Most Middle East festivals tend do a lot of things right. From record-breaking production levels to a plethora of food and beverage options, there’s very little to complain about for the region’s festivalgoers. However, one area where the admittedly still nascent Middle East festival market doesn’t always hit the mark is that much less tangible characteristic of authenticity, which is earned by a festival returning year after year and building its own legend in the process. This sense of authenticity is in abundance at the original UNTOLD festival, which has taken place annually in Romania for the past decade, and as the festival’s Dubai offshoot enters its second year, it seems that magic dust may just be starting to rub off.
Having changed venues from its debut iteration at Expo City, UNTOLD Dubai has now found a new home at the sprawling Dubai Parks and Resorts and, according to UNTOLD’s Chief Technical Officer and Head of Production, Radu Rus, this time the festival is putting down roots. “Dubai Parks and Resorts presents a one-of-a-kind setting – a fully themed entertainment park inside a music festival. This integration creates a uniquely immersive experience unmatched anywhere in the world,” he stated.
“The vast space provides unlimited potential for expansion. Under our five-year partnership, we plan to grow progressively each year, with a long-term vision to reach over 400,000 participants,” he added. “Our collaboration focusses on sustainable growth – strengthening both the festival and the park ecosystem. The goal is to eventually host multiple large-scale events per year under the UNTOLD brand.”
TPiMEA’s first taste of the new venue came a few hours prior to doors opening on the first of the festival’s four days. We were greeted at the gate by Karl Jenkins of A LOUD MINORITY (ALM) – a company that has played a major role in UNTOLD’s integration into the Dubai events landscape. As we whizzed around the site on a golf buggy conducting a few final checks, Jenkins wound black the clocks on his company’s history working with UNTOLD.
“Our initial introduction to UNTOLD came from their desire to bring what is already a very established festival into the Dubai market,” he began. “Bringing a festival to the Middle East requires a certain level of curation, and our local knowledge and expertise were a perfect fit, so we came aboard in the first year to help smooth the entry into the region.”
Having overseen the technical delivery of the secondary stages in the festival’s first year, Jenkins and the ALM team have gained a close relationship with the UNTOLD team, even visiting the festival in Romania for the past two years running to see how it is produced there. “We learned in Romania some of the things that give UNTOLD a genuine identity,” he recalled. “Aside from the main stage, which is in an arena, the rest of the festival is among trees and grass and it’s close to nature. The new location at Dubai Parks and Resorts enables us to get much closer to this kind of raw, unfiltered, feeling, utilising grassed areas, trees and well-grown gardens for some of the stages.”
Charged with managing the secondary stages once again, this year ALM had a much larger presence on the ground, with the company devoting resources to handle the tender, stage design and vendor management processes as well as managing the operation of the stages. “There is a small army of ALM personnel on site this weekend,” Jenkins quipped.
In fact, ALM’s remit the year spanned the whole spectrum, from a kids’ DJ school setup and the intimate lakeside Soul Circle stage to the underground club vibes of the indoor Retro and Time stages, the medium-sized, outdoor, urban-style Alchemy stage, and the gigantic Mexican-inspired structure that formed the Zamna stage. “It was an interesting challenge to deliver such a range of different-sized stages simultaneously,” Jenkins commented. “Each stage contributed to that organic festival experience.”
Photos: UNTOLD Dubai
