- Located near Leuven in Belgium's Flemish Region, the 13th-century Kasteel Van Horst stands among the finest medieval fortresses in the country. For the second year in a row, it played host to Horst, a two-day arts and music festival organised by local outfit ONKRUID. When I first decided to check out the event, I didn't know much about where I was heading or what I'd find there. All I knew was that the lineup was solid and that the venue promised to be spectacular.
I entered the site on Friday evening through an opening in a large wall decorated with shiny golden material, and was immediately struck by the scenery around me. The castle was stunning, surrounded by a lake and woods that had been lit up especially for the occasion. After a short stop at the RBMA stage, I headed towards the castle's courtyard for the second open-air stage. The two were pretty close and I was worried that the sound might bleed between them, but instead the courtyard's high walls enclosed it brilliantly. As I passed the moat, I was greeted by Moodymann's rework of his own "Hangover." The DJ responsible was Tom Trago, who was just about to hand over to Marcellus Pittman. As soon as he took the reins, the 3 Chairs member picked up the pace, starting with lean acid cuts before working in some disco. A large crowd had circled the 360° stage, cheering and dancing along energetically. Over at the other stage, I caught Benji B dropping Pépé Bradock's "Deep Burnt" followed by Joy Orbison's "Hyph Mngo." Surprisingly, these didn't elicit much of a reaction from the audience. Mostly made up locals, the crowd's reluctance to let loose was something I'd notice regularly across the weekend.
Saturday's programme started in the early hours of the afternoon, just as the rain began to fall. I spent some time exploring the various art installations. In addition to its music programme, each year Horst commissions several artists and architects to decorate the castle and its green surroundings. Among the 11 featured were Amsterdam-based visual artists and former Trouw residents Children Of The Light, whose installation was one of the highlights. Using a rotating ring placed at the centre of a room inside the castle, the duo played with the human eye using a mixture of light and reflections.
Outside, I bumped into San Soda playing Charanjit Singh's "Raga Bhairav" several BPMs slower than usual, and it sounded better than the original. The set he delivered was near perfect, and you could tell the Belgian DJ was enjoying himself as much as anyone. The rest of the bill didn't disappoint either. Tama Sumo and Lakuti's two-hour back-to-back went as smoothly as expected, and though Jeremy Underground went for Sueño Latino's "Sueño Latino" over his usual "Computer Incantations For World Peace" by Jean-Luc Ponty, his slamming house had the floor moving until the very end.
There isn't much to fault about Horst festival. From the consistency of the lineup and the stunning location to the impressive attention to detail, Horst was near enough spotless, and this was only its second edition. I'm already itching to return next year.
Photo credit: Willem Govaerts