WHOLE Festival, the annual gathering of the international queer electronic music community, is back for its sixth edition this summer. From August 2nd to 5th, the festival will take over the peninsula of Ferropolis, a former mining site turned into a dystopian “city of iron”, located near Berlin. With a capacity of 9000 visitors, WHOLE Festival aims to create a vibrant and inclusive space for celebrating, connecting, and empowering the diverse scenes that make up the queer electronic music spectrum.
WHOLE Festival is not just a party, but a co-created event that showcases the artistic expressions, musical interactions, and socio-political issues of the queer community. The festival features a rich program of workshops, panels, performances, and artistic interventions, as well as a FLINTA play space and a cruising village. WHOLE Festival encourages the participants to explore their queer identities, share their knowledge, engage in discussions, and foster mutual learning and healing.
The festival also offers a wide range of musical styles and genres, spanning six stages across Ferropolis. Each stage is hosted by a different collective, representing the local Berlin scene and the global scene from 10 countries. The musical hosts include new and returning collectives, such as:
Equation Festival, a Hanoi-based collective that showcases the sounds of the Asian scene
Inferno, a London-based collective that combines techno, rave, and performance art
Merge, a Brooklyn-based collective that focuses on techno
Pep Rally, a Toronto-based collective that centers on fluidity, run by DJs Chippy Nonstop and Karim Olen Ash
SWEAT, a Copenhagen/Berlin-based collective that aims to heal the dancefloor
Kilowatt, a Berlin-based collective that is black-run and promotes the representation of BIPOC artists
La Noche, a Berlin-based collective founded by DJs THC, DHC, and Byron Yeates
Weeeirdos, a Berlin-based collective that supports queer artists, founded by DJ LOLSNAKE
Adonis, a London-based collective that hosts iconic parties
Batekoo, a Brazil-based collective that is a force of energy within the QBIPOC community
Body Language, a Berlin-based collective that is femme-focused and community-oriented
Buttons, a Berlin-based collective that hosts long-standing house and techno parties
Cocktail d’Amore, a Berlin-based collective that hosts steamy and electrifying parties
DeReünie, an Amsterdam-based collective that mixes hyper-pop, trance, techno, and rave
Gegen, a Berlin-based collective that hosts sex-positive parties with harder techno
Herrensauna, a Berlin-based collective that also focuses on harder sounds
Lecken, a Berlin-based feminist collective
MARICAS, a Barcelona-based FLINTA queer techno, pervy, and loving collective
Mala Junta, a Berlin-based collective that plays funky, sassy, and old-school techno and house
Mamba Negra, a Sao Paulo-based female-run DJ collective and activist platform for women, black people, and the LGBTQIA+ community
Pornceptual, a Berlin-based multidisciplinary art, sex-positive, inclusive, and kinky collective that presents pornography as queer
Puticlub, a Berlin-based LatinX collective
T4T Luv NRG, a US-based collective and label run by Eris Drew and Octo Octa
Veselka, a Kyiv-based first-queer collective that focuses on electronic music
Zvuk, a Kazakhstan-based collective run by DJ Nazira, that transforms the central Asian scene
Some of the community-favorites that will perform at the festival are:
AGY3NA, Angel D’lite, Bashkka, Bored Lord, Boris, Byron Yeates, Cashu, Cem, Chippy Nonstop, DJ AYA, D.Dan, DJ Fuckoff, DJ Gigola, DJ Nobu, DJ Saliva, Eris Drew, Gideon, Hyperaktivist, ISAbella, JakoJako, Jennifer Cardini, Juliana Huxtable, Kiddy Smile, Lolsnake, LYDO, Lakuti, Mama Snake, Marie Montexier, Metaraph, Musclecars, Narciss, Nazira, Octo Octa, Pablo Bozzi, Peach, Roi Perez, Ruby Savage, S-candalo, Saoirse, Sherelle, Shy One, Slim Soledad, Supergloss, Suze Ijo, Tama Sumo, The Blessed Madonna, and Volvox.
WHOLE Festival also introduces a new tier of 1000 community tickets, which are discounted tickets for community members on a tight budget. The festival also expands its solidarity program, which provides a free festival experience to members who are most affected by systemic and economic disparities. This includes refugees, POC and black people, trans and gender-expansive individuals, people with a disability, and those who experience fatphobia. The festival prioritizes these groups and encourages them to apply for the program. This year, 150 visitors will receive a free festival ticket, bus transportation, food vouchers, drink tokens, and camping gear.
SAVE THE DATE!
