Would it live? That’s what the people behind Roadburn Redux wondered when they went live. “Soon there were a thousand people in the chat and everything was viewed very well,” says project leader Mijndert Rodolf from the car. He is on his way home from Groningen, after the presentation of the Iron Stage Animal. Because in addition to their own audience, the industry association for pop venues and pop festivals also appreciated Roadburn Redux.
When the heavy music festival had to pull the plug on their festival, they went back to the drawing board. The online format they found for the festival was a live blog. “You may know that from news sites, but now we have used it for a festival. Not a common form,” says Mijndert.
Because Roadburn’s audience is all over the world, it was a good way to serve everyone. “You could see concerts and live registrations on that live blog.” More than a hundred makers showed work that they made especially for this online edition.
The organizers did not have any doubts about whether such an online festival would come to life. “We had to do something. We had fire to be visible. So we didn’t hesitate to capture the soul of the festival.”
Of course, the organization hopes to be able to organize another festival in Tilburg this year. Yet they do not write off the online platform. “It is there and it can also lend itself to an edition in Tilburg.” So maybe next year people all over the world will be enjoying the music.
This is how enthusiasts from countless time zones enjoyed: