Set to take over the small town of Moynaq in mid-September, the Stihia (“Elements”) Festival plans to be the first of its kind in Central Asia, pumping out abstract electronic music into the desert. But it also wants to leave a lasting impact in the area: employing local people and boosting the local economy by bringing tourists to a little-visited part of the world. A heady dose of Uzbek culture and eco-awareness is spread throughout the festival programme. After arriving, visitors will be served a traditional plov dinner before being taken on a tour of the ship graveyard and salt quarries, with a stop at the local museum.
Later, the aural expedition begins: mixing the cosmic rhythms of electro with the dense and resonant beats of techno. Organisers describe it as a non-stop, ten-hour musical, set beneath the stars and traditional Uzbek yurts.
“This isn’t a glamourous rave,” Suleimanov says. “It’s a place to be compassionate, to feel what it is to be there. It’s not going to be a case of just arrive and leave. We want this to be an art installation rather than just a festival. We want this to be a beacon.”
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