Why this page exists
The first version of this archive was drafted with the help of a language model and published before its claims had been checked one by one. On 3 September 2026 we did that check: every date, name, place and number was put against primary sources — the organisation itself, peer-reviewed research, discographic databases, contemporary press. What did not survive is listed below.
We publish this for two reasons. The first is that an error corrected in silence keeps circulating in everyone who already read it. The second is simpler: if we say the archive is rigorous, that claim has to be checkable.
The log
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MINOR /en/archive
- It said
- The record “21 labels / 122 releases” was dated “2000s”, as though it were a document from that period.
- It now says
- It is now dated 2026, identified as PsyDB's Portugal index, and carries the read date, the distinction between imprints and organisations, and the database's coverage limit of around 2009.
- Why
- The date on an archive record is the date of the document. A 2026 read of a database is not an artefact of the 2000s, and the figure only means anything alongside the date it was read.
- Sources
- Portugal — psytrance labels index — PsyDB
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SERIOUS /en/archive
- It said
- The record “Boom 1997 — the first flyer” was described as a public reproduction with dates, promoters, contact details and announced line-up.
- It now says
- The record now says what the link contains: the flyer image reproduced in a 2016 Trancentral article, captioned only “Boom Festival first edition flyer – 1997”. The page gives no dates, producers or line-up. A legible original is still to be located.
- Why
- The description claimed more than its source supports — this was the link behind the fabricated production company corrected in 2026-09-03-01. An archive index has to describe the document that exists, not the document we would like to hold.
- Sources
- Boom Festival — Trancentral (August 2016)Gallery — edition index — Boom FestivalAlém do quotidiano: a procura de transformação na liminaridade do Boom Festival (Portugal) — Tiago Pereira, Octávio Sacramento & Pedro Gabriel Silva — Sociedade e Cultura, vol. 26 (2023), e73961
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- It said
- The event guide did not include Union of Freaks 2026 and spelled the venue "Wakiki".
- It now says
- Union of Freaks 2026 added (18–20 September 2026, Parque de Campismo São Gião, Oliveira do Hospital, by 604 Freaks Productions, with Etnica & Pleiadians closing and Dick Trevor presents Green Nuns of the Revolution). The calendar is now generated from a verified list: each party shows its promoter, the line-up its source names, the link where we confirmed it and the date of that check. Krakwua Kall II and Love Psycodelic Gathering — Spirit of the Woods 2026 were added as well. The Neelix venue is spelled “Waikiki”; the “Wakiki” spelling belongs to the event's own title and is marked as such.
- Why
- The guide was missing the event most aligned with first-generation Goa in the whole calendar, and the entries did not say where they came from. Zantara Gathering is now flagged as a source conflict: the venue page announces 10 October while the event page still shows the 2025 edition.
- Sources
- Union of Freaks 2026 — 604 Freaks Productions (Shotgun)Union of Freaks 2026 — GoabaseKrakwua Kall II — ShotgunLove Psycodelic Gathering Spirit of the Woods 2026 — GoabaseZantara — venue page, upcoming events — ShotgunZantara Gathering — event page — ShotgunNeelix Wakiki Closing Night — ShotgunDark Revolution Equinox — ShotgunUniverso Paralello Teaser 2026 — ShotgunPortugal — party and festival listings — GoabaseTrance festivals in Portugal — index — ShotgunMasters Of Puppets — Portugal Teaser 2026 — Shotgun
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- It said
- "21 labels and 122 releases" was presented without qualification.
- It now says
- The figure stands — verified 3 September 2026 — with the note that it counts imprints, not companies: Flow Records, Flow Vinyl and Hyperflow Records are three entries belonging to one organisation, so the count of organisations is 19.
- Why
- An exact figure without its definition is a half-truth.
- Sources
- Portugal — psytrance labels index — PsyDBFlow Group — About — Flow Records
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- It said
- PsyDB lists one release; Boom also refers to the first psychedelic-trance CD featuring Portuguese artists.
- It now says
- PsyDB lists one release: Various Artists — TPP Ready To Take Off (GMR001, 2002). The second claim has been removed.
- Why
- We could not find that statement on any Boom page, on the release record, or on Discogs. We do not publish it without a source.
- Sources
- Good Mood Records — catalogue — PsyDB
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- It said
- Life Stream, compiled by Mixtec.
- It now says
- Life Stream, compiled by DJ Mixtec.
- Why
- That is how the credit reads on the release record.
- Sources
- Various Artists — Life Stream (DOCD005, 2006) — PsyDB
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MATERIAL /en/zna-gathering
- It said
- The 2026 edition was presented as current, the identity described as "old-school Goa and psytrance … the 1990s and early 2000s", and the page asserted that ZNA holds a different position from Boom.
- It now says
- The 2026 edition ran 15–22 July 2026 at Montargil Lake, Portalegre, and is over; the page is now in the past tense. Every temporal reference in ZNA's own words is to the 1990s — "early 2000s" has been removed. ZNA describes itself as "retro-futuristic", with the 2026 programme split into Goa Guardians, Retro Universe and Futuristic Reality. The comparison with Boom is now marked as our editorial reading: ZNA's only reference to Boom is one of shared ancestry, not contrast.
- Why
- A guide that presents a finished festival as upcoming is unusable. And attributing to ZNA a position it does not state puts words in the source's mouth.
