Kappa FuturFestival: A celebration of Torino’s past, present and future
Culture is an ever-revolving beast, and the festival landscape often provides the purest reflection of the changing of the guard. The days of Woodstock epitomising hippiedom are a distant memory, and now, major festivals have to rely on brands to survive in the current climate, whether we like it or not.
Typically, banks, energy drinks, or nefarious crypto schemes provide the funding, and these partnerships feel awkward as their ethos rarely aligns with the free-spirited nature of music festivals. However, Kappa FuturFestival is a refreshing anomaly, pairing a progressive, forward-thinking dance festival housed in a historic industrial space in Torino with a local brand that has been tearing up the rulebook for half a century.
Before enjoying the music at Parco Dora, I was fortunate enough to look around Kappa’s offices, heaven on earth for someone with an unhealthy obsession with retro football shirts. Their logo alone, which shows a man and a woman naked back-to-back, signifies Kappa’s daring and risqué nature that first brought it to prominence. It’s also uniquely Turin, just like FuturFestival, which is now the highlight of the city’s cultural calendar. Apart from Juventus FC and Fiat, they are the two most prominent cultural entities that have come out of the city, making it a perfect marriage.
Kappa FuturFestival has become a mecca for dance music since its first incarnation in 2012 in its current form. However, its history extends to 2009, when the first edition was held to celebrate the centenary of futurism. While the format has changed, the ethos of futurism, as the name suggests, still remains. Dance music fanatics travel from all over the world to Torino each July to let their hair down and enjoy live performances from an eclectic range of electronic stars. Over the weekend, huge names like Peggy Gou, Carl Cox, and Anyma wowed huge crowds that went back as far as the eye could see, and put on shows that were immersive spectacles.
Intriguingly, the clientele, both artists and punters, was truly international. As a British person, going to festivals abroad is often akin to a visit to an Irish bar on the Costa Del Sol, surrounded solely by familiar accents. On the contrary, at Kappa FuturFestival, I refreshingly conversed with a range of people, ranging from Germans to Australians. While the audience comes from different cultures, their shared love of getting their groove on has brought them all to Torino to escape from the mundanity of everyday life.
Luigi Mazzoleni, the artistic director of Turin’s Kappa FuturFestival, told Far Out before the event that festivalgoers from over 130 nations attended this year’s edition, which shows how distinguished the festival has become. Over 100,000 people attend Kappa FuturFestival each year, making it one of Europe’s biggest dance music festivals. Since finding its home at Parco Dora, a public park built on the land of a former Michelin factory, it has grown from one stage to six, and the intoxicating industrial history of the city can be felt upon entering the site.
While Torino doesn’t have the glamour attached to its name compared to Milan or Rome, it can compete with its noisy neighbours on all fronts, whether this be culinary experiences like Muro or sights like the jaw-droppingly beautiful Piazza Castello. However, most tourists have a preconception that it’s a forgotten, post-industrial town that is not worth visiting, which couldn’t be more wrong. Yes, the post-industrial aspect of Torino is true, but the city wears its past as a badge of honour, and also what made it such a thriving hub for electronic music during the 1980s, like Sheffield in the UK. With Kappa FuturFestival, Torino is celebrating its history while creating a new chapter of its story and putting the city back on the map.
Part of the appeal of Kappa FuturFestival is that it’s an event that can be enjoyed in a number of different ways, catering for taste. If dance music is truly all that matters, the festival doors open at noon, finish 12 hours later, and then after-parties light up Torino town, until it’s time to devour the hotel breakfast. The festival also offers an Art and Techno Experience, which was my choice, and allowed me to soak up a comprehensive understanding of the city’s artistic fabric beyond the music.
Not only did this set of daily activities offer a chance to see more than the Parco Dora, but it was nourishing for the soul to witness private art collections such as Casa Mollino and visit the studio of the accomplished Ernesto Morales, who manipulates light with his art to produce truly spectacular, unique results. Dance music is a pivotal part of Torino’s DNA, but there’s more to the city than that. Every creative pursuit is treated like an art form, whether this be chocolatier Peryano, bespoke fragrance manufacturers Xerjoff, or the pizza you pick up for $8 down a backstreet.
Turin also has an irresistible charm, which is already making me price up a return on SkyScanner. While I can’t speak about what the city is like outside of Kappa FuturFestival weekend, the city centre retained a delicate balance between tranquillity and being brimming with life. Although the Parco Dora was bustling with people, it wasn’t claustrophobic like many festivals of this size can often be, and the feel-good atmosphere was intoxicatingly euphoric.
Headline sets on the smaller Nova Stage from Caribou and Floating Points were highlights from a musical standpoint, yet stumbling on artists outside of my playlist rotation, such as Anyma, showed me why he became the first DJ to perform a residency at the MSG Sphere. However, it was the blend of art with music that truly made it an adventure to remember, and made me appreciate Turin as a city often unfairly disregarded.
Kappa FuturFestival isn’t only a dance festival; it’s an euphoric annual celebration of Torino, and the main chance they get each year to shout about their city from the rooftops. Admittedly, it’s not the most accessible airport in Europe, but the extra effort is worth it for an authentic taste of the metropolitan side of northern Italy rather than a diluted, tourist-friendly version. If dance music is your bag, then Kappa FuturFestival is the ideal way to dive headfirst into Turin.
