Report from Left Of The Dial festival in Rotterdam 2025

Julia Mason aka The Decibel Decoder
11 hours ago
2 min read

Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her report from Left Of The Dial festival. We think she enjoyed it.

Left of the Dial in Rotterdam is extraordinary. An eclectic mix of new and emerging artists are welcomed with open arms alongside festival attendees hungry to embrace everything it has to offer. And there is a lot! Indeed pre festival planning is an utter nightmare, for all the right reasons.

The quality and quantity of artists playing means attempting to work out schedules takes hours of head scratching. The bands are encouraged to play more than once: the festival's philosophy? If they have made the effort to travel to Rotterdam, then why only play once? The atmosphere throughout the three days is one of utter joy. Festival attendees may be from different countries but here we all speak the same language.

Highlights are near on impossible to single out, there were so many, but these will remain in the memory for a very long time.

Left (top & bottom) - PONS. Right (top & bottom) - The Empty Threat.

Attending an Official Unofficial showcase hosted by Opposite with PONS (US), The Empty Threats (Australia), GLOIN (Canada), Pop Fever Music Dream (US) and test plan (UK) on V11, a moored boat.