Into The Great Wide Open 2022

we're doing it again

Two years of stagnation proved to bear fruit. Things that seemed difficult suddenly became particularly feasible this weekend in Vlieland. In the fields of music and fine arts, as well as in sustainability, meaning, and innovation. It was no coincidence that during Metronomy's performance on Saturday night, the crowd sang loudly along with It feels so good to be back!

Two years of stagnation proved to bear fruit. Things that seemed difficult suddenly became particularly achievable this weekend in Vlieland. In the fields of music and fine arts, as well as in sustainability, meaning, and innovation. It is no coincidence that during the performance of Metronomy on Saturday evening, everyone sang loudly along with It feels so good to be back!

THE MUSIC

Debutantes and veterans

With the closing notes of L’Impératrice, Into The Great Wide Open was just euphorically concluded. As always, the festival proved to be a place where new acts and debutants found their way to larger stages. Porij, Mychelle, and Gurriers made their debut on Dutch soil, and the breakthrough of Jungle By Night – who played their first show on Vlieland at the 2014 edition – as a major closing act on Friday was noteworthy. Talents S10 and Froukje (the former recorded her latest album on Vlieland, the latter is set to record her first album in the coming weeks) visibly felt at home on Het Sportveld, where they – not unexpectedly – climbed the main stage together.

New this edition was De Kuil, the stage where upcoming Dutch acts like Banji, Elephant, and Yung Dada made their appearance. A relatively smaller stage with unknown names, but there was no shortage of interest. But old hands like funk heroes Cymande and Flemish lyricist Raymond van ‘t Groenewoud were rightly called legendary.

Under the name Traces, the art and film program explored traces on the island or ways to leave new traces.

It was guided by themes such as change and transition - and related notions of origin, identity, and memory. Well-known and lesser-known names were alternated in the art route, where works by visionary artists like Sophia Bulgakova and Sébastien Robert made a great impression. The duo Matteo Marangoni & Dieter Vandoren surprised visitors with their Komorebi, a swarm of artificial beings that settled in the dunes and created a new musical composition in response to the sun, the wind, and the shadows of trees moving in the wind.

SUSTAINABILITY

Away with disposable

The festival was again a Fossil Free Zone. Because it can, but also because it must. The intention is to be fully circular and climate positive by 2025. To this end, material use has been organized as efficiently as possible, switched to renewable and emissions-free energy, and the inevitable residual emissions are being managed by capturing them in stable carbon storage. Suppliers and caterers traveled fossil-free to the island, and the boat trips for staff, artists, and volunteers were organized sustainably and compensated where necessary.

The CO2 emissions from the visitor trips were also made fully climate neutral with De Goede Reis. The flagship: Into The Great Wide Open 2022 was the first outdoor festival in the world to work entirely with washable dishes and cutlery. 202,000 items served as replacements for environmentally unfriendly single use disposables. As a result, the organic waste stream could also be fully composted.