After three resounding success stories, the annual gathering on the green in Ludwigshafen known as Blies Festival is back and there has been a lot of work in the background for this year’s edition. With past events featuring a who’s who of electronic music that has included sets from Evan Baggs, Quest, Christian AB, Mathew Jonson, Francesco Del Garda, this year’s event will take a slightly different tact with regards to programming.
For a start, there will be not one but two stages across the 12 hour party. As always, there will be finely tuned sound systems throughout, out of the box stage design which includes a 360 degree walk-on main stage, and of course their trademark inclusive and respectful party ethos. The main stage will take a decidedly techno direction this time around with Ellen Allien playing b2b with Shaleen. Ellen’s undisputed contribution to electronic music has never been in doubt as her skill and devotion to her craft has stood the test of time. Her collab with Tresor.West resident Shaleen will be match made in heaven as the connection will center around the pair’s mutual love for 90’s centric house and techno. Also on the bill is a even more certified OG’s in the form of the masked Detroit honcho DJ Stingray 313, Panoramabar resident Roi Perez, live set wizard DMX Krew LIVE, EB-REX label head Estella Boersma, Rinse FM regular THC, and Amina who will play b2b with hotshot producer Xarbi.
With the main stage all but taken care of, the new stage addition to this year’s Blies Festival will be hosted by renowned German venue Blank. With their core values perfectly aligning with that of the festival, they will be bringing their across the board programming skills to the hallowed end of summer rave. Featuring a heady mix of local artists from the Ludwigshafen area they have moat peak time sounds covered from start to finish. UKG specialists Interplanetary Criminal’s will be providing the high speed UK focused sounds, while the collective of Girls Don’t Sync that includes Matty Chiabi, Sophia Violet, Hannah Lynch and G33 will be generating their magical energy in the booth.
Maintaining the high octane Garage sounds will see a joint performance from Dutch artist Benwal and homegrown hero Diffrent. More back to back action will come in the form of the mysterious Berlin based artist SHOKI287 and Mannheim’s DJ Https who have risen sharply to present an all encompassing high speed myriad of sounds. DJ Cringey and TOXIMAMI will again reprise their Hard Candy alias presenting their ‘Polygenre’ ethos which is a steadfast concoction of sounds that incorporate Donk, Psytrance, Techno, and Bailefunk. Expect the unexpected with their performance.
With Blank catering for faster sub genres who better to bring this to life than SPEEDBOYS who will be performing live. The duo from Heidelberg have been exploding onto the scene with their frenetic take on 90’s melodic trance and with a penchant for bringing their friends onto the stage for vocal sessions. Completing the lineup will be the pairing of Beton and Technoa aka Stabmixer 700, part of the Heidelberg Allstars, they have also shot to the top of the tree in their scene in a short space of time.
Throughout the day there will be a range of activities, installations, workshops, attractions, and interesting facets to the event that will include a live painting area that will be curated by Colombian artist Dubian. One of the unsung stars of the festival will be a custom made water fountain from artist collective YRD Works and the Wilhelm Hauck Museum that will provide free drinking water for everybody at the festival. This addition to the festival should not be underestimated, as this speaks directly to one of the main elements of the gathering that encourages respect.
More Info on Blies Festival
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