Incubate was an annual

multidisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...

held every September in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

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from 2005 to 2016. It was originally named ZXZW, but changed its name in 2009 to "Incubate" after a request from the

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, US-based festival

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

. The festival exhibited indie culture events including music,

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

, film and visual arts. It hosted more than 200 artists to an international audience, with performances of

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graf ...

and academic dance taking place alongside one another. The organisation also hosted regular showcases of bands under the name Incubated.

History

In 2005 ZXZW started as a two-day underground punk, hardcore and electronic

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or ho ...

with 47 artists. Within three years it developed into a festival held over eight days with over 200 artists. The festival broadened its program by adopting a wide range of musical styles (from

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

to free folk and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

), along with film, lectures and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

. It was held in small clubs, pubs and galleries around Tilburg. In 2008 the people of Tilburg voted for ZXZW as the best event in their town. Incubate had an independent culture blog, a blog on non-Western dance music, hosts several art-nights throughout the year and released the Social Festival Model, a platform where attendees could read and alter the business, marketing and policy plans. By 2015 the festival had financial problems, and a grant was provided by the Province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to t ...

and the Municipality of Tilburg. Three editions of Incubate were held in 2016, but in February 2017 the festival's organizing foundation announced that the grants from Tilburg and North Brabant were withdrawn, and no festival was held in 2017.

Editions and performances (selection)

Incubate was a two-day music event with a pre-party in 2005, and by 2009 became a multidisciplinary art festival lasting more than a week.

ZXZW 2005

The first edition of the ZXZW festival, between September 24 and September 25, featured 48 acts on 7 locations. It was started by Ries Doms, Vincent Koreman, Alex van Wijk and Frank Kimenai.

ZXZW 2006

The second festival was between September 23 and September 24 and featured 94

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on 11 locations.

ZXZW 2007

The third ZXZW festival took place on September 16 and September 23. The number of bands that played in the music program at the festival increased to 151. There were also other art forms displayed this time:

Visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

Dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

and cinema were added to the line-up. ZXZW 2007 took place at 27 locations, one of those was a squat where young musicians played compositions by young composers. This concept was called ‘Kraaklink’ and has been continued as series the next years.

ZXZW 2008

The fourth edition of ZXZW was hosted between September 14 and September 21, 2008. Most notable were the performances of the Sun Ra Arkestra. They performed six times in seven days at the festival, emphasizing different aspects of the musical legacy of Sun Ra every day. New this year was the special program ‘Norwegian Invasion’ in which several Norwegian artists took a central place. Also there was a multidisciplinary program (‘Svart Kunststykke’) aimed at the

genre in both music (

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, Glorior Belli) and the

( Erik Smith, Peter Beste). The Shape of Breakcore 2 Cum was a program for electronic dance music and also the Eurovision Noise Contest was held.

Incubate 2009

The first edition of the festival with the new name Incubate was from September 13 until September 20, 2009. The acts were confirmed daily on the Incubate website.

Incubate 2010

The sixth edition of Incubate festival took place from September 12 until September 19, 2010. The theme for this edition was Piracy. Around this theme several events were held, such as The Kiosk of Piracy, Pirate Cinema and the Pirate Conference.

Incubate 2011

The 2011 edition of Incubate festival took place from September 12 until September 18, 2011.

Incubate 2012

The eighth edition of Incubate took place from Monday, September 10 to Sunday September 16. The festival attracted more than 15,000 visitors from all over the world.

Incubate 2013

The ninth edition of Incubate took place from Sunday, September 15 to Sunday, September 22. The festival attracted more than 17,000 visitors from all over the world. More than 300 artists performed in or in the area around

Incubate 2014

The tenth edition of Incubate took place from Monday, September 15 to Sunday, September 21. 290 artists performed in Tilburg. The festival attracted more than 17,000 visitors from all over the world.

Incubate 2015

The eleventh edition of Incubate was held from Monday, September 14 to Sunday, September 20 in Tilburg.

Venues

Incubate took place in the inner

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at the following venues: Bibliotheek Tilburg Centrum, BKKC, Boerderij 't Schop, Café De Plaats, Cul de Sac, De Beukentuin, De NWE Vorst, Dolfijn Bowling, Duvelhok, Extase, Factorium, Filmfoyer, Galerie Kokon, Hall of Fame, Kafee 't Buitenbeentje, Koepelhal, Koningsplein, Kraakpand / Squat, Kunstpodium T, Little Devil, Mayor's Room, Muzentuin, NS16, Open Air Stage, Paradox, Pauluskerk, Pieter Vreedeplein, Project Space Tilburg - Gust van Dijk, 013, Sounds, Studio, Synagoge, Theaters Tilburg, V39, Virginarty, Weemoed, Willemsplein, Zaal 16.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Incubate (Festival) Rock festivals in the Netherlands Music festivals in the Netherlands Cultural festivals in the Netherlands Music festivals established in 2005 2005 establishments in the Netherlands Culture in Tilburg Music in Tilburg