E.P - the festival of the year!
Today, I want to share my adventure at the Electric Picnic festival.
It's the work I enjoy the most during the summer season.
This event coincides with the last bursts and gusts of warmth that can be felt in Ireland, my beloved homeland, a place I've called home for many years.
The Emerald Isle captivates the soul with its abundant greenery and vibrant Celtic energy.
I'll tell you step-by-step how I started actively participating, which requires knowing a bit of everything and then some:
Versatility: You need diverse skills, from design and production, a bit of carpentry, to electricity and plumbing.
Mindfulness and expertise in human behavior: Essential to avoid losing your mind under long working hours, pressure, and the beautiful chaos you participate in with hundreds of others.
Production and logistics: Without a minimum of order, plan, and strategy, the journey is long and painful—you might spend a lot of time searching for a pair of scissors.
Detachment from comfort: Forget about your warm bed and hot showers for a while.
My first year at this festival was in 2011, and I went to party, just for Sunday. It was the very first one; the energy, the art, and the collective synergy in the air. That was when the seed was planted, telling me how incredible it would be to participate more closely in something like this.
And yes... when you speak to the universe, I returned there for my second year in 2016. I participated by helping a friend with the production of her installation—a Bahian trailer showcasing her beautiful work with turbans, promoting the empowerment of Afro-Brazilian culture. My role was to drive on endless trips, carry and organize various objects and decorations for the trailer, take photos before and during the festival, and fully enjoy the celebration.
After moving to Portugal in 2018, I was invited as an artist in the Providencia Free Town area. I created projections about 4 meters by 4 meters for that edition, featuring animations of tropical characters and other video collage pieces. It was very interesting to work on a large scale with projections. However, being so focused on getting the job done well, I didn't document the event much beyond the produced material. Please don't forget to take photos, record, or bring a friend to do it for you.
2022: The wonderful return after the lockdown when everything was opening up. I was invited again but with more creative freedom. I was asked to create more solid installations, including a mini-stage with a juicy line-up, and a shop. I said to myself, like RuPaul's Drag Race would say:
"With great power comes with great responsibility." Period.
The installation and concept were founded through a tarot deck I created with artist Jeremy Laigneau, "Rooted in Dreams Tarot"— This project spoke about the Fool's journey, the archetype of the brave young adventurer always seeking new realities, always cheerful, always moving forward.
Thus, we created a path where there was an esoteric shop with a fortune teller reading tarot with our deck, if you want to know more about this, let me know, and I'll tell you in another post. Then you crossed the path of the end and arrived at a tent where the Tree of Life held the 21 major arcana. There, you went on the journey of life, accompanied by music, visuals, and movements in this sensory experience.
2023: Things got even more exciting with more responsibilities and more places to decorate and activate. I crossed the English Channel with a van packed to the brim with exotic decorations and unique pieces. This year's lineup also crossed seas, with artists from all over visiting and showcasing their talent and charisma. From Copenhagen, Angola, and Lisbon, vibrant rhythms moved the Celtic lands—Tefa Libre with tropical hip-hop, Venga Venga with an astral and hedonistic journey, and Fabricia with her African batuque.
If this excites you, I recommend applying as a volunteer, no matter what path you want to take!
Participating closely in the construction of an oasis of fun, where you connect with others through joy, dance, and art, spending days immersed in a safe and thoughtfully created atmosphere is simply magical.
This year, we return with a super dear and talented team. We will create a scenography for the main stage in the Providencia Free Town area, where I hope to project the creative freedom that the experience of living the last few months in the Azores has given me. There, I've had the opportunity to observe and merge with marine life, whose surroundings evoke mystery and mysticism related to water. Symbolically, it connects me with sensations of depth, slow and fluid movements, waves, and visually psychedelic colors and textures. A kind of timelessness in time—a pause, like the click for the beginning of a new rhythm.
In another chapter, I'll share more details.
Much Love family