Premier EDM festival took over a patch of Belgian soil this weekend to unite some of the biggest DJs with some of the most passionate and enthusiastic festival-goers around. With crazy stage designs, tons of fireworks and pyrotechnics, and, of course, some of the best sets of the summer, it was a complete sensory overload from start to finish.
Thursday night began with the Gathering party in Dreamville, the festival’s campsite. Alongside performances from Afrojack and Tiesto, the party included dancers and a cluster of drummers playing from a crane in the sky.
There were even flaming baton twirlers and other performers working with fire, as if the rest of it wasn’t mind blowing enough.
At the Gathering party, Tiesto premiered his new track ‘Infected’ while “infusing” a tanker full of Bud with the beats and energy from his performance.
The Opera stage mimicked an old-fashioned music hall and was the site of some of the weekend’s best sets, including a b2b collaboration from Deadmau5 and Eric Prydz, and Aussie duo Nervo.
The Theatre stage saw DJs playing to crowds of eager fans with dancers dressed like milkmaids and vampires to get them hyped up even more.
Steve Aoki was one of the main stage performers, using the edge of his area to lob cakes at his adoring fans below.
With the festival being such a sensory overload, it was hard not to be constantly trying to capture the moment forever on your phone, as these fans know all too well.
Each night, the fireworks were more and more impressive, exploding into the Belgian sky just as the DJs beneath them delivered huge, euphoric drops.
There were many highlights across the weekend, from David Guetta’s banging, high energy set to Martin Garrix giving UK grime a shout out when he mixed Stormzy into Drake during his set.
