Festival Forte
| Festival Forte | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Electronic, Techno , Experimental |
| Dates | Last weekend of August |
| Location(s) | Montemor-o-Velho Castle, Portugal |
| Years active | 2014-present |
| Founders | Ilidio Chaves |
| Capacity | 5000 |
| Organized by | Soniculture |
| Website | www.festivalforte.com |
Festival Forte is an annual festival that takes place inside the Montemor-o-Velho Castle in Portugal, during the month of August, with the main focus on electronic music, visual and performing arts.
Overview
Festival Forte takes place at Montemor-o-Velho Castle, a National Heritage site, and a cultural landmark in Portugal. It has been listed by 6AM as one of The World’s Most Unique Festival Locations.[1]
The first editions of Festival Forte, used Video Mapping techniques to enhance the physical characteristics (historical and architectural) of the castle being nominated by Resident Advisor as one of the Top 10 Festivals of August 2015[2]
The stage design allows transparency to make the framing within the walls of the castle that receives large screens for the support of the visual spectacle.:[3] The rest of the space is also used as an audiovisual installation, such is the case of the Church of Sta. Maria de Alcáçova. About the stage's visuals, Crack Magazine stated that the festival was "displaying consistently engaging, otherworldly visuals across its walls".[4]
The festival is getting recognition from international press such as The Quietus,[5] The Skinny .,[6] Trax Magazine [7] or Pitchfork Media which has listed Festival Forte 2016 on the Pitchfork Guide to Festivals[8]
Educational Approach
In April 2015, in partnership with the Faculty of Fine Arts of The University of Porto, the festival promoted the lecture “Laser Technology in Building an Audiovisual Performance” presented by Robert Henke,[9][10] composer, performer and researcher with work oriented in the field of technical innovation in contemporary electronic music. In the context of the Lumière II laser show, performed outdoors for the first time at Festival Forte, Henke presented the most contemporary issues of the relationship between musical composition, audiovisual installations and computer applications. He addressed the complexity of the conceptualization of an audiovisual performance show built with use of laser technology activated and synchronized by sound stimuli.[11]
Glitch and Generative Art are also objects of study and extensively used in the festival's conceptualization.[12][13]
Performances
| Year | Artists |
|---|---|
| 2014[14] | Ben Klock, David Rodrigues, DVS1, Elekfantz, Expander & Thinkfreak, Gaiser, João Maria, Kinetic, Manu, Michael Mayer, Miguel Soares & Pedro Pimenta, Minilogue vs Mathew Jonson, Oscar Mulero, Rødhåd, Rui Trintaeum, Rui Vargas, Sven Väth, Twofold |
| 2015[15] | Acronym, Adam X, Adriana Lopez, Afonso Macedo, Amulador, Apart, Ben Klock, Developer, Donato Dozzy, Duodub, Ellen Allien, Expander, Extrawelt, Front 242, Function, Gaiser, Headless Horseman, Manu, Marc Houle, Marcel Dettmann, Marcel Fengler, NX1, Paul Kalkbrenner, Planetary Assault Systems (aka Luke Slater), Regis, Robert Henke, Rui Vargas, Subjected, Vatican Shadow, XNX. |
In the year 2016 Festival Forte will take place between August 25 and 27.[16][17][18]
References
- ^ "The World's Most Unique Festival Locations | 6AM". 6AM. 21 April 2016.
- ^ "Top 10 August 2015 Festivals". Resident Advisor.
- ^ "Behance - Festival Forte Visuals". www.behance.net.
- ^ Dores, Stephen. "Festival Forte - Crack Magazine". Crack Magazine.
- ^ Colegate, Mat. "The Quietus - News - Things Learned At: Forte Festival". The Queitus.
- ^ "Europe's best dance music festivals in 2016 - The Skinny". www.theskinny.co.uk.
- ^ Montgremier, Christophe. "Report - Festival Forte : rave géante au Portugal". Trax Magazine.
- ^ "The Pitchfork Guide to Festivals". Pitchfork Media.
- ^ Porto, Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do. "FBAUP - Palestra com Robert Henke". sigarra.up.pt.
- ^ "Robert Henke Talks". roberthenke.com.
- ^ Durston, Tom. "Watch Robert Henke's Lecture On His Laser Sound Performance Lumiere". Inverted Audio.
- ^ "Upcoming Events - Festival FORTE 2016 - XLR8R". XLR8R.
- ^ "Festival Forte announce first wave of artists - Decoded Magazine". Decoded Magazine. 28 January 2016.
- ^ "Festival Forte 2014 at Castelo Montemor-O-Velho". Resident Advisor.
- ^ "Festival Forte 2015 at Castelo Montemor-O-Velho". Resident Advisor.
- ^ Eede, Christian. "The Quietus News Festival Forte Returns". The Quietus.
- ^ Unicomb, Matt. "Festival Forte adds Drumcell, Ancient Methods to 2016 lineup". Resident Advisor.
- ^ "Festival Forte 2016 at Castelo Montemor-O-Velho". Resident Advisor.