The Dutch underground festival ZXZW has changed its name to Incubate to avoid confusion and conflict with American music festival SXSW.
Organisers of the festival formerly known as Zuid bij Zuidwest, which was started five years ago and has won numerous awards including being voted the best festival in the Netherlands, received a letter from the South by Southwest organisers politely asking them to change their name.
Joost Heithuijsen, one of the fesitval’s organisers, said: "Five years ago we started the underground music festival Zuid bik Zuidwest. The name, ZXZW for short, was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the American music festival SXSW in Austin, Texas.
"We’ve grown substantially in the past four years, and since a great deal of our audience, artists and press coverage comes from abroad, we get more and more confused with the SXSW festival. Because we are a different festival, including arts, contemporary dance and movies, we decided for a name change."
Incubate is the annual celebration of independent culture in the Dutch town of Tilburg, and hosts performances from more than 200 artists in an intimate setting, ranging from black metal to free jazz and street art to academic dance.
"Incubate is more suitable for the character of the festival. Incubate stands for growth and stimulation of cutting edge cultural developments", added Heijthuijsen.
The festival will take place from September 13 until September 20. Personally, The Quietus would rather sample the finest underground delights Holland has to offer rather than fly to Texas to rub shoulders with the same sorts who populate Camden on a Saturday night; if you feel the same way, visit the official website for more information.
