Electronic Music Reigns Again at the Up to Date Festival in Białystok. Return to the roots

The 14th edition of the Up to Date Festival in Białystok will again focus solely on electronic music in its different styles. The festival is going back to its roots! And there’s two meanings to our statements, as we not only look back at the events history but also reference the golden era of raves—the festival location is secret. This year’s festival takes place between 23-24th June. Passes are available via Going. and Resident Advisor.

The Up to Date Festival 2023 is coming to a new space in a post-industrial space close to nature. It’s a start of a new story and a call to think harder about the respect for our surroundings. As we’re abandoning the parking lots at the City Stadium, we also start implementing new strategies meant to reduce our impact on the environment with Białystok’s Electrum Group, a company working in the renewable energy sector. It’s also important to note for everyone coming from outside Białystok, that the city is surrounded by nature reserves and natural old forests. The region is the green lung of Poland!

The most important part of the festival will be of course the music program. To start things off, there are three influential projects that changed the course of club music. First, 2 Bad Mice, a UK crew known for their early implementation of breakbeats, helped to transform rave music into jungle. Then, DJ Slugo whose raw and raunchy sound defined the Chicago ghetto house scene. And finally Surgeon, the techno stalwart responsible for the Birmingham Sound, fresh after releasing a new, acclaimed album.

The techno scene will be also represented by many acts working on the fringes of the genre, experimenting with many of its forms. Białystok will be visited by Illian Tape founders Zenker Brothers, the Italian hypnotist Luigi Tozzi and the Tresor residents: Fireground with a live act and Mareena in a b2b set with Kerrie. Igor Glushko will represent the Kyiv club Closer. Rhyw will introduce interesting elements of bass music. From Vienna comes Sedvs, while Amulador flies in from Porto. More Italians exploring deep, grayscale sounds include Viels with a live act debut and D-Leria.

Civilistjävel! appears with a rare live show. Moonlight Resort & Spa will introduce more dubby elements. It’s a new project by Michał Wolski and Tomasz Zając. More conversations between Poland and Jamaica occur through YAC’s dubby glitch sound and the dubby krautrock of Dynasonic. There’s also a British contingent of exciting dubstep acts, with deep dungeon sound of Commodo and the dark experiments of Ossia who looks into post-punk, industrial and jazz for inspiration.

Industrial is also an important context for the work of Puce Mary who’s coming along with one of her memorable concerts. Maria W Horn brings results of her exploration of sonic extremes, while Andrea Belfi will present one of his rigorous, post-minimalist percussion solos. A cherry on top is an appearance from Giant Swan’s Mun Sing who’s coming to present his forthcoming as of yet unannounced album.

This is roughly half of the program so far. Further names will be announced soon. The early bird passes are sold out. General admission passes are available via Going. and Resident Advisor.