Recap: Our Favourite Events Of 2015!

2015 was been one hell of a year for the harder styles! Fans have been incredibly lucky to have access to great music and of course, some incredible events worldwide! We were lucky enough to attend and drink stupid amounts of wine at a bunch of huge events this year and as a part of our recap we’re going to have a look at our favourites, both indoor and outdoor festivals! Before we start, we would just like to thank all of the organisations for their hard work and we hope that 2016 is even bigger! 

Outdoor

Mysteryland *WINNER*

Mysteryland, or otherwise known on my terms as ‘Skitzyland’ was an unexpectedly great festival and allowed me to have the greatest time of my f*cking life. Prior to attending the festival I thought to myself “Oh, it’ll be OKAY, but I’m not expecting much,” however once I arrived into the mysterious grounds of Skitzyland my mind was blown. The amount of random little ‘cooked’ decorations was incredible and was something that other organisers need to start doing; like c’mon, there was a banana rave – A FUCKING BANANA RAVE. For all who have never attended this skitz festival, I definitely recommend that you jump on tickets for next years’ edition!

Read our review: HERE

The Qontinent

Although I came down with a severe throat infection on the day of The Qontinent (gross), my partner-in-crime Sara attended the weekend and assured me that the good times were endless. After attending for the first time in 2014, The Qontinent quickly earnt its spot as my favourite festival; everything from the good vibes, crazy Belgians and the skitzy after party thrown on the VIP deck on the Sunday night makes it A-class! From Sara’s drunken messages that I received all weekend and the pictures of that amazing mainstage I can only assume that it was one hell of a festival!

Rebirth Festival

There’s nothing better than chasing those winter blues away by partying in the farmlands of Brabant! Rebirth Festival was amazing; the crowd was filled with friendly partygoers who were there to have a great time, all of the acts were amazing and there was this unique atmosphere in the air, mainly because it was the first festival of the summer! One thing I also liked about the festival is that all of the areas were undercover. During April it’s not exactly hot enough to rave outside so it’s nice that the organisers took this into consideration. The festival itself is quite small but it’s pretty fucking ‘gezellig’ if you ask me.

Read our review: HERE

Intents Festival
Intents was intense. Before experiencing the magic for myself, I’d heard amazing things about this festival and the rumours were right! I felt as though I had walked into a funfair, but one that’s definitely NOT suitable for young children. I’m not a fan of clowns but that mainstage was epic, especially when it illuminated during the dark hours. The other stage designs were also amazing; I spent the majority of my day at the ‘Relive’ area, or known as the ‘bumper cars’ and even dropped into the cute little deep house area for a quick rave. All in all, this festival is not to be missed in 2016 – it’s up there with the best!

Read our review: HERE or HERE (Yes, there’s two)

Dance Valley

Held in August, this large-scale festival is one that celebrates all aspects of electronic music. The mainstage is predominantly EDM, but once you step into the Hard Valley everything falls into place. The line-up for Dance Valley is always versatile and supports quite out-of-the-box names that you won’t normally see playing on a mainstage. Another mentionable point about this festival is the artist lounge; the food was top notch and don’t get me started on the free wine. For travellers, I highly recommend visiting Dance Valley for an all-round great experience!

Sunrise Festival

Held at the beautiful De Lilse Bergen in Belgium, Sunrise Festival has a particularly ‘relaxing’ and chilled-out vibe compared to many other festivals. With the mainstage right alongside the crystal clear water and the raw hardstyle stage built right in front of the shoreline, you can even take off your shoes and dance on the sand if that’s what your heart desires! In 2015 this festival was loads of fun and for a change we even got lucky with beautiful, sunny weather!

WiSH Outdoor

For those who attended this years’ edition of WiSH Outdoor, the one thing you’d specifically remember was that held in the midst of a massive heat-wave! Despite the stinking heat, WiSH Outdoor was an awesome event; there were two colossal mainstages, a diverse line-up that consisted of some more ‘underground’ names and the overall design of the event was top-notch. WiSH is definitely a worthy contender when it comes to summer festivals!

Hard Island (Croatia)

One of our team members, Samantha, was lucky enough to attend the first edition of Hard Island and according to her it was an unforgettable experience! Held at the idyllic Zrće Beach in Croatia, the first edition was a huge success, paving way for an even bigger edition in 2016! Unlike the traditional Dutch festivals, the concept of Hard Island is so unique; it places paradise and hardstyle hand-in-hand which is something that’s never really been done before.

Defqon.1 (The Netherlands)

Rain, hail or shine, one thing is for sure – Defqon.1 is bound to be amazing! It’s a moving experience that all hard dance lovers should partake in; when you enter the gates to Defqon.1 it’s as if you step into a parallel universe and the outside world is left far, far behind. Defqon.1 in The Netherlands is THE mother of all hard dance festivals; it covers all sounds ranging from hard trance to 300BPM speedcore and even has an appeal for those who aren’t so familiar with hard dance music. This years’ edition was unforgettable; everything from the immaculate stage designs to the facilities and overall atmosphere of the festival was spot on brilliant.

