These bionic hands were created for the first ever BEONIX, and are now a staple of the festival each year
BEONIX press team
Obviously, Electronic Dance Music is about the music—it’s in the name. However, when it comes to a festival, all five senses are required to really enjoy the fully immersive experience.
Curating a memorable multi-day EDM festival must include art; demonstrated in the traditional visual sense with paintings, murals, larger-than-life sculptures and installations, while other more modern artistic elements may include pyro fire features, drone light shows and performance art using the human body as a canvas for creativity.
One festival that combines all of the above into their three-day weekend is BEONIX Festival, held on the island of Cyprus. Sitting on the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East, this small island comes alive in September and uses the festival period to show off not just the musical talents of the region but the art from their mix of cultures.
“From the very beginning we wanted BEONIX to be more than a music festival—it’s also a platform for visual art. Across the grounds we feature installations, sculptures, digital mapping and projection art,” said Andrej Buhonov, head of business development at the ETKO venue and artistic director for music at BEONIX Festival. “Guests don’t just move from one stage to another, they pass through an open-air gallery that changes atmosphere throughout the weekend.”
Other massive EDM festivals use the theme of the yearly gathering to inspire the visual elements, like with Elements Music and Arts Festival, held in Long Pond, Pennsylvania in the United States. Not only is “art” in the name of the fest, but it is a core component in helping to express the theme—all four of the elements including fire, water, earth and air.
The “Hall of Faces” at Elements was a huge hit this year, with many attendees praying or leaving offerings to these guardians of nature.
Elements Festival
“We are very much both a music and arts festival. In addition to the four themed main stages, we have 70+ art installations throughout the event, and an entire forest area filled with art both big and small and roving performances,” said Brett Herman, co-founder of Elements.
“At Elements, art and visuals aren’t just decoration—they’re how we guide people through a 12-hour day,” added Timothy Monkiewicz, the other co-founder of Elements. “We design paths that turn moving between stages into a journey, with surprises you might enjoy for a minute or an hour. Comfort is also key: hammock zones, tree nets, and creative seating let people rest, connect and discover new friends. For us, art is what transforms a concert into a community-driven adventure.”
Visual Art
Street art is a major aspect of the decor at BEONIX, commissioning artists to come and paint these massive murals ahead of the festival.
BEONIX press team
At BEONIX, while there are aren’t your typical streets and alleys tagged with graffiti, there is an abundance of street art all over the festival grounds, mimicking a tiny city and helping to bring the vibrant art form to a clientele of art and culture lovers in one space.
“For the last three years, we’ve invited artists from Japan, Serbia, the USA and many other countries to paint large walls and surfaces across the site. Today we have more than 15 works, making BEONIX the largest curated street art space in Cyprus. This is something we are very proud of and it will continue to grow,” said Buhonov.
At the festival, these murals are accompanied by a short description as well as QR codes, linking to more information about the art and the artists, giving them a larger platform than just the wall itself.
There are also larger-than-life sculptures across the grounds, from a sly calico cat statute perched atop one of the buildings to floating balloons and disco balls in the Hangar Stage, and, always included in the mix, are two giant, color-changing bionic hands that seem to emerge from the ground, seen when you first enter the festival.
The hands are also powered by LED lights that change from red and dark blue to bright white and neon green during the evening.
BEONIX press team
“The most iconic element has been the bionic hands, created for our very first edition,” said Buhonov. “They quickly became a symbol of BEONIX. Today, they remain in our garden area as a permanent artwork, continuing to attract attention and serving as a landmark that many guests connect with the spirit of the festival.”
Elements Festival has their fair share of visual art, too, using the different themed zones as well as the influence of the forest setting to help plan the different displays.
The Lotus Temple was another popular structure at Elements, combining a physical structure with water and floral features that also served as a gathering place for attendees.
Elements Festival
“Each year we add new layers to the story, giving our community fresh experiences to discover while preserving the favorites they’ve come to love,” said Monkiewicz. “The result is a living world with zones that range from our Bizarre area, where you might find alternative circus acts or a fire-breathing saxophone player, to our Air Stage, surrounded by pagodas, mini temples and lounges.”
