Dance music pushed away the clouds. The 10th Beats for Love festival started in Ostrava
It is well known that the Ostrava audience at Beats for Love can do wonders. The visitors even managed to beat the weather on the first day of this 10th edition. Just before the gates were opened, drops of rain fell on the area in Dolní Vítkovice, but gradually the clouds dissapeared. And one of the headliners of the festival, the Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies, could enjoy the view not only of the dancing fans, but also of the sunset.
As soon as the last Wednesday drops fell in Ostrava, a parade of dancers left the main gate. They attracted not only cameras, but also got the attention of the people. “We are celebrating our 10th birthday, so we wanted to kick off the year with something special. And that is not the end of surprises at all,” the head of the festival, Kamil Rudolf, alluded to the fact that at ČSOB’s biggest LOVE stage, visitors would be entertained by performers moving on giant flexible poles – similar to the famous Belgian Tomorrowland festival.
In addition, fans in Dolní Vítkovice saw the premiere of the so-called “molten district”, i.e. a new district in the vicinity of the D&B Forge by Ostrava scenes!!! and Freedom. The space dedicated to light and fire stood out even more when the star Brit Kanine took the stage. House fans will be delighted by Roger Sanchez at Harmony House Square in Europe 2. The American fighter was one of the main stars during his first visit to the festival a few years ago, this year he reigned over the genre stage. But what remained the same was the enthusiasm of the fans, who came to Sanchez’s set in really large numbers.
Dance under the lion’s mouth
Coinciding with Tomorrowland was the beginning of the Beats for Love celebrations. The designers redesigned the Zion festival stage from the ground up so that, in addition to the glowing LED panels, it was also dominated by a giant lion’s head.
And the non-traditional form of the stage attracted both the fans and the artists themselves. “We all have the same reaction. People are excited, letting us know on social media and in person. It’s a really huge shift,” said Jan Klásek, who is in charge of the Zion stage at Beats for Love. And Kamil Rudolf added: “We want to get closer to the biggest festivals in the world not only with the program, but also with the visual form. In the upcoming years, we will significantly remodel the other stages as well.“
He would publish a description of the changes in the area in his special press release. For the first time, visitors could enjoy a highlighted VIP zone, and thanks to the premiere opening of the area behind the dominant LOVE stage, significantly better access to the area. The cashless system for the first time also worked, and already on the first day it showed that the organizers’ long-term preparations paid off. Queues and hunting for coins in pockets have decreased. “Every year we ask visitors for feedback. In the questionnaires, more than 80% of them wished they could pay by card on the premises. It took us a while to prepare the whole project, but I’m glad that the first few hours showed that it works,” rejoiced the head of the festival, Kamil Rudolf, who also revealed the number of visitors to the opening part of the 10th anniversary of Beats for Love. 34,000 people danced under the blast furnaces on Wednesday, July 3.
Dutch hopping as a stress test
The cathedral of dance music, the LOVE stage by ČSOB, traditionally attracted the greatest attention of fans. The massive crowd already danced during the performance of the British group Hybrid Minds, the mentioned Belgian Lost Frequencies made people singinng with their hits “Are You With Me” or “Where Are You Now” and the performance of the duo W&W provided the finále of the day.
The energetic Dutch seemed to turn Ostrava into a cauldron of “Oranjes” sports enthusiasts for a moment. The audience in Dolní Vítkovice jumped from side to side, sang, or waved their hands in sync during the hour and a half long show. A celebratory song for Formula 1 pilot Max Verstappen as well as tunes well known to football fans – for example from the current Dutch campaign at the European Championship – blared from the loudspeakers. Only the backdrops were not orange, but festival ones – i.e. gold-black. But the W&W duo managed to remix other gems as well. “The fact that Coldplay’s modified pop hit Viva la Vida sounded on Beats for Love is not so strange. But we probably haven’t had the remixed Mozart’s Little Night Music here yet,” smiled the festival’s program director Jiří Ramík.
And while the opening day of the 10th edition of Beats for Love could be described as a smooth start with a bit of exaggeration, Thursday will already offer a real ride at the largest music event in the Czech Republic. The popular pioneer D&B Dimension and masked German Boris Brejcha, who almost never performs at the festival, will perform on the second day of the festival. And the highlight of the program will be the show of Swedish Eric Prydz, one of the biggest stars who ever performed in Ostrava.
