Interview | Sven Berckmoes – Co-founder WildFest

The End Of The Road

WildFest is Belgium’s first festival dedicated only to 80s themed bands in Sleaze, Glam and Hard Melodic rock and run its first edition in 2016. This year, on May 23 & 24, WildFest celebrates its tenth edition and the three founders Sven Berckmoes (drummer WildHeart), “Farty” (singer WildHeart) and Jan de Greve (promotor, booker) couldn’t be prouder, because the passion with which this festival once started has never gone away. But sadly, this will also be the last time that the genre’s loyal fans can celebrate the carefree and colorful side of rock ‘n roll music for two days in JC De Spiraal, in the small village of Geraardsbergen. After this edition, WildFest will close its doors.

WildFest has definitely made waves over the past decade. HeadBangers LifeStyle’s Lilo talks to Sven about what makes this festival so special and why the plug is being pulled anyway.

A LOYAL COMMUNITY

Despite WildFest closing its doors, Sven says he is really looking forward to celebrating this tenth edition.

,,Yes it’s the last edition we’re doing and that also makes it a special edition. It seems to be going well with the pre-sales, even better than the previous years. Hopefully we will manage to have a sold-out venue for once. That would be nice. JC De Spiraal has a capacity of 500 people and it would be a personal highlight for us.

We are fortunate that we have a lot of support from the city council and municipal facilities. Also, the mayor has visited WildFest a few times and genuinely thinks it is a nice festival. It also brings tourism to the city and it generates income for the local catering industry and hotels. We are happy that we have always been able to do our thing in Geraardsbergen and indeed it would be great if we could go out with a bang.’’

Sven is modest about how essential WildFest has been to the scene over the past decade. It all came from a deep passion for the glam and sleaze genre.

,,When we started this adventure there was hardly a festival scene of sleaze, glam and melodic rock. In Scandinavia and the UK there was something going on but on a small scale and here and there a German festival. Especially for the Benelux we tried to offer a platform for a genre of music that didn’t really have a place to play here in the region. The idea behind WildFest was also to give our own band WildHeart a place. One thing led to another.  

What has always amazed us is the loyal community that hangs around WilFfest who also follow the bands to other shows in the region. And among them are also people who come to Belgium from the other end of the world, of all places, to watch bands for two days, that they probably can see play elsewhere too these days. That is just very unique. I think that ten years ago we set an example that was apparently a good concept for the scene with a positive outcome and started to set things in motion. I can’t say that WildFest was the frontrunner, but we tried to do something different for sure.’’

THE END OF THE ROAD

Organizing a festival, small or big, is not only expensive but it also involves a lot of work and dedication. Keeping this up for ten years is no mean feat and Sven says that it certainly hasn’t been easy.

,,With every edition we said to each other: “Gosh, this is the last time’. But in the run-up to it and on the day itself, you have so much satisfaction, you get so much respect and you see that everybody has such a great time. Also, local bands and bands from the Benelux get the chance to open the festival and it is great to see that those bands become included in the WildFest community and it even can be a springboard for them. The fact that we can offer that to existing and young bands and we can work together with the community in such a special way, that is enough for us to go for it again every year.’’

But no matter how successful the festival days themselves are, there are also factors on the organizational and financial side which make organizing a festival increasingly difficult these days. Sven explains why WildFest is closing its doors right now.

,,First of all it’s a lot of work, there is a lot involved and it still remains a very small team. We are a small foundation and not there to make a profit. To get the festival off the ground, we invested money in it ourselves and every time the proceeds is reinvested in the festival. But now there are new rules and costs involved and the current complexity does ensure that bands, flight tickets and accommodations are becoming much more expensive. Also, the drink prices are increasing, so we reach a certain point where the ticket price cannot increase much more in our opinion. If you compare it to foreign festivals, WildFest is still dirt cheap. We as an organization break even or just not. That does not seem to improve because the struggle with headliners is also there and the fee that these bands ask and deserve 100%, we cannot always offer.

