FIBER Festival 2026 Symposium: Multidimensional Dancefloors

Speakers: Alberta Balsam, Femke Dekker , Nicolas Geysens (AMBRIO Sound), Jan Rohlf (CTM Festival) Moderation: Jarl Schulp We’re currently experiencing a shift in electronic music and club culture, where audiences, producers, DJ’s and promoters are increasingly focusing on listening events or unique sonic experiences. While clubs are struggling to stay alive with regular club nights, the attention for listening contexts and spatial/immersive sound experiences has an enormous momentum. Worldwide more-and-more new unique spatial sound, immersive media and listening-focussed locations are opening. Soundsystem builders are experimenting with new setups and alternative locations or listening contexts. Simultaneously there is a change in behaviour amongst audiences; the rise of a more grounded relationship with night culture, an interest in the spatial dimensions of sound, spaces and interactions with psychedelic and spiritual domains. In this panel we try to explore and envision how these developments will influence the future dancefloor or electronic music performance space. Where are we now? What access do the artists have to access the current wave of immersive sound developments? And how can a focus on new listening cultures potentially change the production and experience of music and sound? Timestamps 00:00–03:15 Introduction 03:16–12:11 A cultural shift toward listening 12:12–20:28 From immersive technologies to listening 20:29–37:20 Accessibility and spatial sound 37:21–42:49 New systems and protocols, and their influence on spatial audio 42:50–54:09 DJ vs live: how space shapes spatial sound 54:10–1:12:54 Q&A 1:12:55–1:18:32 Wrap-up