Electric Castle Festival kickstarts shortly with an insane line up this year. After our Ruffinaments interview we had a chat with one of the organisers how they see last year's success, what changes they implemented for this year, how expensive it is going to be, what they have renovated in the castle and whether we will be allowed to enter the castle this year. The 4-day passes are all sold out, only day tickets are available, but you can win passes with us is you answer the questions properly!
Last year’s festival was awesome, what was the best experience from the organisers’ point of view?
Last year was indeed amazing! We had some great artists and over 79.000 people during the 4 days of the festival. We were really happy that Electric Castle was for real Bigger/Stronger/Better and we were very proud that lots of foreigners visited us. We believe that last year was our first step in making EC an international music festival and this is empowered by the fact that we’ve been shortlisted for the second time at Festival Awards for The Best Medium Sized Festival category.
This year The Roots stage will be introduced. Where will it be positioned and what was the concept behind it?
Actually this is not a new stage. Last year we had a reggae stage that had a great success and this year we’ve decided to make it bigger. So we will bring some amazing artists like Jah Shaka, Mad Professor, Prince Fatty & Horseman, Bush Chemists & King General, Iration Steppas and Benny Page. The stage will be placed on the neo-gothic wing of the castle, last year there was the Dance Garden stage. The concept is very simple – only good vibes are allowed at The Roots stage.
What changes will be implemented this year (infrastructure and organisation, etc. wise)?
We are trying to keep the same pattern from last year, but the festival surface will be bigger and there will be some new musical zones. The Main Stage will be called Boiler Stage, the Dance Garden stage will become Red Bull Music Academy Stage and it will be moved in a new area and the Silent Dance stage will be an outdoor stage. The Mill and The Stables will remain the same. This year we will have an amazing extreme sports zone with a bike track called BMX Castle Line and a skate park. Also we will have a Fashion Corner, a vinyl showcase, an ECO Point lots and lots of other activities.
Last year if you were not so interested in BMX and skateboarding, you couldn’t really do anything during the daytime? Will you have more daytime programs this year?
During the daytime you can chill in Hideout zone where you can enjoy some rum specialties or you can have a great coffee by the lake. After that you can visit the vinyl showcase area, where you can talk with other vinyl lovers and if you are into games you must try the new Gaming Zone, you’ll even get the chance to try some Oculus Rift headsets. If you are still on the party mode and you still got the energy, we can join one of themed parties during the day!
This year there will be significantly more drum and bass than previously. Is this a conscious concept or there were more d’n’b acts available this year in this time slot? Will this trend continue next year as well?
This year we’ve focused on bringing names that were very expected in Romania. Indeed we have more dnb than last year but we also have lots of other genres. We have names like The Prodigy, Parov Stelar Band, The Cat Empire, The Glitch Mob, Maya Jane Coles, The Subways, Nouvelle Vague and many many others. Before every edition we sit and discuss the direction we want to take regarding the lineup. So all I can tell you right now about the next year’s lineup is that we will always try to have a diverse lineup with lots of acts that are a premiere for Romania.
I read last year that the festival spends a portion of the profit on the renovation of the castle. Were there any redecorations or changes to the castle due to that recently? Will people be allowed inside the castle this time?
Banffy Castle is our home and it’s natural for us to spend o portion of the profit for the restauration process. After the first edition with a part of the money that we’ve donated, the foundation that manages the castle has completed the roof on the neo-gothic side of the castle. This year they’ve re-built the floor from the ex-stables and they’ve almost built a floor on the whole castle. Unfortunately the access in the castle, for the public is forbidden.
What effect does the festival have on the local community and on the area of Cluj?
The whole local community is growing alongside the festival. The locals are renting rooms and are selling local products. In the first year they were a little surprised by the high attendance, but in the second year they managed to organize themselves better.. I’m pretty sure that this year they will do even better. For example, this year there are a lot more rooms to rent than last year. The festival has great a great positive effect on the community and especially on the castle. We hope that the local authorities will also understand this and help us with the infrastructure (roads, parking lots and so on)
We really liked that the festival was not about making insane profit like most festivals to the west. Are you going to keep it this way or prices will go up this year?
This year the prices will be similar with the ones from last year. For example a beer will cost around 7 lei, a water 5 lei and so on.
Who are you looking forward to see the most this year? Which artist do you think is the most anticipated one? Who was the most difficult to book?
That’s an easy question. By far the most anticipated are The Prodigy. They were also the hardest to book, because lots and lots of festivals wanted them to headlines. The negotiations lasted for a few months but in the end they agreed to headline this year’s Electric Castle. I, personally can’t wait for the show, but I’m also very keen to see The Glitch Mob, Maya Jane Coles and Roni Size Reprazent.
WIN WITH US:
Which day broke the attendance record last year?
Send your answers to jatek@koncertblog.hu until 22June 8 pm. We have 4 4-day passes to give away, so hurry up. The winners will be displayed on our Facebook site and will be notified in e-mail as well, with information how they they enter the festival. If you liked the article, like our Facebook page as well.
