Boom Festival

Overview

Boom Festival began in 1997 as a psychedelic trance music festival with a main stage and a lounge area with mellow, "chill-out music". Now, there are five stages: the Dance Temple, for psytrance and natural trance music; the Alchemy Circle is for house music; the Sacred Fire stage is for world music and live music performances; the Ambient Source is for chill-out music; the Funky Beach stage is for electronic dance music dee jays and producers. Other attractions include sculptures, an art gallery, street theatre, and fire performances. Within the shaded Liminal Village are lectures, yoga classes, film screenings, group meditation, and discussions. The Healing Area has group workshops for healing techniques, a pool for water therapy and a massage area.

Objective

Boom's main focus is to integrate a sustainability ethos with arts and culture. By design, it does not provide corporate entertainment or sponsors. The key goal is to provide a transformational festival for people of different ethnic backgrounds, nationality and ages. In its own words, "Boom is not only a festival, it is a state of mind. Inspired by the principles of Oneness, Peace, Creativity, Sustainability, Transcendence, Alternative Culture, Active Participation, Evolution and Love, it is a space where people from all over the world can converge to experience an alternative reality."

The festival is entirely funded by ticket sales. It does not use corporate sponsors, which eliminates marketing that is seen as visual pollution.

Self-sustainability

In 2004, Boom began a series of environmentally self-sustainable projects, which includes: toilets that don't use chemical products, the treatment of residual waters using biotechnology, utilization of wind and solar energy, recycling and the free supply of cleaning kits to participants (including pocket ashtrays and rubbish bags). In 2011, it won, for the second year in a row, the title of YOUROPE Green 'N' Clean Festival of the Year in the Festival Awards Europe. As a result, the United Nations invited the organizing team to use the popularity of music as a means for raising public environmental awareness in a program called United Nations Music & Environmental Initiative (M&E).