Performance Art
In addition to stationary art, many of these festivals also incorporate moving art by way of animations, responsive light, and, of course, humans used as performance art.
“We have a lot of sculptures at Mysteryland. However, our sculptures are never just static objects to look at—interaction is at the heart of everything we curate. We want visitors to become part of the art instead of just observing it,” said Jill van Raan, one of two creative directors for Mysteryland in the Netherlands.
An image from the Psychedelic Farm performance area at Mysteryland, with actors and props helping to tell the mysterious tale.
Jaap Beyleveld
At Mysteryland, one of the most iconic performance art displays is dubbed “Psychedelic Farm” which includes a combination of actors and props to create an almost ‘Alice in Wonderland’ state of imagination, curiosity and storytelling that is up to the viewer to interpret.
“Performance art is deeply woven into the fabric of Mysteryland. For example, we feature dancers who appear almost otherworldly, with only their graceful bodies visible and their faces hidden, creating a surreal, art-like presence,” described van Raan. “Combined with the set dressing around them, these performances transport visitors into a complete alternate world, allowing them to forget the here and now for a moment.”
This was also present at BEONIX, with two forms of characters dancing around the festival grounds—neon-clad dancers atop massive stilts and a handful of silver, blue and green monsters made entirely of shiny confetti strips—popping up at every stage and activation when you least expect it.
A woman on stilts was just one of the performers of the evening, walking amongst the crowd to provide even more visual stimulus to the event.
BEONIX press team
“Side quests,” or other activities other than raving at the main stage, are a key part of festival life at these multi-day EDM shows, and Elements Festival had plenty of opportunities for these adventures via their own performance artists, by way of games and shows you can only find if you are lucky enough to stumble upon them.
“Performance is woven into the Elements Festival experience, from side-stage programming to pathways throughout the forest. Our goal is to create unforgettable moments between guests and performers, whether through intimate, up-close encounters, or larger than life spectacles,” said Herman. “You can stumble upon a game with stilting clowns that draws you in on your way to a set, or be captivated by a bizarre puppeteer that sends you on an unexpected side quest to a stage you never planned to visit.”
Digital Art
The lasers from the main stage could be seen from all over the festival grounds, amplifying the music with lights to match.
BEONIX press team
Last, but certainly not least, it would be a shame to not mention all of the digital art that goes into electronic festivals, as some of the first mental pictures that are conjured up when thinking about EDM are the insane graphics on and off the stage’s screens. However, digital art can go beyond the stage and appear up in the sky or via immersive installations that combine technology with creativity in the most otherworldly of ways.
One of these ways is via drone, and, according to Mysteryland representatives, the end show is one you cannot skip,
“Our end shows, especially the drone shows, have become iconic and unmissable moments,” said Sander Vermeulen, the other creative director at Mysteryland, alongside van Raan. “The combination and synchronization of music, light, and aerial art creates a sense of collective awe, drawing tens of thousands of people together for a shared, emotional experience. It’s the perfect bridge between sets and one of the most talked-about highlights year after year.”
“Mysteryland is a total experience, an overwhelming journey of constant surprises. It’s an immersive city full of discoveries, from dinner shows to bingo games at our main stage, sound healing sessions on the water, the tiniest bars to the largest dance floors. Art and visuals are not just additions, they are essential layers that create an endless sense of wonder throughout the weekend,” said van Raan.
The balance of art, lights, performance and of course music is one that all of these festival planners aim to get just right, striking balance between stimulating and overstimulating, visuals and sounds and curating the perfect vibe for each of the many settings across the festival grounds.
“We are not an EDM festival — we are a festival for electronic music in all its diversity. Visuals, light and sound always form a dialogue, but the balance depends on the stage,” said Buhonov. “On our more underground stages, the lighting is minimal, because the focus is raw energy and intimacy. On others, the full combination of lights, visuals and sound creates a symbiosis that amplifies the experience. For us, the art is always there to support the music, not to overshadow it.”
