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Blies Festival 2021 dropped 50 percent female Line Up

On the 4th of September 2021, Blies Festival invites its guests to a big rave in Ludwigshafen am Rhein from 12:00 to 24:00. The one-day cultural festival for electronic music, named after its location, the Blies Lake, expects 2,000 music fans who can look forward to an international line-up.

The event is named after the “Große Blies”, a popular lake in the middle of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein. On the first Saturday in September, music fans from near and far can dance and unwind. In the middle of this contrast of nature and industry, bars, a food court and cozy retreats will be created next to the 12*12 meter walk-on stage. The musical focus of the festival is on electronic music and an international line-up. The one-day music festival, scheduled from 12:00 to 24:00, marks the end of this year‘s Municipal “Summer of Culture” and is expected to become a permanent fixture in subsequent years after its first impact in 2021. „For a long time, we have had to do without the enjoyment of cultural events due to Corona. For our region, the new event will be a cultural enrichment and an outstanding experience in a class of its own“, says Mayor Prof. Dr. Cornelia Reifenberg about the upcoming event. BASF supports the ambitious project as the main sponsor.

The debut of the Blies Festival and its future plans

The concept for the new festival was born in the summer of 2020 in the hope of a better time after the pandemic. The project group Blies wanted to create a special music and culture festival that would simultaneously present progressive electronic sounds and facilitate intercultural encounters. For the first edition this summer, the Blies team is counting on a spirit of optimism and euphoria after the past months of lockdowns and cultural abstinence. „We are taking our launch in 2021 as a classical rave to position the festival thoughtfully both in the city of Ludwigshafen and beyond the borders of the region,“ project manager Dr. Danijel Jozic explains. For the following editions of the festival, workshops, interactive stations, intercultural collaborations and a family-friendly program including free childcare will be planned. According to the currently valid Corona regulations, the ticket allocation is designed for 2,000 guests. The subsequent after-show party at the Pfalzbau in the city center of Ludwigshafen will be celebrated with a reduced number of guests. A corona-compliant safety and hygiene concept is available and will be implemented. For all non-vaccinated and non-recovered visitors, the principle of double testing applies: They must be tested 24 to 48 hours before the festical and will go through another test gate at the entrance.

Line up: international and 50 percent female

The standard of the performances and the design of the festival as a work of art are high. To this end, the project group Blies has been working at full speed for months. The booking team has selected a total of six internationally diverse, up-and-coming and innovative DJs for the music program for 2021: Dr. Rubinstein (Tel Aviv), Matthew Jonson (Vancouver), Vlada (Moscow), Quest & Christian AB (Bergamo/London), Francesco del Garda (Bologna) and Roza Terenzi (Melbourne) will play their sets from the fields of minimal, tech house and acid. A special feature of the festival is also the gender parity of the line up. The program is 50 percent femaleoriented. „Promoting female music talent from the techno scene,“ explains marketing officer Julia Laukert, „is a particular concern of the Blies Festival. With the (unfortunately) still ongoing discussion about the low percentage of female artists at music events, the project group Blies clearly set the booking rule since the birth of the festival to have the female share to half.“

Under the sign of community and sustainability

For the Festival, the project group Blies was inspired by the element of water, the Blies lake and the surrounding nature. The curators pursue the goal of initiating a resource-saving, sustainable and fair event that exemplifies pleasant and forward-looking coexistence, is also fun and celebrates the peaceful culture of the electronic and technoid community. The Blies festival is intended to make an contribution to cultural exchange, the promotion of talents and mutual inspiration of music and art. „This is not the time for big headliners and elaborate laser shows. It is much more important, especially now and above all for the future, to bring the positive social utopia of techno back to the fore and to emphasize the feeling of a borderless, tolerant community,“ says Karl Martin Leo Becker, festival‘s art director, giving the basic idea behind the festival concept. The driving force of water permeates the festival from the aesthetic concept to the catering. True to the motto „the cup is yours,“ visitors receive a reusable cup when they enter the event grounds. This can be filled with running water at a water dispenser free of charge. „At a festival that pays attention to sustainability out of conviction and tests new ideas of togetherness, water should not be considered a commodity. For our water fountain installation, we are collaborating with a befriended art collective and the Wilhelm Hack Museum, which was willing to financially support our romantic idea. The water fountain is to become a trademark and an integral part of this year‘s and all future editions of the Blies Festival,“ Becker reveals. In addition to the portable festival cup, the festival‘s resolution for sustainability is implemented, among other things, through a cooperation with the start-up Vytal.org. The young company from Cologne produces reusable food bowls that are handed out at the food stands. Clear waste separation, digital admission tickets and portable ashtrays are also part of the sustainability concept.

 

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