Vision
WHO WE ARE
What Are the Roots of Boom?
Boom Festival: celebrating 30 years of openness, regeneration and independence.
30 years ago, the seed for Boom Festival was sown inside the 'magic forest' of Herdade do Zambujal, Águas de Moura, Setúbal.
What began as a gathering of friends and artists – united by their love of 1990s Goa trance and steered by Good Mood Lda, a cultural organisation that pioneered the Goa trance scene in Portugal – eventually blossomed into the global celebration of psychedelic culture you know today.
In 2002, after hosting two more editions in Setúbal, Boom Festival relocated to Idanha-a-Nova in the Centro Region (district of Castelo Branco) of Portugal. It's here that we began developing our environmental principles and practices, managed by IdanhaCulta: a non-profit cultural association dedicated to environmental and cultural regeneration.
After setting up across the lake in 2010, and later acquiring what is now our beloved Boomland in 2016, we are still ecstatic to call this ancient, magical land our home. We have lent our focus to regenerating the land here ever since.
Boom, as a fully independent event, exists only due to the support of the Boom community via ticket sales. The way that we apply the resources that you kindly give us is subject to a public report, following our policy of full transparency.
With this in mind, we would like to share our financial reporting with you, which you can read about here. We believe we are one of the few festivals in the world to take such a transparent approach.
Boom Festival has been a fully independent event since 1997 – you'll find no corporate sponsorship, venture capital or brand logos – rare for a festival in this day and age. And we have all of you to thank for that; for believing in us, for supporting us and for taking part. We are eternally grateful.
FAQ
Portuguese organisation Good Mood Productions has been at the helm of the Boom Festival since its inception. The organisation became the first to introduce the Portuguese populace to the sounds of Goa trance and psytrance in the early 1990s.
Around the mid 2000s, it strove to engage with individuals and organisations with new approaches to regeneration. From permaculture courses and curated art initiatives to developed environmental projects for festivals, municipalities and nature parks – the organisation continues to discover and disseminate innovative solutions to regeneration and artistic creation.
Boomers have been given in-depth insights to the dynamics of the organisation, the festival and its history, thanks to the publication of several books, DVDs and CDs, also including the first ever psychedelic trance CD to feature Portuguese artists.
The revolving doors of the group have seen many of its members come and go over the years, either because they have moved on to other projects, or because they have ascended to the next dimension.
Boom team members always opted for a low profile ethos focusing more on content and concepts rather than individuals. To be part of the Boom team is to be, first and foremost, a Boomer. It is the talent, vision, skillset and experience of countless people, artists, participants and volunteers that has allowed the festival to adapt to an ever-mutating world. Serving the Boomers is a passion.
A brand new non-profit organisation – IdanhaCulta – was later born within the context of the Boom Festival production. It was set up by Good Mood as a separate entity to expand the boundaries of community-based projects.
IdanhaCulta not only manages Boomland, but it also contributes to the manifestation of social change with local projects and the holistic event, Being Gathering, which is also hosted at Boomland.
We launched the official Boom Festival 20 Years movie in 2017 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of our festival. The film takes you back through the many years of Boom Festival, and all its related projects.
In 2026, we also launched our 30 Years of Boom in 15 Microfilms series, celebrating our history and evolution. To further mark Boom's 30 trips around the sun, we will be releasing several new projects in the coming months. Stay tuned.
That would be one amazing dream to manifest. And there is no doubt such a vision is an inspiring topic of conversation for the many people who would like to see Boom transform into a permanent event. However, this is not a reality.
Yes, this is a fact. Following several years of negotiations, savings and a loan, Boom became the owner of Herdade da Granja, Idanha-a-Nova, in September 2016. Learn more about the vision behind the Boomland here.
