Desertfest Belgium

Desertfest Belgium
Background information
Genre(s)	Stoner Rock, Doom, Sludge, Psychedelic Rock & more
Date(s)	October (Annually)
Location	Antwerp, Belgium Ghent, Belgium
Venue(s)	Trix
Years active	2014 - Present
Promoter(s)	Desertscene, Sound of Liberation
Associated Events	DesertFest, DesertFest London, DesertFest Berlin, Desertfest Athens, Desertfest New York
Website	Official Website

Desertfest Belgium is one of several annual festivals which run under the DesertFest banner. Each year, the festival is a three day event showcasing bands from the whole stoner rock scene. The festival takes place in Antwerp, Belgium. Desertfest Belgium was the third of the Desertfest events to be introduced, first being held in 2014 (unlike its English and German counterparts which were both first held in 2012).

Background

The original DesertFest, DesertFest London, was first conceived of by Reece Tee and Jake Farey of the music promotions company Desertscene. Desertscene started organising shows in 2009, the first of which was Truckfighters. After gaining experience promoting individual bands and hearing the people at those shows' desire for a UK festival like Roadburn Festival, they decided to create DesertFest.

The first Desertfest London was officially announced on 26th July 2011 via a Facebook post, but posters advertising the festival were placed at London's High Voltage Festival. Early on in development of the first edition of Desertfest London, the team behind the festival partnered with Sound of Liberation to make a German equivalent, DesertFest Berlin. The first DesertFest Berlin was publicly announced, via Facebook, on October 9th 2011.

After two successful years in London and Berlin, DesertFest was expanded into Belgium. On 23rd April 2014, the newly created Desertfest Belgium Facebook page confirmed that a Belgian edition of Desertfest would take place. The event took place between Friday the 10th and Sunday the 12th of October, at Trix in Antwerp, Belgium. The event has remained an annual fixture, continuing to take place at Trix in Antwerp, Belgium every October. A third edition of the event is scheduled to take place between the 14th and 16th of October in 2016.

2014

Brant Bjork - Freaks of Nature at Desertfest Belgium, 12-10-14

The first edition of Desertfest Belgium was announced on 23rd April 2014 via a Facebook post. The event took place between Friday 10th and 12th of October 2014 at Trix in Antwerp, Belgium. On the same day, the first bands were announced for the event, which were Electric Wizard, Monkey3 and All Them Witches. The headliners for the event were Kadavar, Electric Wizard and Fu Manchu. By 8th October 2014, the festival was confirmed to have sold out of tickets. On the same day, the band Slabdragger had to pull out of the festival due to health reason. They were replaced by Old Man Lizard.

Friday 10th October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Kadavar	The Bevis Frond	Lecherous Gaze
Truckfighters	Toner Low	The Vintage Caravan
Blues Pills	The Picturebooks	Valley of the Sun
		Witchrider

Saturday 11th October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Electric Wizard	Karma To Burn	Purson
Yob	The Shrine	Celeste
Pallbearer	Herder	Your Highness
Satan's Satyrs	Steak	Dirty Fences
Cowboys & Aliens	Moonward	Death Alley
		Dave Celia

Sunday 12th October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Fu Manchu	Monkey3	Pontiak
Brant Bjork	Jex Thoth	The Flying Eyes
Colour Haze	Sardonis	Black Moth
Conan	Black Bombaim	Brutus
Old Man Lizard	Moaning Cities	1000mods
		Bloodnstuff

2015

GREENLEAF "With Eyes Wide Open" @Desertfest Belgium - Oct. 10, 2015 Desert-Rock.com

On 12th June 2015, a second edition of the festival was announced via Facebook. The event took place between Friday 9th October and Sunday 11th October, once again at Trix in Antwerp, Belgium. On the same day, the first bands were announced as Melvins, who were initially set to headline the festival, with Fatso Jetson, Pyschonaut, 3rd Ear Experience and Fever Dog also playing. On 13th July 2015, previously announced band Melvins were forced to cancel due to a previously reached exclusivity deal with Incubate festival in Tilburg. The main stage headliners for the event were Dozer, Earth and Goatsnake. Ruby the Hatchet were originally confirmed to play, but had to cancel their appearance, as well as their entire European tour, for personal reasons.

