Whereas the film- and discourse programme deals with the threatening yet tempting prospect of the apocalypse, the “Music & Arts” part of the programme focuses on artistic strategies and positions. The common ground that all billed artists share is the fundamentally uncompromising approach to music, far from mainstream, not settling for the easy route but opting to stretch the sound further.

The Elevate main location (the Dom im Berg) recalls a strange, extraterrestrial landscape, thereby fitting the attempt to challenge, maybe even antagonize, but most of all amaze.

Project MOE II, a unique light and video augmented modular construction that was already exhibited at the festivals and galleries across Europe, will this time serve as a scenography of Dom im Berg main room and certainly help to orchestrate a state of frenzy.

The line-up of live performers, bands and DJs ranging from hard-edged experimentalists to straight-up party-starters brings a slick fusion of pioneers and newcomers, international as well as local. Acts like Detroit’s all-time legend Moodyman will share the bill with gems like New York's MC Sensational, as well as up-and-coming artists like Sweden's Skudge or Austrian Pop-Duo UMA.

Quite fittingly, Kevin Martin aka The Bug and Shigeru Ishihara aka DJ Scotch Egg, head honcho of Small but Hard Records, are the guest curators of Friday's and Saturday's night programme, offering an insight into their unique musical universes.

HoergeREDE, the literature portion of the festival taking place at Minoriten Culture Center, will showcase a series of unique performances straddling both literature and music and reflecting the festival’s theme. With the Elevate the Park! festivities on Thursday evening, Elevate Festival deals with highly regulated public space in the center of Graz, where bourgeoisie's well-ordered promenade-rituals run across consumerist party crowds, leaving little space for alternative cultural lifestyles. Something of a block party, the evening will join three selected locations around the Graz City Park. The Elevate-Lab intends to push things forward on the home ground, allowing us to grow as people and artists, until the next apocalypse.