You know what’s so nice about Horst? You lock your bike right next to the entrance and you don’t have to queue for ages to get in, it all goes smoothly. 

But then it starts: as soon as you’re inside, your phone loses signal, you no longer have connection. You’re standing in the midst of an industrial zone and at the same time half in the wilderness, among trees, bushes and other vegetation. You’re following small dirt roads, looking for someone you know. 

Horst Arts and Music Festival is organised at a former military site where army equipment was repaired for about 75 years, until the early 2000s, next to two giant cooling towers of a gas power plant.

Electronic music echoes and art installations are set up. There are about six different stages, each with their own vibe and music, each somewhat hidden in a different corner of what was for so long an army site, back in the days with barracks, warehouses, equipment and military units.

On Sunday night, at the end of an intense weekend, you still don’t know the fastest or most efficient way to get from point a to b. What does it matter?  You’re lost amid the visual art, pumping beats, teeming bodies and dancing lights. The friends you were supposed to meet up with, you barely saw. The people you didn’t expect to be there, you ran into. 

You did have connection. 

‘Without embarassment’ 

Stanislas, when asked what he likes so much about Horst: ‘Oh Horst, the three-day dance marathon, where you give everything you have, without embarrassment. And then that bike ride home, along the canal, witnessing the transition from an industrial zone back to the city. The humid weather feels refreshing and washes away the sweat. I think of the many beautiful people and encounters. The incredibly good DJ sets, lighting and sound. Three days of flying high.’

Vilvoorde, May 2023