Friday 9th October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Dozer	Stoned Jesus	Cartlon Melton
Moon Duo	The Machine	Wucan
Monolord	Psychonaut	The Heavy Crown
		Planet of Zeus

Saturday 10th October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Earth	Causa Sui	Harsh Toke
Orange Goblin	Mars Red Sky	USA out of Vietnam
Greenleaf	Vandal X	Bathsheba
Monomyth	Banda de la Muerte	Sunder
Belzebong	Progerians	Deville
		Pendejo

Sunday 10th October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Goatsnake	Fatso Jetson	Child
Bongzilla	Siena Root	3rd Ear Experience
Ufomammut	Papir	Maudlin
Valient Thorr	Tangled Horns	Fever Dog
Glowsun	Crystal Head	Black-Bone

2016

Promotional artwork for Desertfest Belgium 2016

On 12th October 2015, Desertfest Belgium confirmed through their Facebook account that the festival will be returning in 2016. The festival will take place from the 14th to 16th October 2016 and will once again be held at Trix, Antwerp.

On May 17, 2016, Desertfest Belgium announced their initial lineup though no headliners have been announced yet. Eventually the full lineup would be announced and though Graveyard was intended to be a headliner, they would disband some time before the festival (Though reforming only a few months later and headline the next year)

Friday 14 October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Red Fang	Black Cobra	Joy
Yob	Coogans Bluff	Black Rainbows
Torche	Your Highness	SubRosa
	Alkerdeel	Black Wizard

Saturday 15 October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Pentagram	Monkey3	Electric Citizen
Weedeater	Ahab	Salem's Pot
Colour Haze	The Atomic Bitchwax	Hangman's Chair
Elder	Cough	Arabrot
Purson	1000mods	Giobia
Mother's Cake	Wolvennest	Black Mirrors

Sunday 16 October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Goat	Vôdûn	Toxic Shock
Uncle Acid and the deadbeats	Scorpion Child	Castle
La Muerte	Lonely Kamel	Tau
My Sleeping Karma	Duel	Black Swarm
Moaning Cities	Earth Ship	Komatsu
	Dorre	Josefin Ohrn & The Liberation

2017

On 27 March 2017, DesertFest Belgium would announce their dates for that year's edition with a host of acts added through the months. Eventually by the summer the lineup would be complete, with the show held once again at Trix from 13 - 15 October. On 9 October it was announced that the 2017 edition of DesertFest Belgium had completely sold out.

Friday 13 October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Radio Moscow	Steak Number Eight	16
Lowrider	Gozu	Black Lung
All Them Witches	Minami Deutsch	Grime
	Caronte	Kaleidobolt

Saturday 14 October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Graveyard	Dyse	House of Broken Promises
Windhand	Satan's Satyrs	Ohhms
Unsane	Beastmaker	Troubled Horse
Stoned Jesus	Church of The Cosmic Skull	White Manna
The Vintage Caravan	King Hiss	Elephant Tree
	Hidden Trails	A Supernaut

Sunday 15 October
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Melvins	Conan	Mos Generator
Kadavar	Spidergawd	Spirit Valley
Saint Vitus	Mantar	Part Chimp
Church of Misery	Dool	Redd Kross
Monolord	Hemelbestormer	Partisan
	High Fighter	Big Fat Lukum

2018

On 25 April, DesertFest Belgium announced they would be up for a 2018 edition in Antwerp, spanning from 12 - 14 October 2018. Initial announced bands would be Wo Fat, Acid King, Yob and John Garcia. The second round of bands would be announced on 23 May 2018, featuring Elder, Sasquatch, Dopethrone, Eagle Twin and Black Moth. The third set of bands would be announced on 30 May, including Crowbar, The Skull, Castle, Yuri Gagarin and Sofy Major. A fourth wave of bands would be announced on 5 July 2018, featuring the likes of Enslaved, Lucifer, Child, Blood of The Sun and Sonic Wolves. Through the next few months the three headliners would eventually be announced, being Amenra, High on Fire and Orange Goblin. By 12 October, the first day of the festival, the 2018 edition of Desertfest Belgium would be completely sold out.

