We Are Electric Weekender

[AFC]

Evening all,

I have been looking into an EDM festival and this one has caught my eye. I'm struggling to find much information regarding it. Has anyone been? How well organised is it? Is it easy to get to from the airport? Is it easier/better to do the camping/glamping or stay in a hotel?

Any information would be great.

[Semprini]

I've not been to the festival but a good Dutch friend of mine went a couple of years ago so I'll message him to get you some info. Think it's changed venues a couple of times but will see what I can find out.

I have been to a number of other festivals in Holland though so can help you with travel info. You can either fly into Amsterdam or Eindhoven (which is a lot nearer) but either way the train links across the country are really good. Are you from the UK as there is also the option to take the ferry to Hook of Holland? I do that each year when I go to Pukkelpop in Belgium as the ferry and train ticket costs about £110 return. The website says there will be shuttle buses from the train station at Boxtel to the festival site so that should be easy enough. In terms of where to stay, Tilburg and Eindhoven are both probably too far away to travel in and out each day/night but I've just looked on booking.com and there's a few places nearby to stay. Most are around £250 for a double room for three nights (Fri - Mon) but you'd have to check and see exactly how far they are from the site itself.

Dutch festivals are always well organised and they pay particular attention to the production and sound, which for me can make or break the experience. The line up this year is really good and the type of bands/DJs they book means it won't be full of idiots or kids. You're probably all over it but I'd definitely recommend Collabs 3000 (Chris Liebing and Speedy J), Colin Benders and obviously the big hitters like Richie Hawtin, Bicep and Eric Prydz.

[AFC]

That would be great, thankyou.

From the UK so I've looked at flights to Eindhoven which are around £40 return (Ryanair) and possibly looked at the train which is around £60. I haven't even thought about the ferry! If you say staying in Eindhoven is too far to travel each day, it's probably best to stay on site and do the 'glamping'. I'm happy to rough it but the girlfriend wouldn't! At least then we know what we are getting?

 

We are debating here or Ultra. As good as the line up is for Ultra, I already know what the crowd will be like which is pretty off putting.

[Semprini]

No worries, happy to help!

If you can get flights to Eindhoven for £40 then that's the option I'd go for as you won't get anything else cheaper or quicker. The airport is a a few miles outside the centre but they run regular buses to the main station. From there you can easily get a train to Boxtel.

Here's a link to the available hotels in Boxtel (Thurs to Mon if you want to do it properly!): https://bit.ly/2Et2LWe

Looking at the glamping options, it's going to cost you more to do that than some of the available hotels but I guess it might depend on how far away they are from the site? You definitely don't want to be walking a few miles home each night after a heavy day on the dance floor! 

I don't know much about Ultra Europe but it seems to be very EDM orientated and is more difficult and expensive to get to than WAE. Depends on your tastes really but WAE seems to offer the best of both worlds. Tickets are also an absolute steal at 110 euros for the weekend (with camping) but I think the curfew is quite early - maybe 11pm? That's the norm in Holland but if you're doing three days straight and get there early you're still looking at a good 10 hours raving a day which is a decent session.

[visdave34]

Curfew is 1:00 for most stages, with main stage having a DJ till 3 on the first two days. Pinkpop is prettig much the only festival with a curfew before midnight (although this year they have an extended permit for one day), all others go on well into the night (Lowlands for instance till 5am). 

[visdave34]

Here’s 2018’s timetable

[Semprini]

3 hours ago, visdave34 said:

Curfew is 1:00 for most stages, with main stage having a DJ till 3 on the first two days. Pinkpop is prettig much the only festival with a curfew before midnight (although this year they have an extended permit for one day), all others go on well into the night (Lowlands for instance till 5am). 

Ah OK, well that's even better then! I was thinking it was more in line with Awakenings, Loveland, DGTL etc which finish at 11pm each night. Timetable from last year looks good as they have some pretty big names playing early sets. Definitely enough there to keep most dance music fans busy for three days.

[AFC]

19 hours ago, Semprini said:

Looking at the glamping options, it's going to cost you more to do that than some of the available hotels but I guess it might depend on how far away they are from the site? You definitely don't want to be walking a few miles home each night after a heavy day on the dance floor!

This is what is putting me off Ultra. Staying (possibly) a taxi ride away and knowing once I'm there that's it until 4-5am. The reason why I'm thinking glamping, apart from the girlfriend, is that I can go back for a little chill out if needed. DOes anyone know how far the walk is from the glamping site? And I don't know if this sounds stupid, but if I pay for the glamping do I still need to purchase the ticket with the campsite? Thanks for the timetable, helps out alot. Finishing at 1am is a decent time for me.

[Semprini]

If you watch the video in the bottom left hand corner you can see the festival site map from last year -https://www.lab22.nl/project/we-are-electric/ . Glamping is in the 'Electric Paradise' area, which is as close as you can get to the entrance of the arena.

With regards to glamping and festival tickets, it looks like they are separate. If you go into 'practical' and then 'camping' on the website and then click on the section 'Tickets regarding resort and camping' it gives the example that if you stay in a Tipi you have to also buy two weekend tickets with camping. 

[AFC]

Ah that map is very helpful. I did look for one but couldn't find one. The fact it's that close is quite a big factor for me.

22 hours ago, Semprini said:

With regards to glamping and festival tickets, it looks like they are separate. If you go into 'practical' and then 'camping' on the website and then click on the section 'Tickets regarding resort and camping' it gives the example that if you stay in a Tipi you have to also buy two weekend tickets with camping.  

Good find, thankyou.