No underground festival in Europe is as cultured and uncommercialised as UNUM. This cult favourite gathering is a music and travel lover’s dream. It is famous for its secluded stages in a pine forest, 24 hours of non-stop music, three carefully curated and boutique stages with sun-kissed beaches backed by picturesque mountains. Soundtracking this special getaway from Thursday afternoon to Tuesday morning will be house, techno and minimal specialists including Ricardo Villalobos, Dyed Soundorom, Rhadoo, Raresh, Praslea, Priku, Sonja Moonear, Margaret Dygas, tINI and Anthea amongst many more. In the lead-up to the main event, there will be tantalising Road to Unum warm-up parties across Europe in Manchester, London, Leeds, Derby, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Ibiza, Istanbul, Athens, Bucharest, Munich, Basel, Geneva, Zurich, Rome, Venice, Napoli, to name a few. Head to unumfestival.com for full details and ticket info.
Unum is a festival with a knowing crowd, affordable prices and a notoriously warm community feel. Three previous editions have brought a charming and colourful selection of serious music lovers together to the hidden secret paradise of Rana e Hedhun, a quiet corner of Europe in the town of Shengjin on the picture-perfect Albanian coastline. It is here that all your senses will be tantalised by the rich array of local cultures and customs as well as uninterrupted sun, sea and world-class sounds.
This part of the world is one of few stunning locations that is uncommercialised and as natural as can be. That lends the whole festival an organic feel unlike any other as you are left to plot your own movie-like trip: there is an array of heart-racing water sports, mouthwatering local food and drink offerings and plenty of isolated bays and secluded woodland areas to explore.
The famously classy soundtrack at Unum comes across three stages which are all completely open air with no sound restrictions. The Pine Stage is one of the scene’s most iconic with towering pines all around the woodland clearing. It opens on Thursday and runs 24/7 non-stop with stage partners Animal Crossing, Club Der Visionaere and After Caposile, while Monday is a special day into night family gathering with Slapfunk.
The Main Stage on Friday and Saturday offers up the biggest headliners with sympathetic production and a real attention to top class sound systems, while various beach parties in association with Kunye, Shimza and Nordstern mean you get to really soak up the stunning sunsets and sunrises with perfect musical accompaniments provided by the DJ talent.
This year’s line-up is another tasteful selection of returning favourites and brand new names. There will be deep and emotive selections from Dyed Soundorom, Samuel Deep, Reiss, and John Dimas, hypnotic minimal styles from Ricardo Villalobos, Magda, Barem, Rhadoo, Raresh, Praslea, Cezar, Priku, John Dimas, Sonja Moonear, Margaret Dygas, tINI and Anthea with plenty more Shimza, Laolu, Boris Werner and Doudou MD with more to come.
The countdown is now on to another brilliantly boutique and blissfully beautiful UNUM festival.
