The first Electric Woodlands festival sent ravers into an enchanted trance on September 25th, with a wonderful line-up combined of DnB and House DJs, situated 30mins from London in Baldock’s beautiful Bygrave Farm (Hertfordshire). They set up 3 sensationally designed stages, all hosted by acclaimed brands and genre-leaders featuring DnB Allstars, Foreverland and CruCast.
Walking into the festival through sunflower beds and the sun beaming down on us, the feeling of Alice in Wonderland began the hit, along with the epic sounds of the speakers. DnB Allstars showcased their music in a huge yellow-top tent, smack-bang in the middle of the festival, an amazing view to walk into… we simply danced our way into the crowds and got lost in the mix!
We boogied with the who’s who of drum & bass, house, and bass stars at the DnB Allstars stage (the largest global online community of drum & bass fans) including Chase & Status, Hybrid Minds, Kings of the Rollers, Dimension, Flava D, Richy Ahmed, John Summit, Detlef, Latmun, Skepsis, Darkzy to name a few.
After, we manoeuvred our way to The Clearing Stage hosted by the mighty bassline collective CruCast who are recognised for their vital new strain of high energy bass sounds – the set design and layout of this stage was unbelievable, mixing together the aesthetics of ancient Greece mixed with modern-day Japan. The visuals complimented the music, a personal favourite was the Darkzy set; the crowd was uplifted into a DnB dream, and we didn’t want it the stop! Other acts included Skepsis, Kanine, DJ Q b2b Jamie Duggan, Window Kid, Zero, Tsuki and garage, grime and bassline queen, Flava D.
As the sun set along the farm and the darkness crept in, we ventured deep into the enchanted forest to find the famously colourful and eccentric Foreverland and the deep techy house. Feeling like Wonderland’s baby-faced Alice as the melodic music sank into our eardrums, we felt like summer was forever. Acts such as Richy Ahmed, John Summit, Detlef b2b Latmun, Lewis Tala, Royal Hustle and Kayley Harriet hit the decks to play their cutting-edge house sounds in front of flowerbeds and a wide-eyed crowd.
Overall Electric Woodlands brilliantly closed the doors for the festival season this 2021, with many of us scrolling through our memories to relive the music, vibes and forever feeling emotions!
To find out more about what went down, go check out the Electric Woodlands website here – electricwoodlands.com
Words: Izabel Rose
Photography: Laurence Howe