Moogfest 2016 kicked off this past Thursday with a wave of performances, conversations, and interactive experiences. The festival has pushed its mission of continuing the exploration of the future of music/festival culture alongside its relationship to technology and art for the past decade.
The long standing event has grown from seeds sown in the shadow of being temporally placed right at the start of the festival season into an experience that has transcended into its own beast.  Equal parts musical festival, AV installation, and conversation parlour, Moogfest – for those in the know – has long stood as a bastion for synth culture and its musical branches. While Form at Arcosanti has emerged as a conversation piece on the marriage of the different aspects of art, technology, and culture, Moogfest has consistently led the charge to insert itself as the measuring stick for that cultural space.
The last day or so saw festival goers experience performances by Miike Snow, Gary Numan, Blood Orange, Ryan Hemsworth, Hudred Waters, Dawn of Midi, and Robert Rich.  Meanwhile, counter programming in the space of conversations and workshops saw The ORB, YACHT, and Moon Ribas among others, push the ideals of the synthesizer, technology, and music space.
The cherry on top comes with the numerous art installations that peppered Durham, North Carolina. With a more comprehensive review on the Realiti piece spearheaded by Grimes forthcoming, we have to give our props to a number of audio/video environments including The Wifi Whisperer by Kyle McDonald, PLAY – Sound by IDEO, The Aloft Hotel Musical Playground, and The Exchange: Switchboard Synthesizers by Antenes.
There are so many more sounds and visual scapes to come from this festival… so stay tuned…
Photo Credits: Alex Kacha, Camilo Fuenteabla, Todd Turner, Gus Samarco, Eric Waters, Ian Clontz, Brian Livingston, Tommy Coyote, Rodney Boles, Daniel White