Awakenings Festival // Live in Amsterdam

photos & text: Saar de Graaf

So, last month, the annual Amsterdam Dance Event took place in my beautiful city. This event is the biggest Electronic Platform in the world, so everyone in this business comes together and we all celebrate the art of electronic music. People that hear electronic music for the first time only hear the sound -- that's what I first heard. But when I got deeper and deeper into the culture and into the music, I really started to connect it. And it becomes a part of you. A great man named Eddie Amador once said: "Not everyone understands house music. It's a spiritual thing. A body thing. A soul thing." He's 100% right about that in my opinion! 

Thousands of people from all over the world come to Amsterdam to celebrate and experience this music to its fullest. As Detroit based DJ Seth Troxler said: "Amsterdam is THE dance capital in the world at the moment." 

Electronic really is an amazing culture. Electronic music makes for a very transformative experience. We all FEEL the music!

Our culture is about the celebration of life and actively keeping that utopia alive. 

Every year, I feel so privileged to be living in Amsterdam.  

I got to visit a few festivals this year. But Awakenings was by far my favourite. If you have a bit of knowledge about the underground techno music scene then you've probably heard of Awakenings before. Here are a few shots I took from that night: 

The light shows are always the most epic at Awakenings indoor. It really feels like you're somewhere in outer space.  

The Westergasfabriek is truly one of the best venues for festivals like this.

Oh, and we also have lasers. 

Indoor fireworks!?!?! Yep, only at Awakenings. 

Let's not forget about the audience. Everyone takes care of each other and we all feel like one big family for about 10 hours. You can connect with the strangest people.

If you're interested in this music genre and this life changing experience, then we welcome you to come and take a look. See you at ADE 2016!