Opening the page into this quarter century and welcoming suspects usual and unforeseen to its fold, KRAAK Fest returns for a fifth edition in the Antwerpian homestead of Het Bos and plays host to a crew of unruly characters blazing their sonic trails deep into the Scheldian grove. Times are in a tough and unpredictable state, which makes it all the more pressing to find dignity and poetry even in the jagged edges of our history. With this in mind: serpentine strings of yore spread out into the open fields of bagpipe drones, stunted sax maneuvers, explosive eco-riffs, sculptural harpings, digital detritus, jazz shoe cacophony, wailing guitar grooves and the gloomy quotidian ruminations that drive these hopeful seedlings into the ground to take fitful root. Euphoric imagery will also abound in the spaces and faces that reunite for another day of untethered bliss in our weirdo woodlands ~ let yourself be caught off guard, senses assailed and the outside world be damned.

With the support of Vlaanderen, departement Cultuur, sport, media & in collaboration with Het Bos ~ double greyhoundies photographed by Shauna Eve