DGTL Amsterdam is a Multi-sensory Festival Experience to Remember

Summer seems set on peeking back into our lives like a guilty lover returning to an expectant former paramour. The arrival of jacket-less days and balmy evenings sees festival season roll into view and this year there seems to be about twelve each weekend, from now until autumn.

The platonic ideal of the festival is heavenly: three or four days spent in fields or carparks getting absolutely banjaxed while a succession of top notch DJs do their thing in front of crowds who've forgotten their own names, let alone those of the person on stage. Sadly, the reality usually involves poor planning, expensive beers drunk out of paper cups and an experience that's about as unique as a stroll down the average high street.

So it was a real treat when Amsterdam's DGTL lived up to our pre-plane expectations. Held in the abandoned industrial zone of the city's NDSM Docklands, this environmentally sustainable showcase of the brightest and best in house and techno was a one of a kind.

Musically it was, as expected, a total blast. Thanks to stand out sets from Happa (who fused steely techno with savage electro), Makam (playing big room, Dave Clark style stompers) and a Michael Mayer/Roman Flugel B2B masterclass, we witnessed some truly memorable sights and sounds. Giant puppeteers brought surveillance-themed characters to life, aliens inspired our newfound appreciation for make-up artists, and a fire breathing machine-dragon played avant-jazz to passers by.

DGTL goes beyond simply having DJs standing on various stages playing various records, with a collective involvement stretching above and beyond, helping to shape a genuine and illuminating festival experience. Months before the front gate opened creatives were asked to take part in a kinetic art pitch, and the winners, Utrecht's Inventors Guild collective, got to show off their impressive work on site - a wind powered perpetual pendulum easily capable of spinning you out. Elsewhere, the Dutch capital's own film museum, EYE, was invited down to share movies of old dock workers on the NDSM wharf, while professional performance artists entertained those taking a break from rolling rhythms.

Not just content with zoning out to top name DJs in former ship containers, we met up with DGTL's event manager Kiki Calis to see how and why a festival like this can go beyond the muddy marquees and hot dog stalls we see in the UK. For Calis, the ethos of DGTL is to always look beyond just booking a stellar line up. It operates around three notional pillars that uphold the theoretical element of the festival: Music, art, and revolution. "I think as a festival, you have to do something special to stand out amongst all the other festivals in the Netherlands, and especially in Amsterdam," Calis begins. "Dutch festival goers are accustomed to that kind of experience and need more stimuli to get surprised. That's why we put so much focus on those pillars."

Musical artists mingle with performance acts in a strange harmony. "We had a show at the main square of the site on both Saturday and Sunday evenings, hosted by Bella Berlin, the living disco ball from Berlin," explains Kiki. For those of you looking confused, Bella is the somewhat mysterious woman who walks out in head-to-toe reflective gear before bursting into modern dance whilst firing beams of light out at anyone sitting nearby. We can confirm the idea works, particularly when she's surrounded by towering cranes in a disused factory.

Other attractions included the Hypercube, an immersive light and sound installation, an Oculus Rift controlled DGTL game, and the aforementioned pendulum, the Chaosgenerator. All this meant there was never a dull moment, even when the sound of constantly slamming 4/4 kick faded out of earshot. The question is, though, how necessary is this kind of thing at a festival? Does it add a sprinkling of sugar to the bread and butter of any half-decent event, or is it simply a distraction? And does all this fancy stuff implicitly show that the festival boom is about to burst with punters no longer happy with 'just' seeing 40 DJs in a weekend?

Calis doesn't think so. "No, I don't think there are too many, if people are still going then it's good. But it's good to do things differently if there are so many. And for me, I'm not really looking at what other festivals are doing, just trying to focus on where we want to take this brand, which would be international."

While it's easy to see what she means when she uses the word 'brand' it nonetheless makes you question where rave culture went. The idealized notion of like minded hordes gathering to dance their Vans into an early grave in the name of freedom-through-dance seems pretty distant at times. We asked Calis exactly what she meant by the term. "Maybe brand is the wrong word. DGTL is DGTL, but the name is a brand- it's just what you call it. Like the whole three pillars idea, it's what we're about and it all falls under the idea of a brand. Ultimately, it's a next level festival, we have a really wide sustainability programme, the arts, and the music all come together to make an unforgettable event that takes people further than they would normally expect. That's the challenge we have set ourselves, and so far it's working."

Hyperbole aside, the facts speak for themselves. 2015 saw DGTL turn three, making it still very much a baby in the grand scheme of things. Yet 30% of attendees came from outside the Netherlands, and so had to factor in international travel, accommodation in one of Europe's higher-priced capitals, and spends for the duration of the event. It might not be the cheapest option but we'd wager most of this year's attendees will be considering another go round in 12 months time. We know that we will.

All photos courtesy of Tomdoms.com

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