If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise... Leading Leeds club night, System, are temporarily ditching their city home, scaling up,- and shipping out to the 600 acres of Leeds’ 16th Century Temple Newsam estate. The enchanting and plainly beautiful surrounds are to be sound-tracked by three of electronica’s most revered artists, and cast under the spell of techno overlord Sven Vath’s magical Cocoon production: a sonic punch packing Funktion-ONE, the famed and glamorous Cocoon Club dancers from Frankfurt, and a northern light show to rival its natural polar namesake.

The scene is set, then, for some out-of-this-world house and techno...
Good job, as they don’t come much bigger than thoroughbred tech titan, Sven Vath. Since the early days of legendary techno gatherings at Germany’s Dorian Grey and Omen club, Sven has trodden his own path. Always picking tunes from, and producing tunes for, techno’s tougher reaches, Vath eventually decided he wanted his own platform. In 2004 he built one of the most technologically advance clubs in the world, whilst birthing one of the sharpest labels in the process. Cocoon parties have legendary status at Amnesia on the White Isle, and Vath’s annually released round up of the summer’s best electronic music is always an essential recording. Welcome to the world of Cocoon.

Joining the rave’s ring leader are another two of the planet’s coolest label bosses...

Moustachioed carnival house and tech purveyor Luciano is a party loving megastar with an impressive knack for weaving a rhythm. From the shabby booth of DC10, to the darkened caverns of Fabric, Swiss-Chilean Luciano has an informed and varied musical past which he uses to devastating effect, wherever he plays. Having cut his teeth alongside luminaries like Ricardo Villalobos during the 90s in Chile, then having spun all round South America and eventually Europe after moving to Switzerland in 2000, the varied and colourful rhythms Luciano lays down, as well as the man himself, are adored the world over.

Steve Bug is the other label leader to compete for your attention in the ancient woods, and compete he will. For ten years his label Poker Flat has nudged at the boundaries of EDM with streams of untouchable deep house and techno releases from the boss himself, and some other of the scenes main men. Its name spread like wildfire with Steve’s eternal minimal club hit “Loverboy” in 1999, and has only flourished since. The recently released Ten Years of Poker Flat LP sums up some of EDM’s finest moments, so it’s no wonder Poker Flat is established as the number one source for stripped down, futuristic house music under the expert guidance of minimal connoisseur Steve Bug.

Completing this compact but killer line-up is Adam Shelton. Spurred like many by the hedonism of 90s Ibiza, Adam began spinning the sounds he heard from there, as well as New York, Frankfurt and London. Skip to now and he’s the successful promoter of Birmingham’s freshest warehouse party, Below. Showcasing the best of the house and techno talent breaking through, as well as giving a stage to some of the scenes finest, it’s clear he knows his business, and is safe bet to back up the event’s big names.

Coupling the boutique nature and otherworldly setting of this festival, with headlining DJs who’ll rock the sunniest terraces around the world this summer, Cocoon in the Park is a genuine and affordable alternative to Ibiza, and is something Sven Vath hopes to curate again, every year from now.