Over 5000 revellers made their way to Mayrhofen in Austria for the 14th edition of Snowbombing  (1-6th April), to enjoy five days of ski, music and snowy shenanigans. 

Festival-goers were treated to sets from over 150 artists, who performed across 15 venues including an igloo thousands of feet above sea level, a snow-topped alpine forest and the infamous Snowbombing Street Party, which saw thousands of Snowbombers take to the streets of Mayrhofen, Mardi Gras style!

The week kicked off with the arrival of the Road Trip. Hoards of cars, travelling from England the previous day, were given a huge Mayrhofen welcome by crowds of people lining the streets and a soundtrack provided by the one and only Umpa Band.

Highlights from the beginning of the week included the annual Hospitality Records party which brought its bold bassiness to the table with acts including High Contrast and Camo & Krooked. Roof-raising performances from Katy B and Ms Dynamite were also on the menu as well as sets from Plastician, Oneman and Brackles, as RINSE FM took over for their night at the Racket Club. 

Dubstep powerhouses (and two thirds of Magnetic Man) Skream and Artwork were a prominent feature on the bombing bill, hosting the Rekorderlig Backcountry Party with Ben Westbeech, as well as treating guests to a disco feast on the piste at the annual DJ Disco battle on the mountain. 

The sun-drenched streets were transformed into a colourful fiesta for the Carnival themed Street Party. The Street Party stage saw performances from festival favourites Cuban Brothers, Doorly, David Rodigan and The Dub Pistols as well as the return of Austrian Filter Haus: Mayrhofen’s favourite musical sons Arnold Schnizelfinger and Hurzall Zebeats. There was even a cameo appearance from Mayrhofen legend Hans the Butcher. 

The Arena was the place to be seen this year with parties from The Urban Nerds, Turbo Vs Blood Music and Ramjam all bringing their own special blend of fun and incredible music to the venue. 

Ibiza stalwart Carl Cox made his Snowbombing debut this year, treating a heaving Racket Club to a blistering blizzard of house and techno. Other stand-out performances included Example, who took time-out from his stag weekend to perform at the Forest Stage and even teamed up with MistaJam to record the Harlem Shake, Snowbombing style. Rising stars Disclosure provided  support and drew one of the biggest crowds of the week.

Indie-dons Kasabian performed an avalanche-inducing set to an exclusive crowd of 400 guests at the Barclaycard Arctic Disco mid way through the week before performing a headline slot on the Forest Stage. Kasabian were supported by drum and bass upstarts Rudimental, who performed a tree-shaking set to a bouncing forest crowd. For more exclusive backstage content from Kasabian at Snowbombing including exclusive acoustic tracks, backstage pictures and videos as well as soundfiles straight from Sergio's cutting desk download the Kasabian Live app. www.kasabianlive.com 

Snowbombing’s beloved Schlussel, the venue famed for hosting some of the best parties over the past nine years, including this year’s Louche with Kerri Chandler and Subb-an, will finally be closing its doors. But not to fear, the Bruck N Stadl, which this year hosted sterling parties like Jackathon with Heidi and Justin Martin and Futureboogie with Eats Everything and Maxxi Soundsystem, will be back again next year… I’m sure we’ll cope. 

It wouldn’t be Snowbombing without Ride and Seek! A mixture of pro riders and Snowbombers battled for honour at the Vans Penken Park for goodies and prizes by showing off their back-flips, front-flips and even a touch of nudity. 

Festival resident Pat Sharp also returned to Snowbombing last week, bringing his own brand of cheese to proceedings and turning the ‘Ice Bar’ into the funniest après-ski shindig Snowbombing has ever seen. Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards also flew in for a third year to grace the slopes with his majestic presence. 

"It was a very spiritual experience, and an incredible party.  The crowd was insane. I've never seen so many weird looking outfits in my life. The best was two lads who had inadvertently dressed up as our guitar tech Rick. You'll see them soon in one of our Snowbombing videos. We can't wait until next time.” – Sergio Kasabian 

“Snowbombing is absolutely incredible - I want to come back next year for a lot longer” – Kerri Chandler