ELECTRIC CASTLE II.

The second edition of Electric Castle music festival has built massively on the success of its first iteration, setting new standards of organizing. The event was set apart from the usual expectations of a music festival, and has turned into a complex sensorial and spatial experience, more like a celebration of contemporary art.

We tried to establish a tradition to ritualize the experience with a few pavilions that have become familiar for the visitors and that for sure will feature as stable and recognizable elements at the future editions as well. Most important is The Cube, the oversized signal-installation in the center of the main courtyard, around which the rest of the festival revolves. Second is the smoke labyrinth with it’s psychedelic and playful dimension – a game of hide and seek in a space with vague limits. Next, in The Mill we created the scene for the alternative side of the festival, using distinctive props connected to the buildings impressive roof structure. Smaller scale experiences are offered also in the remains of the former palace gardens, shaded spots for relaxation, crossings and geometric shapes within the foliage. The whole setting is an invitation to exploration, several paths and different ways of perception of the old Banffy estate. All interventions stand apart from the historical material, keeping in parallel and not in competition with it.

In this sense the festival does not consume its site, rather activates it by a temporary (re)set into light.

PROGRAM: pavilions, installations at music festival
STATUS: completed
LOCATION: Bonțida, Cluj (RO)
YEAR: 2014
VOLUNTEERS: Adrian Bucin, Popescu Ioan, Suciu Vlad, Silviu Bors, Nistor Ionut, Cizmas Flaviu, Adelina Mesaros, Simona Zinca, Alexandra Ungureanu, Andreea Dragoi, Gabriel Florian
FOTO: Dacian Groza, Silviu Aldea