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[Report] Soenda Festival

Last Saturday, I visited Soenda Festival with a couple of friends. It's a festival located on the outskirts of Utrecht, in the Ruigenhoek polder. Soenda, I didn't know where the name comes from but a quick Google search taught me it is actually a small group of islands in South-East Asia. Not quite a name you expect for a intimate techno party in the Dutch Polder. However, nothing is further from the truth.

Elevation Events, the organiser of Soenda Festival, established a small State in which everyone was free and could live together in harmony. There were four stages, each with a different kind of music. In total about 30 artists coming from over five different countries would perform. You could also treat your taste buds at one of the food stalls. And let's not to forget: The festival offers a place to different forms of expression, at least that's what I've been told when I was looking into it. Anyhow, as always I will just let it all come to me.

During my first walk over the festival ground, I could feel this was more than just a festival. A lot of people think of the festival as a Solar-kind-of-experience with a little bit of Woodstock over it. The difference is that this is in the polder and a lot smaller. Another fun thing about Soenda are its visitors; they are very diverse, it's refreshing. Of course the entire Utrecht incrowd is attending, but so are some homeless people, a dozen desperate housewives and couple of beauty queens coming straight off the cover of a Cosmopolitan. It's like a musical Queensday, a party for young and old. I'm there for just 10 minutes and I already feel the warmth.

My fellow party-goers and I continue our journey over the festival ground. It's getting nicely crowded and I immediately feel this could turn out to be quite a chill party. While we were walking in the direction of the Java stage, we could hear the sounds of Sandy Huner, getting us in the right mood. Together with DJs like Andre Galuzzi, Mathias Kaden & Daniel Stefanik, Bart Skils & Anton Pieete and as closing DJ of the night Monika Krus, the Java stage was the place to be if you are a electro and minimal techno lover. This area, named after one of the Soenda islands, began to get busier and Andre Galuzzi who had just started his set, got the place going.

When clouds slowly began to merge above the Java stage, I decided to switch to one of the tents: the Komodo tent. Here, DJ Secret Cinema just began his set after Tony Rohr set the mood with some raw and schranz-like sounds. Because the tents were a bit on the small side and it was getting kind of crowded, I returned to all the die-hards at the main stage. The organisation supplied everyone with a poncho and the entire terrain was coloured orange and white in no time. No one seemed to care that the Gods of Weather changed the Utrecht polder into a subtropical rain forest.

"We innovate, never imitate" is what Mathias Kaden & Daniel Stefanik must have been thinking when they created their banging electro beats. Their bass drums are so heavy, the seismologic agency must have got a some sort of reading! Dark, intimidating techno with high rising melodies at the end of their set, on which Bart Skils & Anton Pieete could continue to build during their performance. Dusk fell and German Queen Monika Kruse took over the stage, I kept going from Komode and Soembawa to Roti and back to Java again, as if I was a wandering traveler driven by the sounds of techno. The friendly atmosphere at this intimate festival suited the concept Elevation Events tried to achieve. Around 22:00pm, the DJs in the tents finished their sets so everyone could go to the main stage where Monika Kruse would close the event with the usual sit down. A spectacular sight and a just as awesome climax when she blasts the bass drum through the speakers as everyone jumps up... Monika wir liebe dich!

Around 23 o'clock we dragged ourselves to the exit, leaving the small State of Soenda. The festival never felt raw but I've seen amazing performances. Sometimes innovative, sometimes simply flat, loud schranz. In conclusion: I had a great time thanks to my buddies for the day and the great crowd which made Soenda a intimate happening.