The web was ablaze Wednesday with the news that D.E.M.F., the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, will be resurrected in 2014 after over a decade of dormancy. It is important not to mistake this for Movement, the annual festival held in Hart Plaza over Memorial Day Weekend. Rather, DEMF will go down July 4th weekend as a two-part endeavor at both Ford Field and Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit. The announcement caused some confusion, as Movement is still frequently referred to, albeit incorrectly, by the original moniker.
In actuality, DEMF in its initial incarnation only ran from 2000 to 2002, before changing hands and name. In all of its manifestations, the festival has always remained on the Detroit Riverfront over Memorial Day weekend. It has been organized by Paxahau since 2006. Carol Marvin, the organizer for those two pioneering years, has retained the rights to the DEMF name ever since, and is now reviving the brand.
Marvin's camp will be running two events simultaneously from July 4-6th: A free festival in Campus Martius Park with 100 artists across six stages, and F.E.M.T., The Federation of Electronic Music Technology, an entirely new enterprise. FEMT, to be held at Ford Field, will cost attendees $250 for 3-day passes. The affair will encompass about 60 electronic acts, including Underground Resistance, Model 500, and the first-ever live performance of Cybotron. Juan Atkins, one of techno's founding fathers, is helping to curate the lineup, which will also incorporate technology exhibits and artist lectures within various parts of the stadium.
Although Marvin still finds herself under fire for the way she ran those first two years of the festival, and some question her ability to successfully implement its reincarnation, she should be applauded for her ambitious vision of a thriving Detroit, celebrating its place in the global market with an abundance of annual festivals for revelers to attend. Proving she respects the city's musical history, and understands her audience, Marvin is quoted as saying "we'll never use the term EDM" regarding DEMF redux. This alone will hopefully set it apart from Chicago's Wavefront festival, which will take place over the same weekend.
As a clear response to Wednesday's major announcement, and the ensuing imbroglio, Movement took to their social media to reiterate that it is business as usual as they continue planning the annual event for Memorial Day weekend at Hart Plaza, although they made no direct mention of DEMF.
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