Live Review: AVA Festival lights up Belfast’s dance scene

12 festivals on, it’s hard to believe there was a time when the start of summer didn't also herald an AVA weekender in Belfast. The festival has become synonymous with showcasing the very best in the city’s dance music scene, while also bringing over major international names.

While the festival location has moved about over the years – from open playing fields to abandoned B&Q warehouses – it seems to have found a steady home on the Titanic Slipways. Few would argue that the location isn’t perfect; against a backdrop of mountains, gantries, shipyard docks, and the Belfast Lough, the festival’s audio and visual aspects are able to achieve a higher resonance.

Hot Press was in attendance for Friday, Day 1 of the festival, where the normally mercurial Belfast weather stayed sunny from doors open to doors closed. Geographically, the festival space was divided into five stages. As is always the case with AVA, the organisers’ attention to detail was evident in how well the festival site was constructed; it’s easy to wander from one visually-arresting stage to another, with minimal crowding and virtually no noise overlap.

The day starts with a visit to Puzzy Wrangler at the Resident Advisor Dock Stage (the line-up for this stage was curated by Irish radio DJ Tara Kumar). The electronic duo have been highly touted in recent months, and it’s easy to see why. Their set is joyous and energetic, as are the artists themselves.

In some ways, it’s difficult to move away from the Dock, since it’s by far the most picturesque stage that AVA has to offer. But a quick visit to the Pumphouse sees local lad Body Clinic rattling the rafters of this indoor arena. Following on from him is Sam Girling, whose set combines hard-pumping house with funk and soul cuts.

It’s back to the Dock for Swoose, a man who is no stranger to AVA Festival, and who is partly responsible for why local TV legend Julian Simmons makes an appearance at the festival year after year. We stay there until Partiboi69 arrives at the Slipways, the festival’s biggest stage. The Australian DJ’s euphoric brand of electronica is big enough to capture the large crowd forming to see him, and helps ease us into the evening segment of Day 1.

He’s followed by the inimitable ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U, the Japanese DJ whose hectic life story is matched by his ferociousness behind the decks. What makes him so compelling is the ease with which he combines everything from hyperpop to rock into a dance formula.

Kettama takes to the Slipways stage for a headlining set which combines pyrotechnics and relentless techno, but Hot Press slips away halfway through. We head back to the Dock Stage one final time, for Honey Dijon. The sunset over the docks is like a paid actor for the American DJ, whose set is like a treasure-trove trip through funk, dance, and rock music history.

While we weren’t in attendance at Day 2 of the festival, it proved historic in its own right, with Irish tradtronic band Huartan – the inaugural winners of Hot Press’ Amhrán na Laoch prize – and rap trio Kneecap being the first Irish language acts to perform on a stage like this.

As a grassroots festival, AVA has spent the last decade evolving, fighting for its space on the local and international festival circuit. Long may it continue inspire Belfast’s dance music scene.