In the pituresque Amsterdam Bos, verdant grasslands, clear blue lakes and wooded areas form a vast patchwork of nature under cloudless skies. It’s a scene of perfect tranquility, but something is amiss. Maybe it’s the heavy techno beats being pumped out from a DJ booth tucked between the trees.
This is Dekmantel festival, an EDM extravaganza that has evolved over the past decade from a series of intimate underground club gatherings. Each year, ravers in their thousands flock to the Dutch capital, packing themselves around stages built out of towering scaffolding or kaleidoscopic swirls of fabric. Over 200 artists feature on this year’s lineup, from homegrown talent such as Young Marco to Northern Irish dance heavyweights BICEP.
Organisers have also added a football tournament, workshops and even an organ recital held inside Amsterdam’s oldest building, Oude Kerk, all the while keeping music at its heart. It’s a surprisingly intimate affair. Despite its cultural significance, Dekmantel is relatively small in capacity, with just over 15,000 ticketholders attending each day.
Meanwhile the lineup, although not full of huge headline names, offers everything from hard techno on the UFO stage to deep house and disco at The Loop. Fans clamour for a glimpse of the Amsterdam-born, London-based Jyoty Singh as she plays her debut set, packing tight onto three levels of scaffolding and queuing out the door of the spectacular Radar stage. With her infectious charisma and vibrant .