Emporium

Held at the end of May, Emporium Festival is one of the most diverse and well-designed concepts I’ve ever experienced! The festival celebrates all kinds of electronic music including deep house, commercial EDM, hardstyle, freestyle, hardcore and even trap! Everything from the theme, location, stage designs, entertainment and overall vibe was top-notch and it’s definitely a festival I recommend to travellers!

Read our review: HERE

Electric Love Festival (Austria)

Held in Salzburg, Austria, is one of the most prominent music festivals of the summer – Electric Love Festival. With a line-up boasting the likes of Knife Party, Oliver Heldens, Sub Focus, Pendulum, Showtek, Armin van Buuren and many more, the harder styles are also represented with B-Front, Gunz For Hire, Code Black, Korsakoff, Noisecontrollers and Wildstylez among more. Our fellow Austrian Sara attended this years’ edition and can vouch that it was one of the wildest events of the year!

Read our review: DAY 1  |  DAY 2

CRAFT Festival
Sadly this years’ edition of CRAFT was cut short, however those who were there for that short time can vouch that they were a part of such a unique experience. Although none of us got to experience CRAFT in its fullest potential, judging by what went on at the Penoze stage, the line-up, the concept and time and effort put into the day, this festival is deserving of mention. Remember, for those who purchased a ticket for 2015, you are valid to attend the highly anticipated 2016 edition!

Read our interview with Lose Your Mind about CRAFT: HERE

Dominator

Held on the 18th of July, on a scorching hot day was the most notorious hardcore festival of the season – Dominator! You’ve probably seen photos of Dominator and yes, this is the festival where everybody gets drunk and swims in the water. With a gigantic line-up that ranged from raw hardstyle to early hardcore, mainstream hardcore and right up to terrorcore and frenchcore, this festival has something for everybody!

Indoor

Knockout Circuz (Australia)

Held in December, Knockout Circuz was undoubtedly one of the most successful Australian concepts and proved HSU as a worthy contender when it came to running events! Prior to the event, harder styles fanatics were literally giving arms and legs away to purchase tickets! Those who attended were lucky enough to experience Bioweapon’s resurrection with their unforgettable performance and not to mention watch other internationals like Darren Styles, Tha Playah, Technoboy and more!

Read our review: HERE

Qapital

Celebrating the raw side of hardstyle, Qapital is THE event for those die-hard fans! Held in the Ziggo Dome and spread across three diverse areas, even if you’re not a huge fan of raw hardstyle, the overall vibe of the event and intense production is a good enough reason to attend! I can’t say enough how much I LOVE that venue; seriously, it suits the concept so well; especially the third area which showcases extreme and underground raw sounds!

Reverze

I can’t say the word Reverze normally without screaming “REEE-VERZE!” in an overly deep voice. Nevertheless, this illustrious event is one of the biggest and best in Belgium that celebrates all sounds within the harder styles including hardstyle, freestyle, tek and hardcore! Held in the depths of winter, this colossal event spreads over the Sportpaleis and Lotto Arena in Antwerp and boasts one of the most wonderfully overwhelming light-shows!

Supremacy

After the incredible first edition in 2014 that saw Minus Militia dropping their highly anticipated album, Supremacy was back again in 2015; bigger and better than before! Thousands of raw hardstyle fanatics gathered to witness one of the most successful new concepts that showcased an intense production, stellar line-up and of course an unforgettable entrance by the anthem-maker Digital Punk, who practically hovered over the crowd whilst simultaneously dropping “Supreme!”

Remember

Held in the 013 Poppodium on the 4th of April was a beautiful night that was filled with classics! With a line-up consisting of hardstyle heroes like D-Block & S-te-Fan, Josh & Wesz, Davide Sonar, Tatanka, Luna and Mani, Remember was a night to never forget! Everyone loves a little bit of 2008 Hardstyle and for those who weren’t at Qapital that night, Remember was a great alternative. It was such a great concept that celebrated the earlier sounds and the pioneers of the genre!

Read our review: HERE

One Man Army

On the 7th of November, thousands of members of the Radical army gathered within the walls of the Heineken Music Hall to celebrate a night dedicated to hardstyle heavyweight Radical Redemption and his brand new album “The One Man Army.” The line-up consisted mostly of names that Radical collaborated with for the album such as Crypsis, Digital Punk, E-Force, Destructive Tendencies, Luna and more! On top of that, the second area showcased a whole line-up of upcoming names!

XXlerator Carnaval

Not quite accustomed to the quirky celebrations of the Dutch, I decided that I’d try my luck with involving myself in some kind of Carnaval celebration. Combining these celebrations with hardstyle, XXlerator Carnaval was actually quite a fun event; all of the artists and visitors were dressed up, everyone was drinking their body weight in beer and just generally having a great time! This was a great party, besides the fact that it’s held in the middle of fucking nowhere and took almost three hours to get home via public transport.

Read our review’s: HERE or HERE

Unfortunately we weren’t able to include all of the magnificent events in 2015 simply because we were not there to experience them! So, if you feel as though something should be included, feel free to leave a comment below about your best festival experience in 2015! We’re very much looking forward to the festivities of 2016, especially the festival season! Finally, on behalf of the Alive At Night team, we wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and skitzy new year!