As much fun as it is, we have decided for ourselves to stop at the peak. At a moment that we can be proud, rather than to continue in a contemporary, very competitive landscape with the logistical and financial complexity. We also want to prevent WildFest from becoming a festival that we do not envision. It is a festival that was founded from a passion and I think we cannot grow any bigger. We are not throwing in the towel for good, but after this edition we will press the pause button. And never say never. But we will continue to organize the WildFest club shows for the time being. So, we will continue to offer a stage for bands from this genre and continue to commit ourselves to the scene.’’

WILDFEST 2025 EDITION

This year the program includes Crazy Lixx, The Cruel Intentions, Shiraz Lane and The Treatment, Art Nation, Maverik, BlackRain, Kickin Valentina, South of Salem, WildHeart, Bulletrain, All I Know and Mr Myst. Names we have seen during the past editions.

,,We deliberately chose bands that have played at WildFest before and sometimes even played several times. WildFest 2025 is simply another nice mix of harder and softer glam music.

If you look at the WildFest line-ups over the years, you see that a lot of bands return because you can’t put that many bands on a headliner slot. So, if you look at headliners, you’re quickly looking at an old school eighties band or you’re looking at a band like Eclipse, H.E.A.T. or Kissin’ Dynamite. We have The Treatment this year. Putting together the line-up is complex, a huge puzzle.’’

Despite WildFest celebrating its tenth edition, there are also many folks who are not familiar what goes on in Geraardsbergen. That is why the question to Sven: What makes this festival so much fun and why should we visit this latest edition, while we still can?

,,It is a small festival and that is already nice. There is only one stage and every band gets enough playing time and attention. It is pure rock ‘n roll and as a visitor you are in one big family. There is a lot of respect for each other. It is about having fun, about rock ‘n roll and giving everything for two days, forgetting everything and headbanging. Everyone can be themselves, wear what they feel like, without being judged. From a black t-shirt to full glam. Everything is possible and everything is allowed. It is a safe place and it is all about the music and togetherness.’’

THE HIGHLIGHTS

What has been the highlight for you personally?

,,That we were able to get H.E.A.T. as a headliner once. That was also one of our most successful editions, but it’s also a band that I wanted to have on WildFest from the beginning because I’m a huge fan of them. And that didn’t work out until that one moment when we got a slot in their European tour. Ofcourse we didn’t have to think about that for a second. Low points? There never really were any. Every edition was successful because no matter how many or few tickets you sell for the people who were there, it was worth it. And that’s what you do it for, from that passion.

Though I personally would have loved to have had Skid Row as headliner once. But also, Vain, Gotthard, Krokus. We did try it but yes, those prices… We also tried The Darkness and Sebastian Bach once but, in the end, it didn’t work out because of exclusivity and tour schedule and we can’t meet the logistical and rider expectations with these kinds of big bands. The bigger the band, the bigger the expectations. But we have had Tyketto and also Ted Poley singer of Danger Danger and that was great.’’

I’m curious, just like with a band on tour, what’s the first thing you do when the festival weekend is over?

,,The festival is over when the last band has left the building. Then we start cleaning up and we continue working hard until the next morning. After that on Monday, we have a debrief about what we thought of it this year and what we will do next year and the finance. Then it is a sigh of relief that it is over but also a feeling of damn it is over again and that it could have lasted a bit longer. To conclude, we all have a drink together and we always conclude that it was quite nice.’’

WILDFEST – THE MEMORIES

But after May 24th it’s really over…

,,Yes, and then we will have to hold on to that feeling longer. But it also gives space for other activities and ambitions, also in the private sphere. Our band WildHeart is also doing well, a new album is coming and there are some performances planned. In addition to the nine to five jobs, that also takes up a lot of time. As an organization, we will do our utmost to make this year’s edition a fantastic one.’’

How do you want WildFest to go down in history?

,,That we are a fun festival and that people who have been there continue to remember the moments that were important to them. We have visitors from the very beginning who travel to Belgium every year from the furthest corners. Hopefully they take those memories they cherish with them and think of those moments when they traveled around the world to celebrate rock ‘n roll and didn’t care about the rest. That WildFest was that place where you could go every year to come together with like-minded people and be yourself.’’