As the dust settles on another Rewire festival, we turn our gaze towards the insights and experiences of the journalists and music enthusiasts who visited us for our 14th edition. Ranging from different national and international publications, we are grateful to share with you these writers’ own perspectives on Rewire 2025 – each of whom have highlighted in different ways what makes the festival what it is. Please note: as reviews and articles are released, they will be added below.
“Rewire’s biggest success is curating wonder and anticipation among its audience.”
“One of Europe’s most innovative festivals” – The Line of Best Fit
Read The Line of Best Fit’s review
“A triumph of both quality and quantity, solidifying its status as a must–attend event for lovers of avant–garde music.” – Rolling Stone Italy
Read Rolling Stone Italy’s review
“From experimental electronics to avant-garde choreography, from meditative organ music to furious club beats, the festival created a temporary ecosystem where artistic exploration thrived in all its forms.” – Kaltblut Magazine
“Reflecting on Rewire 2025, I can only conclude that it was, once again, a special experience—a festival that continues to push boundaries while creating meaningful connections between sound, space, and consciousness. Rewire does not hand you a conclusion. It leaves you with an echo, a question, a possibility.” – Kaltblut Magazine
Read Kaltblut Magazine’s review
“Den Haag’s Rewire: a festival of startling contrast and quiet provocation.” – The Quietus
“If one event could be said to capture this heady weekend, with all its iterations of the human spirit, it would be Alvin Curran’s Maritime Rites… A display of quotidian, human, and beautiful absurdity that refreshed the soul.”– The Quietus
Read The Quietus’ review
“Rewire 2025: As Boundary–Pushing as Ever” – Resident Advisor
“In The Hague, for a few days, time seems to change density. Sounds invade theaters, churches, basements, streets, transforming the city into a living, feverish organism, full of invisible voices.” – t-mag
“Then a trumpet. Two. A clarinet. The cries of seagulls. The sounds arrive in waves, without a precise starting point. There is no stage, no hierarchy, no center. Maritime Rites is a dissonant, disjointed harmony, but at times it touches on the sublime” – t-mag
Read t-mag’s review in English or Italian
“Europe’s premium experimental festival” – Loud And Quiet
Read Loud And Quiet’s review
“Rewire’s strength lies in its willingness to let odd ideas breathe, to hand the reins to singular voices rather than consensus. It’s hard to imagine a focus group signing off on much of what makes this festival so special. That’s exactly why it works.” – Metal Magazine
“Its growth – more venues, bigger names, swelling crowds – speaks to a rare trust in curation and a scene hungry for something more than plug-and-play sets and Instagram-ready staging.” – Metal Magazine
Read Metal Magazine’s review
“When a programme is put together by fans as passionate and knowledgeable as the minds behind this festival, you can find yourself a little without focus. That’s why the annual decision to pick one or two figures to build days around – this year improviser, sound artist, and writer Alvin Curran – is so smart. Main characters who capture the perspective of the event and encourage audiences, from the off, to explore.” – Crack Magazine
Read Crack Magazine’s review
“Rewire achieves something rare: it offers a safe and stimulating space for experimentation without ever compromising on quality or accessibility.” – Coeval Magazine
“The magic of Rewire doesn’t lie only in its well-curated lineup. It’s in the alchemy that forms between place, artist, and audience. Every venue hosts performances designed to dialogue with the architecture and atmosphere, creating an experience that goes beyond mere listening.” – Coeval Magazine
“More than a festival, it’s an ecosystem. And for those lucky enough to experience it, it’s something unforgettable.“ – Coeval Magazine
Read Coeval Magazine’s review
“The Hague provides a perfect setting: venues are easy to reach (especially by bike) and the lineup is impeccable.” – Kaput Magazine
“This was my second time visiting the festival and it’s already turning into one of my favorite places to see boundary–pushing music.” – Kaput Magazine
Read Kaput’s review
