Image credit: Maxim Verbueken

Horst is blowing up. The festival, which landed in Brussels’ military base Asiat in 2019, has spent years building a reputation for properly uniting art and music – and this year’s edition is taking things one step edgier. The three-day programme of music and architectural mastery is expansive enough to have something to offer pretty much anyone with a passing interest in electronic music and visual arts. So, here’s just a few reasons why you should be making plans to head to this post-industrial dreamscape between 5 – 7 May 2023.

1. An instant upgrade for your music taste

Horst remedies any line-up overwhelm, with the promise of high quality curation across all 100 acts, on all six of its stages. That knowledge should let you feel comfortable following your feet (and your ears) to what genuinely interests, inspires and moves you from its programme of grass-roots bookings and homegrown talent.

2. You’ll get banging photos of fresh new stages...

It goes without saying that the photo opps are aplenty at Horst. The festival prides itself on  “unique, inventive and circular stage design”, and every two years a number of the stages are reinvented. That means this year you’ll see the debut of Le Soleil Rouge stage by BRUTHER (which looks wild) and the mainstage redesign by Stand Van Zaken collective.

3. …but don’t worry – Moon Ra remains

Count your lucky stars – the famous glowing orb of Moon Ra stage is going nowhere. The stage, created by architect Leopold Banchini, has garnered a fair bit of attention since it was constructed on the site in 2021, and the good news is that it made the cut for the 2023 festival. If that’s not a perfect excuse to clear your weekend and get a ticket, I’m not sure what is.

4. Get free tickets for being a nice person

Look out for Horst Atelier, which gives you the opportunity to get refunds on your tickets for helping out at the festival. You’ll have to buy tickets upfront, but then can claim your money back after helping with tasks like catering, building, helping with lighting, logistics and more. An even more immersive experience, and free/cheaper fest tickets? Absolutely, yes please.

5. Bottega Veneta & Mark Leckey will be there

Caaaaasual. Bottega Veneta and Turner Prize laureate Mark Leckey have curated the brand new roll pitch yaw surge heave sway area – a ‘dark and sticky setting’ for listening to eclectic music and spoken word. There’ll also be new video work from Mark Leckey himself.

6. You’ll witness expert sound design

The Horst experience is an immersive experience – and that means top notch noise. Read any review of Horst and you’ll most likely read gushing words about the quality of the sound. Justice being done for a fire line-up – we love to see it.