PETROLOCO was the Walden Crew stage at Zugvögel Festival 2025. We took over an abandoned gas station and turned it into something friendlier: a dancefloor, a few installations, chill areas, and a smoothie bar. Same concrete and pumps — different mood.
The loose story was a post-petrol future. Industry leftovers become places to hang out. We leaned into that with little “artifacts” from the oil age — petrol-scented perfume, satirical ads — and flipped the price tower so it showed BPM and lineup instead of fuel prices. Culture over capital, at least for a weekend.
My role
Same hat as later Walden years: creative direction and coordination, stage lighting, and the interactive bits. About fourteen volunteers — carpenters, audio, planners, operators. I built a MIDI lighting interface with clear labels so people who weren’t lighting techs could still run the stage without panic.
The wooden car
Centerpiece was a little wooden car you could sit in. Joystick and buttons, no instruction sheet. From there you could steer nearby moving heads and site lights, flip through car-culture clips and old racing games, or jump to a live feed of the DJ booth. Small dose of agency — enough to feel like you were part of the place, not just watching it.
People treated it as a hangout more than a deep narrative puzzle. That was fine. The story helped us build; the public mostly needed a good seat and something to play with.
Tech
TouchDesigner, MIDI lighting control, moving-head fixtures, arcade-style joystick UI, live video feed from the DJ booth.
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