Photo Credit: Katarina Cvetko
By: Katarina Cvetko
Last weekend marked the 17th annual edition of Airbeat One Festival. Northern Germany’s largest festival is known for its unique destination themed editions each year and this year’s destination was Great Britain! After attending my first Airbeat One in 2017, the festival instantly became one of my favourites and I have been counting down the days to return to this amazing event! Featuring the ‘most spectacular lineup in the festival’s 17-year history’ across five massive stages, this festival is giving some of the biggest names a run for their money! Here are my favourite things about this year’s edition of Airbeat One: Destination Great Britain!
THE THEME
One of my favourite things about this festival is the unique destination themed concept and how they bring it to life throughout the entire festival! This year’s theme was Great Britain and nothing screams Great Britain more than a massive main stage resembling London’s famous Tower Bridge, London Eye, and Big Ben! This was by far one of the biggest main stages I’ve seen at any festival and they used every inch of space up perfectly to create an exclusive main stage vibe without interfering with the rest of the festival.
THE ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere at German festivals is definitely distinct and any international ravers are in for a surprise! The locals definitely know how to party and make sure that everyone else gets involved as well. From the German drinking games first thing in the morning to some of the biggest mosh pits you’ll ever see, the crowd at Airbeat One was definitely one of the friendliest and most energetic that I have seen! If the music doesn’t keep you occupied, the company definitely will!
THE PRODUCTION
One thing I always look out for at a festival is the production quality and Airbeat One took their production to the next level! After the announcement that Transmission Festival would be hosting their own stage this year, I had very high expectations for this stage and was absolutely blown away by the light shows at The Arena Stage. While exploring the other stages, I definitely noticed that this festival and I shared the same passion for lasers because they were everywhere! Most festivals place all their focus on the main stage and tend to neglect the other stages but Airbeat One values every single stage and ensures that the same level of production is experienced wherever you go! My favourite and most anticipated moment of the festival was definitely the fireworks show on the final day, where thousands of fireworks, lasers, and flames filled the sky to the soundtrack of this summer’s festival anthems.
THE MUSIC
With over 100 international names spread out across five stages, there was never a dull moment on the festival grounds. This year’s lineup featured five of the top 10 DJ Mag top 100 artists on the main stage among some of the biggest names in the world. Q-Dance also hosted one of their signature traveling stages with all the biggest names in the harder styles. For the first time, Transmission also hosted their own stage with some of the most legendary names in the trance scene. A wide range of drum and bass, dubstep, and up and coming artists were also featured among the second and terminal stages, giving ravers a generous selection of musical styles! Here are my top three sets from the weekend:
TIMMY TRUMPET
Australian born DJ and producer Timmy Trumpet returned to the Airbeat One main stage for a spectacular live performance that had the entire crowd wanting more. Incorporating live trumpet performances into his set and adapting to the European scene with his passion for hardstyle, this was by far one of the best sets I’ve seen this festival season! He also emphasised his ‘party ‘til we die’ philosophy with his constant dancing and showering the crowd (including myself) with champagne, which was definitely an experience!
DA TWEEKAZ
The Norwegian duo and hardstyle favourites, Da Tweekaz put on yet another incredibly energetic performance. These guys have been my favourites this year and never fail to be the life of the party! From sneaky fruit breaks mid-set to sharing shots of Jagermeister with the crowd, these guys do anything and everything to put on a good show! Even in the unfortunate event of a short power outage, these guys continued to entertain the crowd until the music came back on and proceeded to go harder than ever before!
PURENRG LIVE
Following the last sets on the Main and Q-Dance stages, I wandered into The Arena stage one last time to capture some more lasers before ending my weekend at Airbeat One. Trance duo PureNRG just happened to be playing a live set and instantly became one of my favourite acts. The electronic group consisting of Solarstone and Giuseppe Ottaviani used a custom designed set consisting of multiple live instruments to create a unique live trance sound to accompany their electronic beats. I absolutely love artists who incorporate live instruments into their sets and these guys definitely stand out in the trance world!
CONCLUSION
This year’s edition of Airbeat One has been nothing short of amazing! From the world-class production to the impressive lineup and everything in between, this festival remains as one of my favourite festivals in the world and I will definitely be returning next year! Mark your calendars; the 2019 edition will take place on July 10-14!