Electric Castle has constantly evolved from one edition to another. No matter if we are talking about artists, audiences or infrastructure. In anticipation of this year's event, we spoke with Titus Carole, Production Manager at Electric Castle, about the production team’s work, measuring the success of a stage and what awaits us in 2021:
What infrastructure changes have helped the festival the most?
We had two major changes in festival infrastructure. In 2016 we decided to move the main stage in the field. At the previous edition we had about 12,000 people in front of the stage. The crowd control barriers in front of the stage were pushed by 20 cm. It was not the best “health and safety wise” solution. There were too many people per square meter and we decided to give up the placement of the main stage next to the castle.
In 2017 we came back with a staging upgrade. We managed to make some covered spaces as well. I added 600 square meters of LEDs to the main stage and ordered a tent for the Hangar. Regarding booking, I also collaborated with Sunrise for another covered stage. Concerning infrastructure, we also introduced lawn protection, for a higher comfort for the public.
What are the parameters that guide the production team when changing the location of a stage?
The most important thing is “health and safety”. The second is room. But the two complement each other. If you have a lot of room, you feel even safer. In addition, more room means the possibility of placing a larger structure there. The stage weighs around 110 tons. You need room to maneuver and manipulate the elements that come on stage.
You need a technical area to prepare the instruments and set-up of the next bands. This way you have a much more fluid workflow. When the first artist is finished, take him out through your right side and the next one enters from the left side. You do it by rotation. We weren’t able to do this on the castle stage due to the lack of storage space on stage. We have come to rise to the standard requested by even the most demanding artists.
It's as if every year the position of a stage changes, for example Dance Garden. Why isn't consistency a good thing at a festival? Wouldn't it be better for the public for the stage to stay in one place?
I think only Dance Garden moves left and right. In 2018 we realized the house and techno investment does not represent the biggest and most relevant attraction. The Electric Castle audience consumes more rominimal, they are not too interested in the great techno artists. We have always brought in very good artists, but unfortunately the stage was not as successful as we wanted. And everything moved to The Pitch, the new Dance Garden stage, which was originally behind the castle and then moved in the corner. We replaced it with a stage for newcomers. That went very well. We focused on local bands plus a headliner who is successful abroad but still unknown here.
How important is the feedback you receive from the audience when you decide to remove or create a stage?
Feedback is the most important. If you remove a stage, you have to replace it. That means new investment and music education. Let's say we take out the Courtyard and reintroduce the big techno stage. Then it must be full at all times. If it's not full all the time, we've invested in vain. Experiments cost money and are often not worth it. The audience won’t be satisfied if they don’t have good artists, the artists won’t be satisfied if they don’t have an audience, the bar won’t sell, and you also lost money on structure and staging. So it all depends on the number of people who come to a stage. And on how many people are in change-over waiting for the next band. This is how you measure the success of a stage.
Is there a stage you'd like to bring back? Roots or The Mill?
We would very much like experimental music to return to The Mill. It depends on whether we manage to financially support the stage and whether there is interest in experimental music. Roots could also reappear in the years to come.
Will there be new stages in 2021?
We'd like to move the Courtyard stage to the camping area. We’ve already reached a point where the festival is overcrowded. Everything is crammed together between the main stage, Hangar, the food court and the castle. We also want to launch a new stage in EC Village, the new camping location. We can do an acoustic set in the morning at breakfast, some refreshing music during the day, such as Nicecream.fm at The Beach. It's a warm-up for what's coming up at the festival.
Will there be more covered stages? Or only Hangar, Courtyard, Hideout and Dance Garden?
For now, these remain covered. And the EC Village stage. There is no point in covering other stages. The investment is too big and not worth it. It would be nice to cover Booha Mansion. We’ve been trying for several years but we haven’t yet found the solution from a structural and aesthetic point of view. And we don't want to improvise, that's why we only cover the DJ.
Amber Galloway Gallego, the sign language interpreter, was a huge hit with the public in 2019. Will she be back this year? Any chance we’ll see her on other stages, for example the Hangar?
She'll be back for sure. We've already contacted her. We could do that at Hangar, but Amber has a pretty small team. Maybe we could get a recommendation from her team to do the same at Hangar. But that also depends on the sponsor because this is a Mastercard brand activation.
