C.R.A.F.T 2016 – Washing away the sorrow of 2015

“Listen up, there is a storm coming like nothing you have ever seen. And not a one of you is prepared for it.” As the highly anticipated 2015 edition of C.R.A.F.T Festival rolled around, the lyrics of Gunz For Hire’s track “A Storm Is Coming” became a forecast for the storm that set to ravage the NDSM wharf (literally). This storm was so severe that organisation Lose Your Mind had to close the event, as it could no longer guarantee the safety of its visitors. The 25^th of July, the fateful day that saw C.R.A.F.T 2015 closing its doors became a dark episode in the history of Lose Your Mind, however the guys remained positive and pursued their next conquests with a clean slate.

The biggest question surrounding the 2016 edition was how Lose Your Mind would bounce back from this disaster and what greatness they would provide for their visitors. As if the weather gods were regretting their last years rage, the weather of this year’s edition turned out to be perfect. Together with one of the best line-ups of this summer, Lose Your Mind possessed the right cards to wash away the grief of 2015…

Undisputed, one of the best features of C.R.A.F.T is it location; the NSDM-Werf in Amsterdam. The NSDM-Werf is a vacant shipyard which has been transformed into an inspirational district where a great amount of artists perform live. The influence of these artists can be seen all over the place as they have been displaying their art basically everywhere, from statues on the side of the road to paintings on the walls of abandoned warehouses. As you walk to the festival the vacant industrial area with its artistic creations, form an environment that is perfectly matching the core of the Hard Dance music; raw industrial kicks and beautiful artistic melodies; a perfect balance of blackness and colour.

The impressive location of NDSM-Werf does not ask for much decoration, as the place itself already creates the perfect atmosphere for a Hard Dance festival. Lose Your Mind seemed to understand this, as the decoration of C.R.A.F.T was simple, minimalistic, but effective. The ‘Penoze’ mainstage was cleverly located in between two vacant warehouses. The art on the walls of these buildings was perfectly visible from the stage, which, again, stimulated that unique industrial and inspirational atmosphere. To party in-between these vacant sites is a unique experience; the simplicity of abandoned buildings mixed with blistering kicks moves you to a world where only the simple things in life matter.

It was a shame the mainstage itself did not complement this majestic atmosphere – the pile of cocaine looked more like a lost ski slope. Of course, a pile of cocaine is the perfect symbol for a scene full of ‘cooked’ cunts, but it somehow mismatched with the rest of the festival. Conversely, all the other stages where perfectly in line with their surroundings. For instance, the ‘Future’ stage was located under an old electricity pylon. This iron structure, together with the surrounding trees, created a perfect environment to escape reality. Furthermore, to settle the ‘Reckless’ stage inside a vacant warehouse was absolutely brilliant, as this indoor location excited the raw sounds of the ‘Reckless’ stage to its maximum. It is exactly these features, stages that blend into the unique industrial environment, that make C.R.A.F.T unique.

Another unique feature is that the price of a ticket (pre-sale €29,50) for C.R.A.F.T is relatively low, which makes it possible for almost everyone to attend the festival – such a relief in a world where ticket prices for festivals become pathetically expensive. The suspicious question that immediately rises is how they will compensate the low ticket price. Surely, Lose Your Mind did not cut the costs on the line-up, as it could easily match the line-ups of the biggest festivals this summer. Therefore, to our own assumptions, it seemed as Lose Your Mind did cut the costs on two things. Firstly, they took away some show-elements like fireworks and lasers. Fortunately, the high-quality live-sets could well compensate this missing element. Secondly (and this was rather disappointing), the acoustics and sound systems of some of the stages lacked quality. Especially the sound of the ‘Reckless’ stage was continuously unclear, as the huge hollow space of the vacant factory created an annoying and by times hurtful echo.

A big ‘pro’ were the logistics. A lot of festivals are struggling with immense traffic lines. Often, cars and busses have to wait excessively long to get in or out of the parking areas. However, we had no issues with lines at all – which is definitely a godsend when one is craving to get in, or longing to get home after a long day of partying. Alike, the selling of nitrous oxide was a big success – I shouldn’t be stimulating this, but you cannot go to C.R.A.F.T anymore without taking nitrous oxide. It is a match made in heaven. And while we are still at the pro’s: to put Pokémon at the back of the coins is absolutely brilliant. Never ever change this!

So what was the ultimate highlight of C.R.A.F.T 2016? Together with its awesome location I have to say the said of the one and only B-Front. Lately, a lot of festival let B-Front play in the early afternoon, but Lose Your Mind gave B-Front the opportunity to play from 21:00-22:00; a brilliant idea. The dark atmospheric melodies of B-Front’ songs get so much better once the twilight has settled. It turned out to be an hour of endless goose bumps and thrills from head to toe. This man once again showed why he is one of the finest hardstyle DJs today.

The 2016 edition of C.R.A.F.T surely made us forget the disaster of the year before. This edition is the living proof that a festival does not need all the glitter and glamour to create an awesome atmosphere. The right location, some good weather, and an outstanding line-up are all that it takes to create a hard dance Walhalla. What is promising is that C.R.A.F.T is still a young concept and thus has some time to improve its flaws – like the acoustics. However, with its unique industrial atmosphere C.R.A.F.T has the potential to evolve into one of the finest Hard Dance summer festivals.