Decibel Festival

Decibel International Festival of Electronic Music Performance, Visual Art + New Media
Genre	Electronic Music
Location(s)	USA Seattle, Washington
Years active	2004 - 2015
Website	[2]

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Decibel Festival was an annual music and digital arts festival started in 2004 in Seattle by Sean Horton and pulled into existence by the talent, sweat, and loyalty of an entire volunteer staff. Decibel was dedicated to live electronic music performance, visual art and new media.^[1]

History[]

The core of the festival consisted of concerts, performances, commissioned work, film screenings and exhibitions. The programming was presented in a variety of locations throughout Seattle including the Capitol Hill neighborhood and Downtown. In addition to these performance programs, Decibel included a professional section featuring panels, lectures and workshops, which served as a meeting ground for leading-edge artists, labels and music gear manufacturers.^[1]

In fall 2011, Decibel celebrated its largest edition to date, pulling in over 23,000 attendees. The 2011 edition sold both record numbers of festival passes (up 18% from 2010) and individual showcase tickets (up 45% from 2010). That was the peak.

Despite years of stated intent to publications, attendees, supporters, artists, and volunteer staff to become a nonprofit organization, it never materialized.

After that festival high in 2011, Decibel would come to an end in 2015. Horton moved to Los Angeles. He has hinted and teased that the festival would return again. Currently Horton does continue to use the Decibel name to promote smaller events mainly in Los Angeles. It is highly doubtful that the festival will ever happen again.

Artists[]

Andreas Tilliander (Seattle 2006)

Since its inception, Decibel has hosted over 1,100 acts ranging from underground dance and experimental electronic music to transmedial art. Some of these past performers include:

Venues[]

Unidentified deejay at a free show at Seattle's Volunteer Park during Decibel Fest 2011

Over the years, Decibel Festival has been hosted at various venues across the Seattle area including: The Showbox, The Showbox SoDo, Q Nightclub, Neumos, The Crocodile, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, The Triple Door, Islander Cruise Ship, EMP Museum, and Re-Bar.

Decibel Festival was a member of ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound).

See also[]

• List of electronic music festivals

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Decibel Festival.

• Decibel Festival
• Decibel Facebook Page
• Decibel Twitter Page
• Decibel YouTube Page