16 Jaw-Dropping Festival Stages in 2016

Article by: emily ward|@_drawylime

Thu December 22, 2016 | 00:00 AM


Well, we made it. 2016 is finally in the rearview mirror. In a year marked by an abundance of ugliness, we were still spoiled in the name of a good party. The global festival community spent hundreds (if not thousands) of hours in the company of stages that moved, swirled, exploded, morphed and liquified right in front of us. Stunning projection mapping and the brightest colors imaginable? Standard.

Thousands of talented people all over the world spent countless hours planning, designing and building 2016’s festival stages, and innovators have emerged. Fortunately for us, festival production designers are increasingly comfortable with tossing the idea that “bigger = better” out the window. The coolest stages weren’t regularly the biggest. Robust visual layouts, innovative design (often via recycled materials!), thoughtful construction with the audience experience top of mind, - these aspects set a small percentage of stages apart. most memorable stages.

A lot of the stages featured below are repeated from our 2015 list because they’re simply stunning. In a nod to open interpretations of “coolness,” the world’s recognizable stages are absent to make room in favor of more unconventional structures. 

Behold, a visual smorgasbord of our favorite festival stages from 2016.

Boom Festival, Portugal - "Dance Temple"

Boom Festival 2016 Jakob Kolar Photography   01
Photo by: Jakob Kolar

Creators :  The DoLab & Vita Motus (California) , Boom Festival Productions (Portugal)

Dominator Festival , Netherlands - "Methods of Mutilation"

Dominator Festival 2016 Stage 2

Creators: StageKings (Netherlands),  WICreations (Netherlands)

Alfa Future People, Russia - Main Stage

Alfa Future People 2016 Main Stage 1

Creators: MF Group (Russia), Art Media Technology (Russia), Marina Larikova (Lighting Designer), Yury Vorontsov (Video Designer)

Noisily Festival , UK - "Liquid Stage"

Noisily 2016   Nick Caro 3
Photo by: Nick Caro

Creator: Bassline Productions (UK) 

Sensation, Netherlands - "Angels & Demons"

Sensation Amsterdam 2016 Stage Courtesy Of

Creator: ID&T (Netherlands) 

Electric Daisy Carnival, Nevada, USA - Kinetic Field

Electric Daisy Carnival 2016 A Live Coverage 1

Creator: Insomniac Events (CA), Stageco

Extrema Outdoor, Belgium - "RowShow"

Extrema Outdoor 2016 Nachtschaduw 5
Photo by: NACHTSCHADUW

Creator: elrowFamily

Defqon 1, Netherlands - Red Stage

Defqon 1 2016 Stage

Photo by: Defqon 1

Creator: Q-Dance Australia (Design, Logistics)

Outlook Festival, Croatia - "Noah's Ballroom"

Outlook Festival 2015 Dan Medhurst 1
Photo by: Dan Medhurst

C reators: Whole Nine Yards (Stage, Production Design), RG Jones Sound Engineering (Sound)

Mysteryland, Netherlands - Main Stage

Mysteryland Stage 2016

Photo by: Mysteryland

Created By: ID&T (Stage Design)

Burning Man,  Nevada, USA - "The Mayan Warrior"

Burning Man 2016 Galen Oakes    31 Of 50

Photo by: Galen Oakes

Created By: Mayan Warrior Team (Mexico)

Envision Festival , Costa Rica - Luna Stage

Envision Festival 2016 Luna Stage 1

Photo by: Tico Sighting

Created By: Tico Sighting and Astra Projections, (Projections) Carey Thompson (Stage Design)

Electric Zoo, New York - Sunday School Grove

Electric Zoo Stage 2016 A Live 1

Photo by: aLIVE Coverage

Creator/Designer: Sunday School (Programming), Made Event (EZoo Production), 

Symbiosis Gathering, California, USA - Juke Lagoon

Symbiosis Gathering Juke Lagoon 2016 Juliana Bernstein

Creator/Designer:   William “dalabil” Potvin & The Department of Visual Consciousness

Did we miss any of your favorite festival stages?