This edition’s lineup was curated with near surgical precision. The festival’s curatorial team openly declares that the goal is not chasing big names or surface fame, but to offer research, vision, and storytelling. Each artist is chosen not only for technical skill but for the ability to build a sonic narrative, a set that’s a journey, tension, evocation. This urgency to “tell something” is reflected not just in the music but also in the deep relationship between artists, space, and audience.

A strong bond made even clearer by the names of the stages: Kokerei (Coal Coking Plant), Eisbahn (Ice Rink), Salzlager(Salt Warehouse), and Werks-Schwimmbad (Factory Swimming Pool). Just a few decades ago, these places were spaces of hardship, production, and collective labor. Today, they have become spaces of sound, liberation, and shared ritual. Within those very structures, techno continues to tell its industrial origins and cultural evolution.

Sound is never a detail, it’s a primary element, the core around which everything is built. Each stage is designed as an immersive environment where the physicality of sound is almost architectural. The technical team worked with millimeter precision, selecting audio systems that enhance the richness of the lows without sacrificing clarity in the highs. It wasn’t just about “listening”, it was about feeling sound pass through you. At times, between deep beats and carefully crafted reverbs bouncing off the venue’s metal surfaces, it felt like the very structure was part of the performance, vibrating alongside the crowd.

One of the most unforgettable moments of the entire festival was the incredible eight-hour live marathon on the Eisbahnon day one, featuring Ignez, Jako Jako, Lady Starlight, Rødhåd, and Ufo95. A sonic journey masterfully executed that deeply touched the audience’s heart, a collective intensity hard to replicate, or even relive with the same power. Meanwhile, at Salzlager, the b2b between Philippa Pacho and Fadi Mohem offered an equally extraordinary set, dense, precise, enveloping. And to close the first day in style, the flawless DVS1 delivered a set that was yet another confirmation: direct, impeccable, simply perfect.

Day two brought the festival’s beating heart to Kokerei, where three monumental presences took the stage: Quelza, Rene Wise, and finally Luke Slater with his iconic project Planetary Assault Systems. Three different sets, yet coherent, creating a continuous climax, a journey ascending bpm by bpm, emotion by emotion. Among the most exciting surprises of the day was the live debut of Human Safari at Salzlager, a masterful performance balancing techno’s power with jazz/blues sensitivity, generating pure magic. His love for sax, clear in his productions, added a unique and delicate layer to the festival’s sonic fabric.

Closing the second day was another unrepeatable moment: the b2b between DJ Nobu and Wata Igarashi at Eisbahn. Two masters from the Land of the Rising Sun merged their visions, one darker, the other brighter, in a devastating, mystical, and powerful set. The third and final day arrived with a mix of euphoria and melancholy, hitting hard from the early afternoon. At Eisbahn, the hypnotic b2b between Claudio PRC and Luigi Tozzi, two of the finest voices of the Italian scene, kicked off a chilling final sequence. Then came Anika Kunst with her sharp sound, followed by the breathtaking live of Stef Mendesidis, precise as an atomic clock yet capable of rare emotional depth. In the heart of Kokerei, Aurora Halal enchanted the crowd with a flawless live set, placed between Temudo’senergetic performance and one of the weekend’s most surreal closings: Altinbas b2b Phara, strictly on vinyl, perfectionists to the last beat.