A Sensory Experience

It’s clear that this grassroots project has long-term sustainability in mind, clearly felt by the young team with a motivated and fun vibe. On entry we hear one 6ft blonde kitchen worker jokingly asking a stranger what their favourite sex position was before they would let them have a coffee on entry and our Saturday afternoon arts tour host is overtly passionate about the installations despite being clearly sleep deprived.

The friendly vibe and above average height stretches into the audience with the Belgian and Dutch crowd striking yodeling tones across the airwaves and living up to their reputation with apparent access to high quality supplies. Rest assured, the 2025 edition of Horst didn’t disappoint with a very high level of production and sound reflected all over the festival with solid lineups curated not only by the festival but also by local crews, as well as international heavyweights. The festival is also investing in new and innovative areas, with DVS1 trialling a vertical sound system layout and some artists performing abstract sound art sets and installations.

In a rapidly changing environment of dance music culture and digitisation, is the Horst (and the Asiat park project) showing us a new model of long-term integration over consumerism?

Cultural Integration in a Digital Age

The community debate stretches on, Vilvorde, the satellite city of Brussels where the festival and year-round site exists, is “one of the most diverse cities in Belgium” according to co-founder and director Jochem Daelman and the organisers acknowledge there’s still work to be done to integrate the different migrant communities into the project with Simon Nowak [Director and Project manager at Horst] perhaps overcompensating by describing it as ‘monocultural’.

The panel talks also allude to this with some confusion over what exactly is “the Horst community” but the leaders seem to have a deeper understanding with Simon, acknowledging that “it’s not always easy to find common ground” with the local community but saying they are “constantly compromising the stage design with the needs of the park”.

The team has a well-rounded vision for Asiat Park, the development of a skate park inside and allowing other organisations to run events there speaks volumes, as does involving local immigrant communities to participate and build their own arts installations. The word on the street in Brussels gives green flags with the reputation of the festival apparently being a force for good rather than a corporate monster. Brussels resident AliA also referenced her bookings with the festival as key points in her career saying ‘the festival has supported her’ progressing her through the years for bigger sets and that ‘it has led to international bookings’.

Community Building and Collaborative Creation

The architecture element of the festival is a broad one. The team took over the 21-building old Cold War military facility in 2021 and made use of a 3M€ EU redevelopment grant to build the core infrastructure. The organisation pays a peppercorn rent of 1k€/ month to the municipality to occupy the land while complying with obligations to keep the park open to the public which seems to fit perfectly into the core aims of the organisers with Jochem maintaining that ‘The festival is catalyst for the wider projects’ and both organisers outlining their personal intentions are rooted in community, sustainability and innovation.

Each year, the collective runs ateliers that bring up to 80 volunteers together to design and build new temporary and permanent installations that have become key elements of the festival and the vibe through the team is also strong, with even many of the more junior members identifying deeply with the concept, artwork and curation. The ateliers produce stage designs that are engaging—if not mind-blowing—but many feature a welcome gradient design that offers some relief to what must be one of the tallest audiences in festival history. At 6’2″ and living in Portugal, it was the first time in years I couldn’t see across a crowd.

Room for Improvement

The festival doesn’t come without its pain points. The food area, while large and functional, could do with some more solid ventilation to ease the overwhelming smell of oil in the deep fat fryers. And, while many of the installations seem like they are developed for the night time, the festival closes at 2 am, giving the punter less than half of the opening times to experience them in their intended states. The journey back to Brussels can be chaotic, with buses in short supply and a free-for-all taxi scene where some drivers charge up to €120 for the 12km ride. Still, if you search long enough, you’ll find a fair one who’ll run the meter—and if you’re lucky (/unlucky) bang out some middle eastern pop on the 30-minute drive home.

It should also be clear that while the festival puts a focus on long-term sustainable architecture and landscape design, some viewers might feel that developmental narrative compromises the ‘wow factor’ of the scale and detail one might find in a modern AV festival, Bloc9 or Boomtown. This is echoed in the arts and light installations that could be modernised for a more immersive feel. That said, the sound quality more than makes up for it, consistently powerful throughout the festival with seemingly zero limitations on volume and scale.

The Verdict

Horst and Asiat Park look to be a fantastic project that should be sustainable for hopefully decades to come. The story of long term development is an inspirational one and work with the local community is commendable. The lineup, crowd, sound and production quality are of the highest order, but an experienced (or less aware) festival goer might feel slightly misled that the self-assigned architecture tag prioritises community integration over the ‘wow factor’ of more immersive festivals.

All in all, Horst is highly recommended. Watch this space for future innovations and go frequently to experience the journey develop as the life of this project unfolds.