After a bit of a delay, I enjoyed having a fond look back at my time at the Tangra 2013 festival in June. I did play a show special back in July, but I’ve revisited it now, along with posting my photos of the event. The festival was in the Sandanski region of Bulgaria, and as I mention a few times in the show, it was a lovely experience and it was such a pleasure to be there and meet the Bulgarian people in particular. I found them to be warm, hospitable and enthusiastic to welcome people to their country. More than one of them were a bit sad to report that their fellow countrymen spoke negatively about their conditions there, but actually they have many things to be proud of, such as the local produce and food, the actual countryside and, especially, the character of the people, which I found warm and hospitable, as everyone who attended the festival felt.
The festival was based in the grounds of a nice hotel, which used to be the summer residence of the old dictator, Todor Zhikov and it was lovely to feel the lovely surroundings made use of for such a positive, rocking vibe. The line up was fantastic, featuring a lot of favourite established acts such as Arjuna, E.V.P, and HypoGeo, local Bulgarian artists such as Kliment and Kundalini and also, a nice part about the organisation is how they showcase new artists and it was lovely to hear new up and coming DJs and producers such as Kloud Nin9 TRD, Looney and Matt-In-Orbit enjoy playing in the festival sunshine. Also, a large part of the experience there was the Spiritual Garden, which was a beautiful area of structures and tents where there were workshops, healing and yoga amongst other activities. There was also great artwork on display, such as a lovely gallery by Looney Moon productions from Italy, Free Trance Form and Quantum Tribe from Russia and Janis Lipstovs from Lativa. Pioneering visual artists such as Luthien form Venezuela and Aksvenur from Bulgaria really added to the spectacle.
It was a pleasure to meet good friends there as well as many new ones and I was able to speak to them and be able to share some of the conversations I recorded. I spoke to artists who enjoyed playing at their first festivals or, at least, in Bulgaria such as Elevator Muzic and Matt_In_Orbit and wonderful souls who were sharing knowledge in the workshops, or in food stalls, or helping with the infrastructure.
You can listen again to it here:
Here’s the playlist from 2nd July 2013 (Albums in brackets)
1. Arjuna – Geometric (VA – Hill Top Chronicles, Vol. 1 – 2011)
Chat with Ogi
2. Yudhisthira – Take A Deep Breath (Wicked Gail’s Tales – 2013)
Chat with Ren and Mark from Elevator Muzic
3. Elevator Muzic – Home
4. HypoGeo – Sector of Silence (VA – Various Poems – 2010)
Chat with Saci
5. TRD – Scripture
Chat with Matt-In-Orbit
6. Jahbo – Subatomic (Parvatrip, Vol.3 – 2012)
Chat with Tudor
7. Aura – Ruffly Feathers (New Circuitry – 2012)