It was announced as an Italian Tomorrowland, but it risks ending up like the Fyre Festival. What is happening at Hellwatt, the festival that arrived out of nowhere a few months ago and which had put Reggio Emilia and the RCF Arena at the center of the European musical summer with a unique line up made up of Kanye West, Travis Scott, Swedish House Mafia, Martin Garrix and many other names from the global rap and EDM scene?
In fact, in the last few weeks, absolutely everything has happened. At the beginning of May the founder and artistic director of Hellwatt, Victor Yari Milani, was removed from the project due to “visions no longer fully aligned”. The decision came after a series of organizational hitches and miscommunications, such as those relating to early bird tickets for Kanye West initially sold at a higher price, which was followed by a refund due to the fact that Ye's concert was no longer a European exclusive as announced, but one of the shows (the majority canceled for political reasons) of a larger tour.
Last week Milani broke his silence. Interviewed on Twitch by Alvise Salerno, the artistic director wanted to clarify his CV, given that in the previous months many doubts had arisen about an event of this magnitude managed by an unknown person within the circuit of major events. Milani clarified that he has always worked in the private events sector, explaining that he was called by C.Volo, through personal friendships, to relaunch the RCF Arena: «My CV is not public, but there is no need for it to be public. We who work at high levels do not create social profiles, we do not communicate, we work with the utmost secrecy.”
Milani then explained that Hellwatt is his property, and not of the C.Volo company which is producing the festival: «The current situation continues to cause very serious damage to my rights, as well as to the HellWatt Festival project, which I conceived and developed over the last few years. All parties currently involved in the development, promotion and monetization of the event have already been or will be formally informed of the existence of the legal dispute and disputes relating to the use of the project and the brand. As per the contract, the ownership and protection of the concepts, formats and professional relationships have been developed by the undersigned, with the prohibition of direct or indirect use of artists, agencies, partners and contacts introduced by me without prior authorization”. «I don't know if the law will allow C.Volo to do concerts, I'm not the judge, the law will say so», he declared before throwing a bomb: «I want to clarify that Hellwatt will take place and in a bigger place, not in Campovolo. I have already confirmed another location and I will say something more in the next few days.”
So will Hellwatt Festival happen? With the same line up in a different location from the RCF Arena? Or with a new set of artists, in another location, and with very little time ahead to get everything together?
In recent days, Hellwatt's social networks have been closed. Internal notes within the C.Volo company would have begun to refer to the festival with a more generic “summer review at the RCF Arena” or “Summer Shows” according to what the Post. On May 13, in a press release from the RCF Arena, the Kanye West concert was confirmed, but without any reference to the festival.
Last Friday, May 15th, the festival's social networks were surprisingly reactivated, having been closed for over a week now. With a white text on black, decentralized compared to the graphic possibilities of Instagram and with a rather different and less professional aesthetic from the others present on the profile, Hellwatt affirms its return: «We apologize for the temporary unavailability of this page in recent days due to technical reasons. The Hellwatt Festival team is back. Big news and important announcements will come soon.” The post, like the previous one referring to Milani's departure published on May 8, has the comments section closed. The site is available in the links section, with the usual line up, location and purchase link.
What will happen now? Maybe it's “just the beginning”, as one of the latest posts of the festival headlines.