“Rewire is the kind of festival where the dynamic between music and audience is hardly ever a one–way street – a phenomenon constantly interrogated, assimilated and in metamorphosis” – Beats Per Minute
Read Beats Per Minute’s review
“My favourite festival” – marg.mp3
“One, perhaps obvious, way is to let these experiences from the weekend fuel us in the coming hard times. Just to know that there are these wondrous things to fight for – for their very existence – and for other people’s right to experience that as well. Rewire just proves that they’re worth fighting for, and if we sit back and expect things to just come to us, served on a silver platter, then we’re mistaken.” – Record Turnover
“Rewire is a festival I’ve never been to before, but yet counts as one of the most profound experiences I’ve had with music.” – Record Turnover
Read Record Turnover’s review
“The Hague brings the best in weird music to justice over three thrilling nights.” – Laughing Stock
Read Laughing Stock’s review
“I can’t recommend Rewire enough to those of an experimental and curious persuasion.” – Poppy H
Read Poppy H’s review
“Rewire has a cross-cutting nature, incorporating electronic productions as well as audiovisual installations and performances.” – Mambo
Read Mambo’s review (in Spanish)
“It is no wonder that Rewire is now seen as one of Europe's key festivals for predominantly more experimentally oriented music, club culture and sound art.” – Swine Daily
Read Swine Daily’s review (in Czech)
“A rich cross-section of musical and visual experiences.” – Czasu Kultury
Read Czasu Kultury’s review (in Polish)
“The festival is today a multifaceted container capable of injecting even more lifeblood into an otherwise stale circuit.” – Blow Up Magazine
Read Blow Up Magazine’s review (in Italian)
“Rewire 2025 was amazing, the inspiration and excitement was overwhelming, I feel elated. I will try to come back again next year, because it is undoubtedly one of the best festivals in Europe.” – Ore.lt
Read Ore.lt’s review (in Lithuanian)
Dit jaar waren meer mensen dan ooit tevoren bereid om zich buiten de gebaande paden te bewegen en te investeren in bijzondere muziek.” – OOR
“Wie zichzelf ontvankelijk maakt voor experimentele, kunstzinnige en grotendeels onbekende muziek, vindt er altijd wel iets dat inspireert of ontroert.” – OOR
Read OOR’s review
“Het is bemoedigend om te zien hoeveel animo er is voor de meest experimentele acts op Rewire” – 3voor12
Read 3voor12’s review
“Met deze openingsact bewees Rewire opnieuw waarom het tot de internationale top van vernieuwende muziekfestivals behoort.” – 3voor12 Den Haag
Read 3voor12 Den Haag’s Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday review
“Rewire, een festival dat ieder jaar beter lijkt te worden.” – Gonzo (circus)
Read Gonzo (circus)’s review 1 and review 2
“Het hoort er allemaal bij op Rewire, waar muzikanten die vaak ook op de platen van anderen opduiken voor de gelegenheid geheel hun eigen ding kunnen doen, en de grenzen verkennen van wat hun instrument, hun lichaam en hun verbeelding vermogen.” – Festileaks
“Zoals Alvin Curran het festival tijdens een gesprek zaterdag al samenvatte: ‘the richness, the variety, the imagination, the craziness, the simplicity, the complexity of it all is really astounding.’ We hadden het zelf werkelijk niet beter kunnen zeggen.” – Festileaks
Read Festileaks' review
“Vooruitstrevende muziek durft dikwijls diverse paden te verkennen. Eén keer per jaar komen die paden samen in Den Haag, op Rewire. Het ontdekkingsfestival trekt al sinds zijn begindagen resoluut de kaart van het avontuur en wist ook dit jaar een internationaal publiek aan te trekken voor een uitverkochte editie met meer dan tweehonderd voorstellingen op tal van locaties in de stad.” – Dansende Beren
Read Dansende Beren’s review
“De muziek op dit Haagse internationale festival is indrukwekkend, vervreemdend en extatisch. Knap dat Rewire, evenals vorig jaar, met muziek die je samenvattend op zijn minst uitdagend mag noemen, is uitverkocht.” – Heaven Magazine
Read Heaven Magazine’s review
Bearing Witness to Concealed Crimes: An Interview with Forensis – Berlin Art Link
Clarissa Connelly in conversation with Molina – Crack Magazine
Interview: Forensis (Forensic Architecture) & Bill Kouligas – Gonzo(circus)
Interview: Able Noise – Gonzo(circus)
An Interview with Nyokabi Kariũki – Subbacultcha
alys(alys)alys Q&A – Record Turnover
Belia Winnewisser Q&A – Record Turnover
Key Change podcast (in Chinese/Mandarin)
Radio Helsinki (in Finnish)
Photo by Parcifal Werkman