Max HeyraudWe sat down with festival promoter Martin Smyth, creative director Ryan Roe and harm reduction expert Sophie Ridley from the DISTRICT X team, to discuss their latest festival venture. As they prepare to unveil their new project, they also offer insights into the evolving landscape of music events and emphasise the crucial role of safety measures.
With less than a week until one of the most anticipated festival debuts in Ireland in the past decade, we sat down with the team behind DISTRICT X. We delved into the festival’s emergence, its unique look and sound, its impact on Ireland’s dance music culture, harm reduction practices for attendees, available support, and much more.
Martin Smyth, Ryan Roe, and Sophie Ridley took time out of their hectic schedules, just a week before the festival, to chat with us. We began our conversation with Martin.
Let’s start with the conception of the festival, what sparked the idea for DISTRICT X?
“As promoters, we felt that the festival landscape had changed significantly post-pandemic. The trends were evolving, and we felt people were looking for something new and exciting. As promoters, we’re always searching for ways to stand out from everything else going on, and we saw an opportunity with a one-day event with a fresh brand while still keeping close connections to the ones we’ve built up over time with District 8 and Index.”
“We felt the event should be one day and close to Dublin, featuring a current exciting lineup. Rather than focusing on an event led by headliners, we wanted it to be greater than the sum of its parts and draw from many aspects of electronic music styles.
District X feels like a shift in the landscape of Irish festivals, with its fresh look, 20,000-capacity, and focus on new acts and a new crowd. Would you agree that this marks a change of the guard for festivals in Ireland?
“It feels like a moment. From the announcement and teaser to the lineup reveal and ticket sales, it felt like something new was happening. Life Festival was the big dance music event in the Irish calendar before this. This feels like the new major dance music event.”
You mentioned the pandemic, do you still feel like you’re rebuilding in the post-COVID landscape?
“I think people underestimate how recent the pandemic was. Year after year, things have changed dramatically as we emerged from the pandemic, but now, as we head into 2025, it feels like the first year we can be confident as dance music promoters; we know what our calendar and events look like, but it’s taken two or three years to build back up. Coming out of the pandemic, I was very conscious there were no benchmarks, no way to guarantee how things would go and putting on DX was a huge risk”
Would you consider DISTRICT X to be a follow-up to Life Festival?
“From a generational perspective, this may have replaced Life Festival. This is now our main focus, our large festival in the market, and in that sense, it is its successor. But I wouldn’t compare the two—it wouldn’t be fair. Life Festival has been amazing in many ways and has meant so much to so many people, including us.”
What can people expect at DISTRICT X that may be different to other projects you’ve worked on before?
“The scale will be much larger than anything we’ve done before. This means bigger production, with three large stages. We’re also collaborating with Casa Bacardi, which is fun and exciting. From our perspective as promoters, especially with Fernando, my partner and co-founder of District 8, who truly eats, sleeps, and breathes every detail of how the event looks and feels for both the artists and the audience—I think people will notice that at the festival and see that we have gone to great lengths to create something unique.”
This feels somewhat like this generation’s Homelands or Creamfields, though I realise that comparison might be reductive. Do you think it reflects the current appetite for Irish dance music?
“I think they could’ve been a little bigger, and the lineups might have been more broad-spanning, but I think selling 20,000 tickets in just 24 hours shows the strong current demand for this music. It’s inarguable that this reflects the strong appetite for this music in Ireland. While we know there are challenges within our scene and industry, this shows that the demand is there if the product, brand, program, and lineup are right. And if it’s delivered by a team of people who genuinely understand that world.”
Could you give me some insight into the safety measures being implemented for an event of this size from a promoter’s perspective?
“We care deeply about everyone who attends our event and want them to have the best day of their lives—but for all the right reasons. It’s important to us that people look after themselves and each other. We’re proud of our work with the HSE on harm reduction, and having someone like Sophie on the team is a key part of that. Our goal is for everyone to go home safe and sound. We’ve always worked closely with the HSE, and we’ll continue to do so. Please take time to read our welfare messaging leading up to the event, and never hesitate to ask for help.”
Sophie
Can you tell us more about your early experiences with dance music in the 1990’s?
“I worked with many Manchester bands as a tour and production manager during that Madchester period. I initially worked with The Smiths and then spent a long time with the Happy Mondays, handling UK, European, and US tours. The Happy Mondays headlined the first dance music stadium show in Elland Road in 1991. I also collaborated with The La’s and The Farm, I then moved on to Simply Red, which wasn’t dance music but was very much part of the Hacienda and Tony Wilson’s vibe. We spent a lot of time at the Hacienda, having end-of-tour parties there—it was integral to the Manchester scene.”
So, after that, you moved on to working in festivals, is that correct?
“Ye, later on, I worked on the first Creamfields UK shows, which I continued for the first three or four years before moving to Ireland. I also worked on the Creamfields shows in Ireland and then on T in the Park and Oxygen, which both involved large dance tents. It was during this time that I first started working on drug and harm reduction.”
So, how did you start working in harm reduction and drug safety?