12 October 2018
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Orange Goblin	Wo Fat	Blood of the Sun
Dead Meadow	Sasquatch	Lethvm
Lucifer	Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell	Frayle
	Dead Quiet	Goddog

13 October 2018
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
High on Fire	Dopethrone	Villagers of Ioannina City
Yob	Yuri Gagarin	Messa
Enslaved	Wiegedood	Swedish Death Candy
Crowbar	The Oscillation	Sonic Wolves
Black Moth	Wyatt E.	Krakow
	Earth Ship	Domkraft

14 October 2018
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Amenra	Whores.	The Well
Elder	Naxatras	Jozef Van Wissem
Acid King	The Skull	Eagle Twin
My Sleeping Karma	The Devil and The Almighty Blues	Sofy Major
Ancestors	Castle	Heads
	Child	Timestone

2019

The 2019 edition of Desertfest Belgium would be announced in spring of 2019, with the festival mostly selling out by the time of the date.

Notably prolific noise/sludge group Crowhurst were intended to play but canceled on the weekend of the festival.

18 October 2018
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Zeal & Ardor	Sunnata	Black Moon Circle
Truckfighters	Yatra	30000 Monkies
Nebula	Gore	Temple Fang
	Monomyth	Swan Valley Heights

19 October 2018
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Ty Segall	Inter Arma	Your Highness
Pelican	Dopelord	Lo-Pan
Bongripper	Steak	Ruff Majik
Church of Misery	Elephant Tree	Grotto
Fireball Ministry	Crayon Sun	Rrrags
	Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell	Bismut

20 October 2018
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Sleep	Black Pyramid	Sixes
Eyehategod	Toundra	Un
Monkey3	Big Business	High Reeper
Lord Dying	Fire Down Below	Crypt Trip
Wolvennest	The Progerians	Vonnis
	Saver	Lucy in Blue

2021

The 2020 edition of Desertfest Belgium would be proposed for October 2020 but would be canceled circa May 2020 and re-scheduled for 2021 due to COVID-19. On 25 June 2021 it would be announced that DesertFest Belgium would indeed return in October 2021, albeit with a twist. Along with the main festival at Trix in Antwerp from October 15 - 17, the festival would be hosted in Ghent for the first time, at Kunstencentrum Vooruit on 30 October 2021. By 1 October 2021 the main festival would be totally sold out.

On 13 October, King Buffalo would be announced as a surprise addition, along with being an European exclusive performance.

15 October 2021 Antwerp
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Motorpsycho	DJ Vernon Sullivan	Daily Thompson
My Sleeping Karma	Somali Yacht Club	Bismut
Dool	Cult of Occult	Motorik
	Manngold	Detrvire
	Fake Indians

16 October 2021 Antwerp
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Kadavar	DJ Cosmic Masseur	Peuk
Colour Haze	The Great Machine	Atomic Vulture
Villages of Ionanina City	Sunnata	Humulus
Conan	Black Rainbows	Temple Fang
Dopelord	Maidavale	Eleanora
	Mohama Saz
	Komatsu

17 October 2021 Antwerp
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
1000mods	DJ Moos	Acid Mammoth
Monkey3	Speedozer	Slomosa
Wolvennest	The Machine	1782
Regarde Les Hommes Timber	Hangman's Chair	Splinter
Slift	Alkerdeel	Velvet Two Stripes
	Diemen Sniep	Kludde
	Lalma

30 October 2021 Ghent
Desert Stage	Canyon Stage	Vulture Stage
Motorpsycho	DJ Moos	Fire Down Below
1000mods	Electric Moon	Lili Refrain
King Buffalo	Fake Indians	Beaten By Hippies
Stoned Jesus	Nero Di Marte	Frayle
Dool	Golden Hours	Ignatz
	Delving	Mooder
	Hemelbestormer

2022

to be added

2023

to be added

2024

to be added

External Links

• Official Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

References

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