The Copenhagen street festival Distortion has undergone significant changes, and Wednesday marks the beginning of the new and improved 2024 edition. According to the festival’s founder, Thomas Fleurquin, the festival has now become more mature and culturally oriented. In previous years, Distortion attracted up to 100,000 participants daily, leading to many complaints from local residents about noise and public urination.
“There was a competition to create the biggest and wildest stage during that period. It went too far, and we actually felt that the atmosphere was deteriorating. It became too young and intense. During the pandemic, we had plenty of time to change the concept,” explains Thomas Fleurquin.
The goal has been to remove the excessive wildness and replace it with a more cultural and cozy city festival. Larger festival stages have now been removed from the streets, and the accompanying concerts now require tickets for music zones, which has calmed down the previous chaotic atmosphere and opened up for new initiatives in the city’s neighborhoods. “We have 42 small stages just in Nørrebro this year, and there will be fun activities like long table dinners and Distortion for children, with 4000 already signed up,” says Thomas Fleurquin.
Distortion returns to Nørrebro for the first time in five years and introduces a new music zone, ‘Distortion X,’ at Den Røde Plads. Danish music acts such as Artigeardit and Noah Carter will perform there on Thursday, May 30th. The festival’s many activities will take place at several locations in Copenhagen, including Rådhuspladsen, where Gobs and Icekiid will perform on Wednesday.