If I had to place a festival in position number one of my favorite events, I would without a doubt mention the Awakenings Summer Festival!
It's a long love story that begins in 2005. It was Saturday, July 2. My sidekick Simon and I were packing our things for that sunny day. We wet the base of the GPS and fixed it to the windshield. We insert side A of the tape and we launch the mix of Dr. Lektroluv. Simon turns the starter, the Peugeot 106 vibrates, the exhaust evacuates the first gasses of a very nice trip from Chimay to Amsterdam. After having returned the cassette several times in the reader, one arrives on the site. We are among the first. We take out our jar of gel, the cigarettes, we check the cash. Let's go.
In 2005, the festivities started a little earlier, at 10:30 a.m., and took place on the magnificent site of the Recreatiegebied Spaarnwoude, near Amsterdam. There were fewer tents than today but the spirit remained the same. On the menu: Gabriel Ananda, Magda, Karotte, Joris Voorn, 2000 & One, Bart Skils, Steve Rachmad, Valentino Kanzyani, Miss Djax, Pet Duo, Cari Lekebusch, Function and Steve Bicknell.
And what's great about all of this is that many of us will again join this special festive atmosphere from Friday July 7 to Sunday July 9, 2023. Some will have taken the all-in formula while others will only go one day, as it is for me - you don't get any younger haha.
And this year, it is on the new site of Hilvarenbeek near Tilburg, not far from Eindhoven and the Belgian border that the Awakenings Summer Festival will take place. On the menu this time, a fine selection of some of the best artists of the electronic scene: Kobosil, Fjaak, Joris Voorn, Dax J, Ben Klock, DVS1, Hector Oaks, Len Faki, Oscar Mulero, Seth Troxler, Amelie Lens, Chris Stussy, Honey Dijon, I Hate Models and many more! The complete line-up can be found here.
I can't wait to be there and I think a lot of us share the same feeling. And if you don't know this festival yet, then I strongly recommend that you get one of the last tickets available!
Because a picture is worth a thousand words, here is last year's aftermovie: