We had a chat with Bo van Eck, the man behind one of the biggest trance music events in the world Luminosity Events. Trance music is all about passion and it is essential to know what goes in making our dream events like Luminosity Beach Festival and more. Bo discusses behind the scenes stories and his love for trance music. You can buy tickets to #LBF17 Paylogic

The pleasure is mine! Im looking forward to hear all of the artists of course but Im always the most curious about the fresh names who will be making their Luminosity debut. It has always been a big priority for us to support new and upcoming artists and give them a stage to help their profile to grow and have their fans finally being able to hear and meet them.

The most important basis here is a big passion for the trance scene as a whole and the ideal to support especially the producing artists to help them making a living out of music and that way being able to continue producing beautiful trance music. Without this passion for trance music Im sure we wouldnt have the big support and success as we are currently receiving from so many passionate fans world width.

People recognize that the event is made by trance fans for trance fans. In this light the quality of the line-up and having a surprising element in the line-up is always the biggest priority for our events.

Already a few weeks before the coming Luminosity Beach Festival will be organised we start with planning the dates of the next years event. This of course has to go through the venues involved and has to be communicated with the local city councils as well as they need to confirm that the required emergency crew (police, ambulance and more) capacity will be available that specific weekend. Once that has been cleared we move forward with multiple artworks and start the first discussions with the agencies of the main headliners to double check if their agendas are free and to see if all is clear to move forward. As a whole confirming the line-up is a process of approx. 4-6 months more often than not all the requested artists are able to confirm directly.

Once the line-up is confirmed we can move forward with other key elements such as the promotion of the event, the production, organising the crew, plan meetings with suppliers and brainstorm about fresh ideas etc. In all aspects the main organisation mission is to 1) surprise the visitors every year by adding new elements and changing organising and production compared with the previous year and 2) to improve literally every aspects which is involved in the event organisation. Think of the production, merchandise, minimalizing the waiting time at the entrance, bars and toilets, transports, accommodation for all artists and crew involved and most importantly the overall atmosphere of the event.

During the event our crew has approx. 60-70 people. In the preparations we are working with approx. 8 people. Most tasks are split, thinking of artwork, merchandise, administration & accounting, customer service, social media, artists hospitality, logistics, physical promotions, online marketing, personnel, web mastering etc.

The best thing without a doubt is seeing and meeting passionate people from all over the world, enjoying the music and making new friends, experiencing the event together with a friendly crew like it is a small heaven on earth.

Listening to new music and radio shows and finding new amazing tracks and exciting talented artists also gives me a great feeling of motivation and hope for the years to come.Apart from the atmosphere and happiness factor Im a planner type of guy from origin so it makes me happy and proud when things work out as planned and organised. Small example is seeing people from the main event walking to the shuttle buses to the after party, all staying together, friendly and controlled. Making sure everything happens in a good, safe and responsible way. Every now and then police and other authorities are stopping by to keep an eye on the overall organisation and seeing their happy and sometimes even surprised face expression is great to see and a sign that we as event as a whole are doing great which is also the basis for the local authorities to approve out request to organise the event there in the future again.

Negatives are the enormous pressure involved to keep the event as one of the best out there. Of course it is a huge privilege to often read positive feedback from the visitors but after the event it can sometimes cause sleepless nights as thinking how we are going to improve next year

Theres also a huge overall challenge as there are many parties involved in organising an event and we need to make sure all are motivated and capable of organising the event as we planned. During the event I think its safe to say that 80% of what we planned in the preparations runs differently than how we expected so in that case its important that all involved are flexible, able to improvise and are capable to work with big pressure and still stay friendly and always being focused on finding solutions.

Picture: Ivan Lavarini

Music wise I miss a lot the more old school sounds in the BPM area between progressive and 138 where the focus is on euphoric melodies and dreamy vocals and vibes. I do enjoy most of the sub-genres today (from progressive to psy-trance). Furthermore Im happy to see that the more trouse sounds havent made out in the trance scene for long and havent took over trance as a whole.

