Mayday Festival: popular electronic music event in Dortmund
Mayday, one of the oldest and most reputed electronic music festivals in Germany, is held annually since 1991 in Dortmund, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia. Held across the five floors of the city’s Westfalenhallen, this year’s Mayday, the 21st to be precise, to be held on April 30, is scheduled to host a wide variety of stadium-sized acts.
Even if the name refers to the month of May, Mayday festivals are generally held between 30 April and December (aka Winter Mayday). Some 50 national and international Djs will be performing on the stages set up at Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle – Halls of Westphalia – three multi-purpose venues, located in central Lindemannstrasse 88.
April 30th – a month when the whole world is packing bags and heading towards the coolest music festivals `happening’ across the Globe!!
The “Mother of all Raves” was held in 1991, thus marking the birth of a new youth subculture. This year, over 25,000 ravers are expected to converge on Dortmund. The line-up includes great names of German and International Dj Set, of the likes of Paul van Dyk from Berlin, Carl Cox from London and Motor from New York.
Several music styles ranging from house to trance, from minimal to hard core, will liven up the five floors of the building complex of the Westfalenhalle. It all used to be simply called “techno”. At the grand anniversary last year, also a “Classic Floor” was set up for the first time, called the “Twenty Young Dome”, with the stars from the early years of rave.
The event has grown to such large proportions that has become one of the best expressions of “Made in Germany” and ranks among the best known music events not just in Germany but around the world: raves modeled on Mayday are staged throughout the world.
Just as Bach, Beethoven and Wagner mark the “German” crucial momentum for the musical epoch of classical music, names as Paul van Dyk, Sven Väth, Felix Kröcher and Monika Kruse, stand out as the most representative personalities of today’s electronic music. A sound entirely in keeping with our digital age.
However, electronic music is the common thread, but not the only. “Mayday saw the birth of the rave and in turn a new and highly successful export. And with it, values such as tolerance, respect and openness – and that’s surely something to be proud of” said Oliver Vordemvenne, of the organising agency – Motion.
Not only get-togethers and great music: the mobile trussing systems and state-of-the-art light, sound, laser and LED technology, make Mayday a massive technical operation which is incomparable with any concert or any other event ever. A not to be missed event, not only for fans of the genre.
Photo by powazny
About the Author
Andrea Guerriero Hi, I'm Andrea, a travel blogger, web programmer, seo apprentice and amateur photographer based in Milan. I love reading, I love music. I love to travel but only if I leave on a mission! I've been traveling through most of Europe and I love writing about it. I love photography, especially as a way to document experiences, places, events. My Nikon D300 camera is always with me, and it helps me in sharing my life with the rest of the world. Getting in touch with new people, different life styles and foreign traditions, and write about it, is all I can ask for.
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