These days, establishing and maintaining a high-end festival brand requires more than just bunging a decent soundsystem in a field and expecting the mindless rabble to enjoy it. As clubland evolves, with it, so do the minds immersed in it; hence why promoters and festival organisers are dreaming up new, innovative ways of spinning partygoers’ minds into oblivion.

From arty expression by a bonfire in the Nevada Desert to a six-week-long independent party state on the Crimean Peninsula, these days, only the most wildly conceived events capture our imagination, nuzzle their way into our affections and actually stay there. Snowbombing, which first set up on the slopes of Austria’s Mayrhofen skiing resort in 2005, is one that certainly has. It’s set the standard for music festivals worldwide by offering a package that combines a skiing/snowboarding holiday with a high-end dance festival, with a line-up offering enough talent to turn even the most stiff-lipped dancefloor aficionados into an eye-rolling, salivating mess. Offering 14 venues, five mountainous stages, four igloo raves and a 5,000-strong street party, 18 spas and pools and 639km of piste (all for prices starting at £289), it’s always growing, bettering itself at every given opportunity. So what’s in store when it starts up again on 9th April 2012?

“We wanted to keep the line-up as large as it was last year, but to feel a bit more balanced across the genres,” says Gareth Cooper, owner and founder of Snowbombing. “We have great house, disco, techno, dubstep, indie, hip-hop, d&b, reggae, and even a bit of cheese thrown in for good measure.”

With headliner Dizzie Rascal scheduled to play in the forest (last year it was The Prodigy, who played to 4,000), the event will also welcome the Hospitality crew back to deliver the devastating d&b beats; Norman Jay is down for a Good Times set in the igloo, while Crosstown Rebels (represented by Damian Lazarus, Seth Troxler and Jamie Jones) will take to the slopes of “The Hoff”. On top of that, Gareth has finally acquired the DJ’s hands of a life-long legend he’s been “courting” for years, DJ Shadow; Groove Armada will present their epic live show, Red Light, and the services of Mr Scruff are also booked into the Bruck N Stadt.

“Although 2010 was a truly amazing year for us, which ended up earning us Best Overseas Festival in the UK Festival Awards, we really thought that we stepped everything up a level in 2011, across the board,” reflects Gareth. “With this in mind, we really can’t wait to do the same for 2012 and make this the most memorable Snowbombing ever.”

SNOWBOMBING 2012

LOCATION: Mayrhofen, Austria

DATE: 9th-14th April

FULL LINE-UP:

DIZZEE RASCAL

EXAMPLE

DJ SHADOW

GROOVE ARMADA present REDLIGHT

THE VACCINES

BOOKA SHADE

FATBOY SLIM

CHASE & STATUS (DJ)

WRETCH 32

LABRINTH

ZANE LOWE

SKREAM

SUBFOCUS (DJ)

ANDY C & MC GQ

KNIFE PARTY (DJ)

CROOKERS

FAKE BLOOD

TENSNAKE

DJ YODA (AV Show)

MR SCRUFF: KEEP IT UNREAL

JUNGLE BROTHERS -

JAMES ZABIELA

HEIDI

AEROPLANE

JACK BEATS

MISTAJAM

SOULCLAP

SWITCH

HIGH CONTRAST

LONDON ELEKTRICITY

NETSKY CAMO & KROOKED

NU:TONE

SHY FX

MISTAJAM

JAMIE JONES

SETH TROXLER

DAMIAN LAZARUS

MACEO PLEX

DOCTOR P

RUSTIE

FRICTION

JULIO BASHMORE

EATS EVERYTHING

NORMAN JAY

BREAKAGE

REDLIGHT & DREAD MC

TODDLA T

THE CUBAN BROTHERS

RITON

PEARSON SOUND

THE WHIP (Live)

LINDSTROM

LEE CURTISS

PAUL WOOLFORD

JACKMASTER

ALEX METRIC

BEN WESTBEECH

ARTWORK

P MONEY (Live PA)

SCRATCH PERVERTS

ROSKA

BEN UFO

METRO AREA (DARSHAN JESRANI)

KRAFTY KUTS

STANTON WARRIORS

PLUMP DJS

STYLE OF EYE

DOORLY

TALE OF US

THE GLIMMERS

JUSTIN ROBERTSON

KRIS MENACE

DUB PISTOLS SOUND SYSTEM Ft RODNEY P -

MIDLAND  LOADSTAR

RALPH LAWSON

A1 BASSLINE

BLAWAN

ONEMAN

MARCUS NASTY

SPENCER PARKER  

GEDDES

BODDIKA 

JAYMO & ANDY GEORGE

HOT LUNCH (EWAN PEARSON & SASSE)

S.O.S.

LIL SILVA 

REDINHO

SPENCER

MARTELO

TAYO

GEORGE FITZGERALD

SCARLETTE ETIENNE

URBAN KNIGHTS 

RATTUS RATTUS & KLOSE ONE FT ILLAMAN

LADYWAKS

MICHELLE OWEN

GARETH COOPER

MARC ROBERTS

CAZE NOVE  

SOPHIE LLOYD

NORTH BASE

DANNY RAPER

FUZZBOX INC

RAFFLE MAFIA

SCOTT BLEEPZ

ELLIOT CROFT

BUNNY & ERNEST

DUTCH SETTLERS  

SEEDY SONICS DJ’S

F.O.H. DJ’S

MATIK DJ’S

FATTIE BOOM BOOM

SAVAGE HENRY 

DADDY NATURE

DUSTY LUNGS

THE FARM YARDIES

EL CHICO

DJ SOPCOM

DANIEL P

TOM RELAY

MABE & URLITO

MC’S SGT POKES

YOUNGMAN

WREC

DYNAMITE MC

DREAD MC

www.snowbombing.com/en