Alexander Ekholm, WHOLE Festival 202429 Images
Now in its sixth and largest edition, this year’s WHOLE festival was the biggest yet. Held in Ferropolis, 25km outside Berlin, the festival has been rapidly expanding in size and reputation since it began in 2017. Initially conceived by Berlin’s international queer party collectives, it was created with a guiding principle of quality sound and a recognition of the need for a festival created by and for the queer community – a place to unite, learn, celebrate and dance. Dazed Clubber Alexander Ekholm was on hand to document this queer, horny paradise. From euphoric, sweat-soaked nights to skinny dipping on sun-drenched mornings, Ekholm captured the spirit of love, sensuality, acceptance and hedonism WHOLE has become renowned for.
“We came to the realisation that festivals do not prioritise creating safe spaces for queers, there was also a lack of queer representation at festivals,” the festival’s organisers told Dazed. “We decided it was important to create a place where our community could come together to co-create, share, exchange and learn from each other in a political context, but also to celebrate each other, ourselves and all our successes in fighting for queer acceptance in our respective cities and countries.”
These intentions are evidently felt by the artists, performers and crowd, who rejoiced in telling us how far they have come to be here – be it to perform, host lectures, meet with their friends from all over the world, or support their collective.
“This is my first WHOLE. I have been here before for Melt Festival, but this is giving more homo, so I like this more,” Toronto-based DJ, Chippy Nonstop, told Dazed. In the same spirit, two festival goers we encountered explained why the space is so important for them, “It feels like a massive sleepover with all our queer friends from Berlin, and all over the world,” they said. “We couldn’t imagine a space like this was possible, it’s magic.”
Beyond the dancefloor, WHOLE is staunchly political – a quality inseparable from Berlin’s queer parties. Amid the rise of nationalism and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the festival’s extensive cultural programme felt liberatory; tackling pressing social and political issues facing the queer community. A significant addition was TRINA: an experience crafted by and for the BIPOC community, which the organisers described as an “essential” aspect of the festival. The TRINA programme, which nurtures and fronts Black-led spaces, included the panel, Decolonising Desire: Navigating Misogynoir and Racial Fetishisation in Sex Positive Spaces, led by performer Ivy Monteiro and author Jennifer Neal.
The lineup of specialists in the fields of activism, sex, and gender was as packed and hot as the music programme. Ben Miller and João Florêncio discussed the future of public sex in queer culture in their Darkroom Discourse workshop. They were joined by the team who led the DTF cruising space (Down To Fuck, or Dykes Trannies and Faggots) to unpack some of the ambiguities relating to queer public sex. The DTF cruising area replaced last year’s FLINTA*-only space after some of the community felt the segregation of queers in these spaces was unnecessary. This example of change exemplifies the festival’s commitment to inclusivity and continually striving to create a more harmonious, utopian space. The festival promotes an environment where individuals are encouraged to embrace discomfort, surprise themselves, and engage in deeper self-inquiry while being with the larger queer community.
From Mephedrone information stations, prompts to fill PrEP scripts, and signs sporting slogans such as “push your looks, not your limits”, there was a familial spirit that echoed what community and freedom feel like when approached with deep care. While manifesting a queer utopia amid rampant hedonism and thundering techno might at first seem trite, the consensus is that WHOLE festival is queer counterculture at its finest, standing unrivalled in its radicalism, sense of community, and energy.
Keep an eye on the festival’s website and Instagram for details of next year’s WHOLE.
