Great reviews 19th edition Extrema Outdoor Netherlands

The nineteenth edition of Dutch dance festival Extrema Outdoor was again a resounding succes. Almost 30.000 visitors enjoyed DJs like Afrojack, Netsky, Baauer and Jeff Mills on the 12th of July. Creative director Marcel Mingers is visibly proud of his festival. “XO is known worldwide for her line-up and unique show firsts. From every genre of electronic dance music we program the best each year.“ Extrema Outdoor was the first festival to organize a closing show and is since then praised for their unique show spectacles. During the XO14 closing show a special role was reserved for DJ/producer Fedde Le Grand who closed the festival with a Grande finale.

The festival programs a broad variety of electronic music on five large stages and even more smaller, intimate areas featuring a host of creative projects. Visitors enjoyed the beats by world stars Fedde Le Grand and Laidback Luke, as well as underground heroes like Waze & Oddyssey and Levon Vincent. Both visitors and artists looked forward to Extrema Outdoor. Musical wunderkind Netsky and the popular Baauer chose to debut their new light show and audio-visual performance at XO. Afrojack started his rousing set with a personal message for the audience. “ This is my first time playing the main stage at Extrema Outdoor. I’m super stoked, are you ready?”

The organization earlier this year asked their visitors if they would like to see techno returned as a genre at XO. A resounding ’yes’ followed and the organization decided to go big. Techno received its own stage, the Emerald area, and none other than techno emperor Jeff ’The Wizard’ Mills played an extra long DJ set. The stage was a huge succes and from the first beats onward drew a large crowd of techno enthusiasts.

XO = SHOW
The ’early birds’ were pampered some more. A team of bakers treated them to breakfast at the entrance after which the thousands of enthusiastic visitors made their way to the Quartz Arena to secure a good spot for the opening show. The organization had chosen to renew the show app, a world’s first last year, and again make the visitor’s phones a part of the show. The audience witnessed a beautiful visual spectacle featuring a 3,5 meter high illuminating Dundu doll and Bella Berlin in a lead role.

For the first time the closing show took place in the middle of the audience at the Diamond Stage. The artist collective Rot8ion from Eindhoven developed a brand new surround sound soundscape especially for XO. A whopping 15.000 elated visitors enjoyed a theatrical story full of audio-visual surprises about the relations between nature, man and technology. DJ Fedde Le Grand ended the spectacle with a booming set and fireworks display.

Sustainability paviljon SummerLabb wins prestigious STW design award
The day before the festival saw additional festivities, when Mayor of Eindhoven Rob van Gijzel and television program developer Jan Douwe Kroeske awarded the prestigious STW Design Prize for the design of the SummerLabb pavilion, one of the areas at the festival. In this sustainable pavilion universities and companies let visitors feel, taste and smell curious sustainable innovations. From a DNA test and relaxation exercise with special brain wave equipment, to cooking workshops with vegetables no longer fit for sale. According to creative director Marcel Mingers the SummerLabb is a crowning achievement after years of investing in sustainable festival applications.

Collaborations from Eindhoven
More than ever Extrema Outdoor worked intensively with creative and technical talent from the greater Eindhoven area, as a precursor to the new, Extrema-initiated festival which will take place next year in the creative heart of the city; Strijp-S. The city has been a fertile place featuring the world famous Design Academy, High Tech Campus and university TU/e. The interactive dance floor Experio and the intellectual led-wall were a huge succes at this years It’s Eindhoven area.

Anniversary edition
While the dismantling of the festival is still in progress and in two weeks Solar Weekend Festival will begin creative director Marcel Mingers has made it known that preparations for the twentieth edition of Extrema Outdoor, taking place July 11th 2015, are well under way.

Dutch television network Veronica will broadcast an Extrema Outdoor special. Omroep Brabant will air the special August 3rd.