This past edition was cooked slowly from last September until the very last minute of the very last hour of the festival. Nothing appeared overnight. Every decision carried something from the previous edition with it: a conversation we had, an idea someone shared, a criticism, a frustration, something that worked, something that clearly did not. We learned with you that we could do better. We listened to your advice and feedforwards, your criticism and your helpful ideas, and we gathered all of it as if we were collecting thousands of little pieces to build the next edition of HIM Dub.

You told us.

Last year, we asked you to be honest with us. Not only about what you loved, but also about what was not working. You told us that the toilets could be better, that the parking needed serious attention and that information and communication were not clear enough. You asked for more food variety, more shade, better lighting, better organisation, better communication with volunteers and more support around the practical side of the festival.

We took all of it with us. Not every idea could become a reality in one year. Some things needed more time, some needed more money and some needed a completely different approach. Some things we thought we had solved, only to discover that they still needed work. But none of it disappeared into a spreadsheet. Your words became part of our meetings, our planning, our conversations and our decisions. They became part of the way we imagined this edition.

A festival can sometimes feel like a finished product when you arrive. For us, it is never finished. It is a constant process of listening, testing, failing, changing and trying again.

What you don’t see.

What you see when you arrive at HIM Dub is seven days of music, dancing, rivers, lights, soundsystems, workshops, food and people. What you don’t see is the long work behind it: the meetings, artist management, build-up plans, technical production, waste management, safety and all the last-minute changes that somehow become part of the process.

This year, the team behind HIM Dub grew, and we expect it to grow even further. HIM Dub became a daily routine for a growing group of people, each working across different areas of the project from communication and artist management to volunteers, site planning & build-up, market, workshops, lectures, healing and social media..

We built new caravan park areas, created more shade, added toilets and showers, expanded the festival area with a whole new space to welcome campers, enlarged the structures of the stages and reinforced the scenography and decoration across the festival. We also hope you enjoyed the new River Station as well as the Roots Garden, with a bigger structures, more fabric and earth sculptures.

This year, HIM Dub grew in many ways: more people joined the team, more structures were built, more camping space was created, more workshops were curated and more people came from more places. But we are also learning that growth does not simply mean becoming bigger. We want it to grow in depth, in quality, in care, in knowledge, in our connection with Rapoula do Côa and in the experience we create for you.

We want to protect the human scale of the festival, that made many of you fall in love with HIM Dub in the first place.

The people behind the people.

We started getting in touch with people volunteering early in the year and slowly gathered an incredible group of around 90 volunteers for the build-up, the festival and the breakdown, and even now, as we write this, some of that work is still ongoing with a very motivated team.

There are the crew at the gates, the crew carrying things, the crew cleaning, the crew doing the night shifts, the crew solving problems before anyone else even knows there is a problem, and the crew who stay when everyone else has already gone home. Some of the most important work at HIM Dub happens when nobody is looking.

To the whole volunteer crew: thank you. Thank you for your time, your energy, your mornings, your nights and sometimes your patience.

HIM Dub and Rapoula do Côa.

HIM Dub does not happen next to Rapoula do Côa. It happens in Rapoula do Côa.

Over the years, our relationship with the village has become an increasingly important part of the festival, allowing us to contribute directly to the local community. A significant part of the vegetables used during the festival also came from local agriculture. We are very happy to continue developing these relationships, becoming more connected with the people and the territory around us, and growing together with the community.

We are deeply grateful for the trust and welcome we receive from Rapoula do Côa community. At the same time, we know that hosting a festival comes with responsibility. We want to grow together, and strength this project hand in hand.

43 nationalities.

This year, HIM Dub brought together people from 43 different nationalities. Forty-three different backgrounds, languages, cultures, histories and ways of seeing the world, all arriving in the same small place on the Côa River. You are coming from: Angola, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Saint Barthélemy, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Cape Verde, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, Finland, Fiji, France, United Kingdom, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Croatia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Portugal, Réunion, Romania, Sudan, Sweden, Singapore, United States.

During the year, we also wanted to create specific bridges with Jamaica, São Tomé and Príncipe and Japan, offering free access to members of these communities. This is part of why HIM Dub exists. Creating bridges between, mental frontiers, between generations, histories and cultures. 

The line-up

The artistic programme of HIM Dub is never something we build in a few weeks. In reality, we are already talking about the next artists while the current edition is still happening. We listen, discover, speak with artists and hear recommendations from friends and from the community. The line-up is part of the journey, and we hope you enjoyed travelling through it with us this year.

The same care goes into the market, workshops, lectures and healing spaces. These programmes are curated throughout the year by thoughtful minds and very dedicated coordinators, who put a huge amount of time and energy into creating these spaces. 

HIM Dub is built around sound systems, but it was never meant to be only about music. It is also a place to learn, question, share, create, heal and discover something new.

We know there is still work to do.

The toilets care needs to be rethought. We heard that some of them were too high and that the frequency and quality of cleaning were not good enough. We are already thinking about a new design. It is not the most glamorous job at HIM Dub, but it is one of the most important, and we know that this needs to become a priority.

Despite the frist three days of festival raining, we were very happy to see how well the festival infrastructure held up throughout the weather conditions, with no major issues affecting the structures or the overall operation of the festival. We did, however, face a small challenge at the Community Kitchen during the first days. Due to the rain and limitations in the electricity supply, we were unable to use electrical cooking plates during the first two days. This reduced the number of electrical plates available compared to what we would normally have.

The overall lighting across the festival worked well and created a warm and welcoming atmosphere throughout the different areas. One point we know we can improve is the lighting around the Caravan Park. Moving around the camping and caravan areas at night needs to feel safer and more comfortable, so we want to increase the number of lighting points there and continue improving lighting throughout the festival area.

blessed by the rain

After almost a year of planning a summer festival, there is something almost cruel about watching the sky turn grey.
We plan for the sun, plan for the heat and plan for dust. We build an entire festival imagining warm August days beside the river. But we cannot control the weather, and this year the rain became a very real part of HIM Dub.

We know how uncomfortable it can be. Rain changes the ground, the roads, the logistics.. But then we looked at the dancefloors, and you were still there! Wet, dancing, skanking, laughing and helping each other. The rain did not stop HIM Dub, neither you.

And honestly, seeing that energy during those days is something we will carry with us for a long time.

And now?

And now we are back to work.

We go back to the communication, to the plannification, to the line-up, to the workshops, to Rapoula do Côa, to the river and to the artists. We will improve what needs to be improved. We will protect what needs to be protected. And we will keep questioning.

HIM Dub is something we build together, from September to August, the co-creation starts now. We have created a Google form to receive all your ideas and feedforwards: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRB6zYRbPgxgKM2Q4XLA1n6oj8Je9nBN9O57Mtdi5eXx2cng/viewform?usp=header

By filling up this form you contribute to the next edition…

See you very soon,

Music is the most high