DAVE – Dresden Audio Visual Experience
Germany
Dresden’s club culture is diverse and shines far beyond the city limits. DAVE – Dresden Audio Visual Experience – sees itself as a podium to present the local electronic subculture scene in all its diversity once a year.

Therefore, DAVE thinks differently about club culture. The festival started in 2014 in order to break up the everyday life of electronic music in Dresden and to shift its boundaries in a new way. It ensures movement and encounters in Dresden’s club culture. For this purpose DAVE builds electronic sound landscapes in familiar but also unusual places. People are brought together from all walks of life.

In addition, unique cultural experiences are offered, which seem to suit the city well. In 2016 the festival was awarded a Promotion Prize from the City of Dresden. Although DAVE takes place in Dresden, it is explicitly open to artists and projects from other cities or countries. Platforms were born to enable professionals and up-and-coming artists to create exciting projects themselves and actively participate in DAVE, whether in a musical or visual setting. The varied programs, which is extended year after year, is therefore not only varied but also instructive.

The program is organized by an extensive network of volunteers from Dresden’s cultural and music scene who share a common passion and idealism.

How it all began

The idea for DAVE was born in 2012. Fat Fenders, the local record store caught fire that spring and triggered an unprecedented willingness for solidarity. What started out as donations and volunteer work turned into a benefit party. More than 50 DJs and live acts performed free of charge to help the scene’s meeting point financially out of trouble. Because of the larger number of diverse artists and guests it developed into a successful party. A refreshing sense of community also hovered above the event. Promoters, artists and dancers celebrated their love of music together and at the same time contributed to its continued existence in Dresden. In 2014 DAVE, a festival about electronic music, celebrated its premiere.