“As the event manager for Creamfields, T in the Park, and Oxygen, I was involved in the early discussions about harm reduction, drug counselling, and providing support for those who were worse for wear. Initially, the approach was quite basic. Eventually, at Creamfields and Oxygen, we began working with professional drug counsellors who collaborated with medics. These counsellors handled situations where someone needed psychological support rather than medical treatment. However, this was more about dealing with issues as they arose rather than proactive harm reduction.”
When did you start to notice a real shift towards a demand for proper harm reduction at festivals?
“The real shift came with Life Festival. As a safety officer and consultant for Life for about 12 years, we started working with Nikki Killeen from the HSE’s Social Inclusion Office. This collaboration led to the development of key harm reduction messages like ‘start slow, go slow’ and ‘medic are your mates.’ We began distributing information before the event and through social media. Over time, we established a dedicated welfare team responsible for information, lost property, and counselling. We’ve had drug counsellors at Life for the last eight years, and this approach has evolved. For example, at Boxed Off we introduced on-site posters with harm reduction information. This all contributed to the later establishment of the HSE Working group on Emerging Drug Trends and Drug Checking on which I was the live music representative.”
“The District 8 team have always been very supportive of harm reduction, putting significant time, money, and energy into addressing these issues. A lot of this work originated with Life Festival. The first instance of back-of-house drug testing took place at Life. We also implemented similar measures at Indiependence and Electric Picnic.”
What drug trends have you noticed post-pandemic?
“The levels of MDMA in pills have increased enormously—almost doubling in some cases. This underscores the importance of our message to start with a small amount and wait to see how it affects you before taking more. Mixing powders into drinks is also problematic because it gives you no control over the dosage, making it difficult to know how much you’ve consumed.”
Looking back at your career, from the dance music scene in the 90s to your current work in harm reduction, what are some key lessons or experiences that stand out for you?
“Getting medical attention quickly is crucial. Many don’t recognize the signs of a drug-related emergency, mistakenly thinking it’s only serious if someone is having a seizure or psychosis. However, symptoms like aches and pains in your legs and arms can indicate serotonin syndrome. It’s important to communicate that if you have a severe headache or feel unwell, you should go see the medics. There’s no judgment, and it’s always better to get checked out to ensure you’re okay.”
What measures will be in place at DISTRICT X to ensure drug safety and harm reduction?
“On the medical side, in partnership with Glen Ellis and EFAST EMS, we will have 2 first aid posts in the arena. This set-up will create 2 hubs, on either side of the arena, as shown on the event map, providing non-judgemental assistance and a safe place for anyone needing assistance. The hospital will include consultants and an A&E department, similar to the top hospitals in Dublin and Cork. Next to the first aid posts will be our welfare services, managed by Connor Breen, who has run our welfare at Life for the past few years, and Psych Care, who has been seen at events like Another Love Story and EP this year. Beside the welfare services will be the HSE information tents. This setup will create a hub in the middle of the arena, as shown on the event maps. Additionally, HSE outreach workers will be roaming the area, answering questions about drugs, directing people to the first aid posts, and providing assistance as needed.”
Ryan Roe
What is the central message or vision driving District X Festival’s branding?
“It’s actually quite funny – we had spent weeks brainstorming and really trying to nail an idea that would sit amongst the bigger dance festivals both here in Ireland and in the UK – the one thing we noticed was how complicated a lot of the posters and brandings of other festivals were. From there we decided to strip it back and let both the artists lead and also let the public’s imaginations run wild by revealing very little. We tried to keep the fuss and glitter away from this one and it seems to have paid off. I think even up to now people don’t know what to expect – which is a good thing in my opinion and helps us build something special that’s essentially only revealed when you get to the festival.”
How does the festival’s branding reflect the current crowd and music at District X?
“I think as mentioned above the stripped-back nature of the branding kind of naturally puts the artists first and gets people talking about the names, while we build the festival to match in the background and hopefully – in complete secrecy.”
The festival’s branding and messaging reflect a distinctly Irish vibe, embracing the unique look and feel of Ireland’s festival culture. Would you agree with this?
“I think in ways it does – we’re lucky to have a lot of Irish talent on there which leads the way for the country. We wanted to show confidence in the festival by keeping things simple and giving Ireland a brand to be proud of on the international stage.”
Despite the festival’s large scale, it appears you’ve successfully cultivated a strong sense of community within its ethos. Would you agree with this perspective?
“Of course – Irish nightlife doesn’t survive without the strength of the community behind it. District X in particular spawns from the close-knit communities built up over the years by District 8 and more recently at Index. This is imperative to the success of DISTRICT X for us.”
Storytelling and Irish colloquiums have a prominent place here; do you believe this connects the audience to the festival on a deeper level?
“I think we’ve definitely opened a new chapter that’s half written right now with the festival – I think people know who’s playing and where it is but the rest of the chapter isn’t written until the day comes I guess. I think that’s a fairly unique and special edge to have in a festival of this size.”
What comes to mind when you think of District X as a whole identity package?
“To me anyway – a real coming together of two great club brands in Index and District 8 that have both built up a certain amount of legacy. I think this is the next chapter for both brands. It’s an exciting time.”