Apart from the global situation Im a bit worried about the trance event scene here in The Netherlands as there is a bit of a overkill going on with often multiple events being organised in the same weekend which Im afraid affects in events pulling a smaller crowd, having a smaller budget and so seeing the overall quality going down. When that happens Im afraid that event visitors get a negative experience and arent so likely anymore to visit another trance event in the future which is killing for the trance scene in the long terms.

Thats a difficult one! Id say the Luminosity Beach Festival 2016 as the feedback of that event was so positive even while expectations were already incredible high. The atmosphere experienced, seeing people crying of happiness, is something I havent witnessed ever before. Also from the organisation and crew perspectives that was an event which I look back to in a very positive way. Apart from last years beach event every event is important and special for us.

Ive actually kept my regular daytime job for the past 9 years while organising events, this as I studied for it, had great joy doing the work and had great colleagues to work with as well. Quitting my day time job in times of a crises was a bit of a tricky thing to do as you never know if in the future an employer will give you the job in the previous working experience again, as obviously Id be out of that work for some years and they then might prefer a more junior and cheaper employee. Looking back at things now I have dont really understand how Ive managed to get things done back then ha! Even today Id wish there would be 100 hours in a day, being able to do more. This is also the reason that we now have an office which gives the possibility to work in a bigger team and also work more together, exciting times really!

Simple! The way how trance music can hit you in the soul and have an impact on our daily moods is so big! Possibly for many of us it could be an addiction I also find the trance scene overall a very open and friendly type of people. When visiting events its easy to make new friends and have fun together. You dont get fights quickly when stepping on someone toes by accident etc. People have positive minds and make the best of things.

Not really, no. So far the goal is to keep the event as exclusive as possible and not sell the concept to earn more money. The event has grown from very small to an average sized event step by step, in a very organic and non-forced way. The vital factor in our event, as I see it, is having the support of the most dedicated and passionate crowd out there. Copying the event to another part in the world would require the same slow and organic way of event grow. This is also something very time taking so to do so we would have to start from zero somewhere else which would also effect in having less budgets and a lower overall event quality which obviously doesnt meets the ambitions from our side and expectations from the crowd. Copying the event to somewhere else and then forcing the event to have a similar event visitors as in the Netherlands would require a big mainstream promotion campaign and effect in a type of crowd which doesnt meet our concept fully.

This week however we had the pleasure to announce a new partnership with Captured Festival in Ibiza, who have much similar ethos as Luminosity Events so we are exciting to combine powers and organise great events there in the coming years!

I wouldnt say its the best festival in the world but our power is the combination of a unique line-up, a great location with the freedom to leave the event at any time to take a relaxing break at the beach and then come back to the event, a friendly crew and most important the support of a huge internationally dedicated and passionate trance crowd.

I in no way like to sound arrogant here but not really no. I could mention someone like Tiesto but honestly I wouldnt know what the effects on Luminosity of such a booking would be; what crowd would visit us then and which atmosphere will there be? Im happy, privileged and proud on and with the artists who we have worked with so far. In that light I rather re-book artists which we have previously worked with than new superstars who would possibly change our concept too much.

Im a family guy who loves making day trips and travels to see the world and experience as much as possible. I love football but quit playing myself after some injuries in my youth so Im now a professional TV watcher

In the weekends I love to spent time with my kids, go to a restaurant and visit trance events every few weeks

Thank you. Its always a pleasure to do interviews like this one. Id also like to thank all the fans for their long and loyal support and my family to be able to balance work and personal life. Its a busy job which often continues up to night times while others would spend quality family time together so it means a non-stop mixture of family time and hard work, but Im very lucky to be in this position, to share what we as team love doing and spreading the love for trance music worldwide.

Hope to see you all on the dancefloor at Luminosity Beach Festival 2017.

Co-Founder of Trance Hub, Curator of The Gathering events in India and ALT+TRANCE in Czech Republic. By day, a Digital Marketing Enthusiast with love for Food and Technology. By night, a dreamer who wants to grow the Trance scene in India.

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Interview with Luminosity Events founder Bo van Eck | Trance Hub - Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)