Kazantip
Encyclopedia
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
festival held every year on the Crimean peninsula
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The entrance ticket is called a "viZa". It takes place for 5-6 weeks in the summer and more than 150,000 "paradiZers" visit each year. There is a cult of orange coloured fashion and yellow suitcases associated with the festival.
History
The festival is named for the KazantypKazantyp
Kazantyp is a headland located in the northeastern part of the Crimean peninsula on the shore of the Azov Sea. The name Kazantyp comes from the Crimean Tatar name qazan tüp that means bottom of a cauldron referring to its concave profile. It extends far into the sea from the coastline with its...
headland near which it was held from 1995-1999. During that time the festival took place inside the turbine hall of the unfinished Crimean Atomic Energy Station
Crimean Atomic Energy Station
The Crimean Atomic Energy Station is an abandoned and unfinished nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Construction work on the plant started in 1976, and the nearby town of Shcholkine was constructed in 1978 to house workers working on the project. The station was inspected following the Chernobyl...
near Shchelkino. The festival was moved to the Vesele (also referred to as Veseloye) settlement in 2000. Since 2001 the festival has been held in the Crimean town of Popivka (also referred to as Popovka) . It advertises itself as a "virtual republic" with over 300 DJs on more than 14 dance floors which play 21 hours per day. The republic is held on a piece of land covering 60,000 square metres (15 acres). DJs performing during KaZantip 2010 were (among others) Carl Cox
Carl Cox
Carl Cox is a British techno and house music DJ.-Biography:Cox grew up in Oldham, Lancashire, before attending Glastonbury High Boys secondary modern school on Glastonbury Road in Morden. Cox began his career as a hardcore and rave DJ in the mid 1980s...
, Hybrid, Marco Carola, Oliver Huntemann
Oliver Huntemann
Oliver Huntemann is a German electronic music producer and internationally-touring DJ. He has played a significant part in shaping the genre through his numerous productions and remixes for Underworld, The Chemical Brothers and Depeche Mode.-Biography:Raised in Oldenburg in northern Germany,...
, DJ URI, Armin Van Buuren, Josh Wink
Josh Wink
Josh Wink is an electronic music DJ, label owner, producer, remixer, and artist. He is a native of Philadelphia, United States. A pioneering DJ in the American rave scene during the early 1990s, Wink was the most prominent exponent of the tribal forms of techno and house in the U.S...
and Seba
Seba
Sebastian Ahrenberg, better known as Seba is a drum and bass producer and DJ hailing originally from Ingarö, an island just outside of Stockholm, Sweden. Seba is also the owner of Secret Operations, a drum and bass record label.-Musical career:...
.
The first festival was held in 1991 when Ukraine was still part of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and has a long tradition like Loveparade, Burning Man
Burning Man
Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Monday before the American Labor Day holiday, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...
, and Streetparade.
The president, creator, and initiator of Kazantip (Republic Z), is Nikita I (actual name, Nikita Marshunok). In the beginning the festival was very low-key and was nothing more than a bunch of windsurfers partying after a hard day's wave riding. But later Nikita decided to include a trance and techno music party to celebrate the end of the season. This gave birth to the festival as it is today. There is also a special celebration called "Mayovka" or "Happiness Parade" which is held as a rule from 30 to 31 of May. This is the Z-national holiday dedicated to spring, friendship and happiness. During these days Z-people dance, take part in a Happiness Parade, show their happiness to each other and prepare for the big summer events. Mayovka could be called the dress rehearsal before the summer festival.
The festival is often misspelled and may also be known incorrectly as 'Kasantip' or 'Kazantyp'.