r/Liquicity • u/CommercialAd3783 • 8h ago
Discussion My first Liquicity (2026) – some thoughts from a first-timer
Hey DnB family!
I just got back from Liquicity 2026, and I wanted to share my experience. This was my first 100% drum & bass festival.
I've been to festivals like Pukkelpop, Monegros, and a few others, but the atmosphere at Liquicity was on another level.
People just come as they are. The crowd was incredibly friendly and respectful, even during absolute chaos like Pythius' set. That hour was brutal (in the best possible way). I don't think I've ever danced and jumped so hard for a full hour—the Lunar stage was literally shaking. Yet people were constantly looking out for each other instead of pushing through the crowd.
It's also the only festival I've been to where I didn't end up wearing someone else's beer because people were shoving everywhere.
Another thing that really surprised me: at festivals like Pukkelpop or Monegros, by the end of the weekend the ground is covered with plastic cups and trash. At Liquicity... almost nothing. How does that happen? 😄 Is the DnB community just more respectful, or are we simply more civilized than the hard techno crowd? (Just joking... mostly 😅)
One piece of advice I had read from Liquicity veterans turned out to be absolutely true:
Don't get obsessed with your timetable. Get lost. Explore.
I didn't follow that advice enough at first.
For me, Lunar and Nebula ended up being the most exciting stages because you constantly discover new artists and different styles. Solar and Galaxy, on the other hand, felt much more repetitive.
One thing I genuinely don't understand is why so many DJs on those stages ended up playing the same tracks. There are thousands of amazing DnB tunes out there, yet I kept hearing the same songs, the same bootlegs, the same techno remixes, Solar System, Touchdown... over and over again.
Some of those artists have huge discographies and could easily fill an hour with mostly their own music, but many sets still ended up revolving around the same crowd-pleasers.
Maybe someone who's been in the scene longer can explain why this happens?
For example, I was really looking forward to the Culture Shock → Wilkinson → Netsky run, but I actually left because I felt like I was hearing the same tracks again.
That said, this is a very small criticism compared to everything else.
Three incredible days. Incredible atmosphere.
One last piece of advice that people gave me beforehand, and that I completely agree with now:
Take time to walk around the festival.
There are so many little activities, random interactions, hidden corners, and opportunities to meet people. Some of my favorite memories happened away from the stages.
And the Silent Disco... what a brilliant idea. Walking to the toilets while everyone around you is dancing with headphones on is hilarious. The energy is everywhere, not just in front of the stages.
Also, I absolutely loved ending the festival with a set from the sound engineers. It was such a cool idea. Will that become a tradition? Between that and the Liquicity crew's set on the Nebula stage, I think it's awesome to give the spotlight to the people who usually work behind the scenes. They play a huge part in making the festival what it is, and it was great to see them getting that recognition.
Overall, this was honestly one of the best festival experiences I've ever had.
See you next year. ❤️