Boom Festival
João Beira is an accomplished artist and educator currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the Intermedia department at Michigan State University, focusing on electronic art, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and performing arts. As the founder and creative director of Datagrama Visuals, João leads a collective that specializes in creating immersive environments through live visuals inspired by nature. Additionally, João has served as a creative and art director at Boom Festival since 2014, and as an independent visual artist specializing in 3D projection design and augmented art. Previous academic roles include teaching Multimedia Performance at Universidade do Porto and holding a research position in a dual degree Ph.D. program in Digital Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. João's academic foundation includes a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master's degree in Multimedia from Universidade do Porto.
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Boom Festival
Boom Festival is a multidisciplinary, sustainable and intercultural biennial festival which takes place by the shores of the Idanha-a-Nova lake in Portugal. Born 20 years ago as a small gathering of psytrance lovers, Boom has since grown to become one of the leading events in alternative culture worldwide. Respect between all beings and nature, oneness, love and interconnection are just some of the principles that constitute the backbone of Boom. Through life-changing experiences, Boom aims at not only raising awareness, but achieving both an individual and collective shift in mindset, thus contributing to what has been referred to as the Great Transition. In terms of art and culture, Boom has established itself as an authentic hub for cutting edge initiatives of all kinds - with four different music stages that celebrate countless musical genres, as well as a stage dedicated to dance, a Liminal Village program focused on conferences, workshops and lecture panels, the Museum of Visionary Art and the Being Fields, a whole area where Boomers can indulge in healing and wellbeing activities, participate in a series of workshops, but also pamper themselves with therapies and holistic counselling. Diversity can also be found in the Boomer community, as people from 154 different countries attended the last edition back in 2016. Throughout its evolution, Boom has developed several pioneering environmental projects which have won international recognition and numerous prizes. Some of these initiatives include the development of a biological water treatment system, a Bike Village, the use of dry toilets and renewable energies, as well as the growing of countless gardens throughout the venue and an overall sustainable approach to every component of the festival. Working at Boom As a festival that is made by the people for its people, Boom relies on the hundreds of workers who apply at each edition. It encourages the principle of co-creation and active participation and incorporates it into every aspect of the event, from pre-production all the way to post-production. This means that Boomers have the unique opportunity of making their contribution to the project and be part of a multicultural team with people from all parts of the globe.