I want to tell you about a festival I would like to visit this year.Boom. Yes that‘s right boooom. This festival started from a classical "line-up music festival" and has grown in to international experience for cultural exchange and advanced communication practices.
The festival has existed for over 15 years and like any big event it went through a lot of TRANCEformations. For me Boom! is a spiritual gathering of people from all over the world that share very similar ideas. Huge number of cultural and artistic events, debates, workshops are happening and one is overwhelmed of options during those festival days. Every single "boomer" would support a statement like: "We want to share our knowledge and achieve higher state of conciousness, reaching for alternative communications, exploring our minds and spread love and positive vibes around."
My perception of this event can‘t be separated from the context of the moment in history we are living in. People from all across the world understand that there is an urgent need for change. We need to change our values, we need to stop the use of different methodologies aiming to enslave the humanity - they want to do it physically, they want to do it mentally, culturally, informationally, they want people to be guided based on fear and ignorance. Two weeks ago I visited the spanish capital Madrid where many young people are manifesting against this, they do have a very unique way of defending their believes and also staying "untouched" by the influences of any political parties. It was a pleasure to see and feel this emotion. For me it is a clear sign that people are waking up.
People have had enough of seeing how the economical interests of few are imposed to billions while destroying the natural habitat of trillions of leaving creatures.
A lot of alternative to this system has arrived. Societies living totally sustainable live are appearing around the globe everyday. They are very small but their principles have proved to be very efficient. Organization where time is used to value what we do (as it can‘t be manipulated) rather then $money$. Many initiatives have been undertaken in order the provide alternatives to the current insanity. We have huge disproportions and irrational distribution of materials - many beds, rooms, apartments are empty every night and yet millions are sleeping on the floor, we feed our animals with big quantities of good food in our greed to consume them and yet many people are starving (I can go on describing this forever).
What does all this have to do with a music festival you might ask. Everything I would reply. Boom suggest many possible and visible alternative that are not some idealistic images rather then practical advices and ideas that can be applied today. In absolute awareness of the situation (constant restrictions of huge part of the human liberties leading us to a neoliberalist system and capitalistic model aimed: at absolute control over people, unsustainable world, overconsumption,disinformation, manipulation) boomers have been demonstrating that there is an alternative way, there is another level of communication and coexistence. Those subjects were the main topics of the festival for many years but it is like they have never sounded more true than today.
The whole idea is to show the people an alternative and sustainable model of existence and not just to create an entertainment event. The aim is to give an example and teach people how easy it is to live in accordance with nature, to realize where does all the things in our live come from: starting with the food through all objects that we use reaching the non-material like non-contact communication and information. The examples at the festival are so many, from teaching the people how to recycling, to do-it-yourself building, how to make natural dishwashing liquid or collect wild herbs. A sharp difference with any event of that size is the use of compost toilet system, natural recycling of the water from the showers (a 5 min. shower could take up to 30 litters of water so a few million litters of water and recycled during the festival). The oil from the cooking pans is used for the production of electricity instead of being pored down the drains - literally transforming it in to music. The festival is full of Solar panels and wind mills both producing electricity which brigs the festival ever closer to one of its main goals - to be independent from the "mainstream electrical matrix". All those efforts are recognized with the awards the festival had received over the years: Greener Festival Award, Green ‘n’ Clean Festival and just some of them.
This festival offers uncountable examples and expositions of sustainable alternative that can be implemented directly into our lives, from Bio Architecture, fair trade initiatives ( for those of you who are not aware what fair trade is - according to wikipedia fair trade "is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries to make better trading conditions and promote sustainability") to meditaion, creating and using rather then consuming etc. As Boom says "The world is at the peak of consumption and we at Boom support both small producers and local products to avoid the dictatorship of world trade organisations. We avoid big brands and opt instead to promote fair trade cola, local drinks and bio-products that are consciously created." We have to understand that if we don‘t re-learn how to make our own things ( food, shelter, etc) we will always be enslaved!
Boom has left the limitations of music genres long time ago. The organizers prefer to not define the event in to any of the accepted music classification. That is the main reason why I will not do a standard review of the guest artists. To see part of the diversity you can encounter there you might want to have a look at the official video of the festival (the link is at the end of the article). I would only share a personal experience. When I saw the name of one of the guests it took me back to my first years of electronic and trance music when the only way I could find alternative music was through a hard-rock label Wizzard, and they were only available on cassettes - do you remember those? My first album of Space Tribe was Religious Experience. The tracklist is with bpms instead of durations and is a perfect gradation for an energetic experience. Each track brings us a powerful message that could be applied to different aspects of our life.
There is much more to tell about the festival and you will be able to read about it in my next post before the event. Until then:
Boom is a strong message to all the World - We can make the change and this is not the slogan of Obamas election campaign - you are not what you say - you are what you do. Let‘s all start with adopting a small solution in to our lives that will bring us closer to sanity, sustainability, respect towards the nature. Then we will all benefit from less fear, less enemies, more friends and more love. Another World is possible!
