of 10,929 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 17 parishes and is located in the district of Castelo Branco....
- 2006 - in Idanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-Nova is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 1,416.4 km² and a total population of 10,929 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 17 parishes and is located in the district of Castelo Branco....
- 2004 - in Idanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-Nova is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 1,416.4 km² and a total population of 10,929 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 17 parishes and is located in the district of Castelo Branco....
- 2002 - in Idanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-NovaIdanha-a-Nova is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 1,416.4 km² and a total population of 10,929 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 17 parishes and is located in the district of Castelo Branco....
- 2000 - in Herdade do Zambujal
- 1998 - in Herdade do Zambujal
- 1997 - in Herdade do Zambujal, near Águas de Moura