The 22nd annual Splash Festival taking place at a fairground-themed location in Ferropolis just two hours outside of Berlin concluded in Germany last weekend and festival-goers were invited to take a dive and plunge into one of the biggest urban music festivals in Europe.
Drawing crowds of over 30,000 people per day, large numbers flocked to see the headliners on the main stage: Schoolboy Q, Skepta and Future as well as the rest of the full line-up which boasted over 200 acts hailing from all areas of the globe.
Splash Festival housed the large crowds you’d expect at a festival alongside lively yet more intimate crowds for German homegrown talent, European rising stars and underground American acts.
Attendees were submerged right into the action as soon as they stepped on site; campers spent time socialising, swinging on hammocks and enjoying the open air from their tents whilst commuters used shuttles busses that dropped them right in the midst of the action.
The first night of action saw several acts including Trippie Red, Brockhampton, Juice WRLD and Schoolboy Q perform. Trippie Red offered his melodramatic heartbreak themed tracks on the Splash Beach stage and fans enjoyed the show both on land and on the sea as he poured out his heart as he performed hits such as “Fuck Love” and “Topanga”.
Texas hailing collective Brockhampton tore up the stage soon afterwards. Their set design, stage presence and intense energy made their set an amazing watch. All eyes followed Brockhampton as they blazed onstage in their silver boiler suits.
The hits “Boogie”, “Zipper” and “Gummy” were among setlist staples that had the crowd moving with such energy on the beach that the current in the lake seemed to flow along to the bass of the performance.
Schoolboy Q filled in as headliner for Chance the Rapper who pulled out last minute and the TDE repping rapper kept the hits coming with his delightful and confident set that heard the tracks “Man of the Year” and “Work”.
On Friday, trap and Southern hip-hop prevailed as we saw sets from Lil Baby, Rich the Kid and rap princess Saweetie. The highlight of the night and arguably of the entire festival was Skepta’s set on the Snipes Mainstage. Skepta said “This is real Grime. Risky Roadz, Grime Daily, London” before he proceeded to bring our culture and sound to the lively German audience.
Enjoying his Jameson whiskey, Skepta was blown away by the large scale appreciation of his lyrics. Being away from the UK and watching thousands of people celebrate our scene, our swag and our culture is a truly unexplainable feeling that needs to be lived in order to understand it.
Skepta brought out Shorty for a short set and later offered us hits from Konnichiwa as well as of course his new album Ignorance is Bliss. Fans heard “Bullet From a Gun”, “Greaze Mode” and “It Ain’t Safe” as well as an array of other tracks.
Offering all he had on that stage, Skepta’s energy and engagement made you feel as though he was performing for you at Fabric, Boiler Room or at another close intimate show where your friends would mosh-pit with you and you’d rap along to his grimey bars in unison.
Rich the Kid followed Skepta a few metres away on the Playground stage and lit the place up by opening with “Plug Walk” and following up that massive track with his other hits such as “New Freezer” and “Talk to Me”. Rich the Kid celebrated his birthday onstage and called for fans to celebrate his new age with him as he brought out a cake.
Saturday, the last day of the festival, featured some of the UK’s finest alongside US trap names.
Yung Fume had German fans chanting his name and reciting the lyrics to “Secrets” in unison long after his set which took place on the Backyard stage. The artist had the crowd going crazy and matching his exceptional energy for the entirety of his set.
Clearly, Yung Fume has a diehard fanbase in Germany as the natives loved his performance as much as the British attendees.
Yxng Bane took to the Splash Beach stage shortly after and the afro-bashment star gave an electrifying performance that saw him jump into the crowd and mosh-pit along with fans to his DBE assisted hit “Gucci Mane”.
Bane’s energy, crowd engagement and perfectly selected set-list which included “Fine Wine” and “Shape of You” made the performance a highlight of the festival.
South London collective House of Pharaohs took centre stage on the Highsnobiety stage and caused mayhem by performing tracks from their new EP Seasons as well as other tracks from their catalogue like “Rwm (Run With Me)”.
HOP kept the crowd hype by calling for mosh-pits, joining fans in the crowd and most notably, encouraging a willing and ready stage diver named Axel. The German fan jumped onstage and was encouraged to jump to the beat of “Rwm (Run With Me)” and the moment was euphoric.
Saturday also saw performances from J.I.D, Gunna, $uicideboy$ and MadeinTYO.
Young Thug offered an introverted yet engaging set which ranged from early hits such as “Danny Glover”, “Lifestyle” and “I’m A Stoner” to “Digits”, “Killed Before” and “The London”. Following Thugga was fellow Atlanta hailing artist Future who headlined the main stage.
Future is an engaging, interactive and conscious performer and the artist offered hit after hit from his early mixtapes and his albums. The crowd went crazy for tracks such as “Wicked”, “Stick Talk”, “Low Life” and “Thought It Was a Drought”.
The rapper also paid homage to Germany by bringing out Berlin hailing artist UFO361. The shrieks and cheers from German fans echoed around the festival grounds during this moment and the gesture clearly meant a lot to the home crowd.
Next year’s Splash Festival will take place next year between the 9th and the 11th of July and with this year’s event selling out seven months before; you’ll need to be quick if you don’t want to miss out on this immersive urban music experience.