Boom festival is returning for a ninth year of celebrating art, music, spirituality and alternative living
The biannual festival will feature live performances, talks and practical workshops and takes place from 28 July – 4 August at Idanha-a-Nova Lake in eastern Portugal.
This year Boom will have music from across the globe. Live performances will come from acts including Japanese percussion band Gocoo and live trance act Man Made Man from the UK. In the Dance Temple, psytrance DJs Ajja and Sahne Gobi will perform three-hour sets, while the Ambient tent will play a mix of downbeat and dub tunes.
Performance art will also take place throughout the week including theatre, dance and circus productions.
However, “it’s more than just about building a space for entertainment,” say organisers. “Boom is based on the principles of peace, celebration, psychedelic culture, art, environment, knowledge, education and love. The idea is to create a space in which people from across the world can converge to experience an alternative reality.”
The Liminal Village will act as the site’s cultural hub. It will host speakers such as Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics, as well as workshops on topics ranging from Occupy activism to dancing, and will host more than 20 documentary film screenings.
The Sacred Fire area will provide space for active participation where people can learn skills such as using medicinal plants and wood carving and in the Healing Area there will be meditation sessions and alternative therapies.
According to the organisers, the environment is at the heart of how the festival is run and 2012 is set to be it’s most sustainable year yet. Boom has been using ecologically friendly facilities for several years, including compost toilets, a biological waste water treatment system whereby water is cleaned and filtered using plants, and a lift share scheme. However, this year also sees the launch of it’s new Boom Off-the-Grid initiative. The festival aims to be 25% renewably powered for 2012 by using a combination of wind turbines, solar panels and waste vegetable oil for generators.
“Boom pivots around an intense environmental program, which ultimately aims to take the entire festival completely off the grid,” say organisers.
The festival is also encouraging people to share ideas for a more sustainable world by putting together a Boom 2012 movie. The film will show the steps that Boom is taking to reduce its ecological impact and will include footage from festival-goers who practise things such as growing their own food, sourcing their own energy and exploring eco-construction.
Tickets for Boom festival are available on the gate, priced €180
