Late July this year, some of electronic and house’s hottest names, such as Egyptian Lover and Eris Drew, will gather under the stars at Madruga – an intimate festival-slash-mansion-party where artists and guests blur into one, and community is placed above everything. Rather than yet another day festival run by KKR or Live Nation, Madruga Festival is entirely independent, which means the organisers have a direct investment in building a communal space for party-goers, instead of just pleasing stakeholders. “There’s a feeling that you really belong here,” Madruga’s creative director, Sammi Aljak, tells Dazed. 

“Madruga comes from the Spanish word madrugada, which means the special time of the sun rising– kind of a hint at staying up till dawn,” says festival co-founder, Erica Travis. It’s their fourth year at Baskerville Hall, a 19th-century manor overlooking the Black Mountains of Wales, but this year they are stepping up the wide range of activities they have on offer. 

In addition to pub quizzes, bingo, and craft sessions, they have all the essential recovery activities, including hot tubs, saunas, cold plunges, massages, yoga, and sound baths. “We’re a weekend to remember, not a weekend where you’re not going to remember anything,” explains Travis. The activities organically facilitate community and result in a crowd that genuinely cares about one another.

Madruga’s strict ‘no back-stage’ policy has a big hand in this– no greenroom means you can be watching someone perform one minute and be dancing with them the next. The egalitarian environment is intentional and part of what makes Madruga so unique. “It boils down to the overall ethos of the festival, which is that everyone is in the mix together,” Aljak continues, explaining how they consciously book established and rising names side-by-side. “Some of my mates that I’ve grown up with were warming up for Joy Orbison– there is no question of ‘who’s that guy’, it's part of the experience.”

The tight-knit feeling doesn’t just come from sharing the dancefloor with the artists; it’s also a byproduct of the venue. “You can get from one side to the other in less than 5 minutes, and the stages and rooms don’t exceed 400 capacity. So, everywhere you go, you’re automatically in an intimate environment – that feeling doesn’t ever fade away,” explains Aljak. Attendees stay either in the mansion or camp a stone’s throw away, so being a part of the community is built in. “You can’t lose your friends at Madruga, and if you do, it’s for 20 minutes like tops, and in those 20 minutes, you’re guaranteed to either bump into someone else you know or you’d make another friend from queuing up for burgers or dancing together the night before.”

The small space also means getting to see your favourite artists up close and personal. “We're looking at some of the most in-demand electronic names in the world and placing them back into similar rooms, similar to the sides that they first started in. For instance, last year, Helena Hauff was playing for 20,000 people in London the day before she came and played with us,” Aljak says. The rooms become electric with such an intimate party experience, and it can even be emotional for the artists. In a sweaty, quiet moment with Joy Orbison, post his set two years ago, he told Aljak, “That hour and a half reminded me why I started DJing”. 

Madruga takes place July 24-27 this year. Grab tickets here.