- Sources
- ZNA Gathering — mission, history and programme — Zambu Productions LdaWhat is ZNA? — Zambu Productions LdaZNA Gathering — Zambu Temple dancefloor programme — Zambu Productions Lda
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MATERIAL /en/sources
- It said
- Paula Guerra's chapter was cited from Academia.edu's automatic citation, which credits the wrong person as the book's editor. "Psycultures: The Globalization of Goatrance" was listed as an academic source from the Institute of Network Cultures.
- It now says
- Citation corrected to: Paula Guerra, "Flying Away", in Exploring Psychedelic Trance and Electronic Dance Music in Modern Culture, ed. Emília Simão, Armando Malheiro da Silva and Sérgio Tenreiro de Magalhães (IGI Global, 2015), pp. 307–334, DOI 10.4018/978-1-4666-8665-6.ch013. "Psycultures" is a blog interview by Geert Lovink with Graham St John (30 August 2013), not a peer-reviewed article, and is now labelled as such.
- Why
- A wrong citation is an archival error even when the fact it supports is right. And presenting a blog interview as academic literature inflates the weight of the evidence.
- Sources
- Flying Away: Electronic Dance Music, Dance Culture, Psytrance, and New Sounds in Portugal — Paula Guerra, in Exploring Psychedelic Trance and Electronic Dance Music in Modern Culture, ed. Emília Simão, Armando Malheiro da Silva & Sérgio Tenreiro de Magalhães (IGI Global, 2015), pp. 307–334
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- It said
- Paula Guerra's research dates […] the gradual move from urban warehouse raves to forest parties.
- It now says
- Guerra writes that trance "started appearing outdoors in secluded places". The Lisbon and Porto warehouses she describes are the house and techno context of the period, not trance raves migrating. The word "forest" does not appear in her text.
- Why
- "Forest parties" was our own gloss presented as an academic finding. "Forest" is also a psytrance subgenre name, which compounded the confusion.
- Sources
- Flying Away: Electronic Dance Music, Dance Culture, Psytrance, and New Sounds in Portugal — Paula Guerra, in Exploring Psychedelic Trance and Electronic Dance Music in Modern Culture, ed. Emília Simão, Armando Malheiro da Silva & Sérgio Tenreiro de Magalhães (IGI Global, 2015), pp. 307–334
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- It said
- The biennial rhythm was presented as unbroken.
- It now says
- It was not unbroken. The 2020 edition was postponed to 2021 and then to 2022: there was no festival in 2019, 2020 or 2021. Editions then ran back to back in 2022 and 2023 because the organisation moved the festival to odd years, which left 2024 without one.
- Why
- Omitting the pandemic break and the shift to odd years made the chronology misleading.
- Sources
- Organização do Boom Festival remarca evento para julho de 2021 — Observador (31 March 2020)Boom Festival adiado para Julho de 2022 — PÚBLICO (25 March 2021)Boom Festival regressa a Idanha-a-Nova com nova edição em 2023 — Notícias ao MinutoGallery — edition index — Boom Festival
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- It said
- A second edition followed in 1998, then the festival shifted to a biennial rhythm. It began at Herdade do Zambujal in Setúbal, moved to Idanha-a-Nova in 2002.
- It now says
- Three editions were held at Herdade do Zambujal — 1997, 1998 and 2000 — before the move to Idanha-a-Nova in 2002. The biennial rhythm begins with the 1998 edition.
- Why
- The organisation writes "In 2002, after hosting two more editions in Setúbal" — two beyond the first, meaning 1998 and 2000. The 2000 edition is independently documented (11–16 August 2000, Herdade do Zambujal) and was missing from this page entirely.
- Sources
- What Are the Roots of Boom? — Boom Festival / Good Mood LdaGallery — edition index — Boom FestivalBoom Festival 2000 — Goabase
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SERIOUS /en/about-cyberculture
- It said
- Cyberculture became psytrance-led from 1997 under Steve Baird / Cydonia Records.
- It now says
- The shop was sold in 1997 to Steve Baird, described by AudioCulture as a psy-trance promoter of Cydonia Records. What became of the shop after that sale is undocumented in any source we can consult, including its closing date.
- Why
- The only psytrance element in the sources is the adjective attached to the buyer. No source says the shop's own direction became psytrance. Its documented genre trajectory ends at "moved increasingly into techno after 1995".
- Sources
- Lost record stores of inner Auckland — Simon Grigg — AudioCulture (published 3 January 2015, updated 4 May 2023)
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SERIOUS /en/about-cyberculture
- It said
- Burgoyne went on to open Soulsonic; Weston continued as The Area.
- It now says
- Weston stepped back from the record-shop business in 1996, a year before the sale, to concentrate on his PULSE label and promotions, which had run out of the same premises since late 1994. He rebranded that business as The Area in 1998. Burgoyne went on to open Soulsonic.
- Why
- The earlier wording implied Weston carried the shop forward after the 1997 sale. The source says the opposite: he left in 1996, and what he rebranded in 1998 was his own label business, not Cyberculture.
- Sources
- Lost record stores of inner Auckland — Simon Grigg — AudioCulture (published 3 January 2015, updated 4 May 2023)
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SERIOUS /en/magic-forest-setubal
- It said
- A public reproduction of the first flyer gives 14–16 August 1997, three days outdoors, and credits Good Mood Productions and Monogatari Productions.
- It now says
- Removed. The producer of the first Boom was Good Mood, confirmed by the organisation itself. The exact August 1997 dates and the three-day span are not confirmed by any source we can consult.
- Why
- "Monogatari Productions" appears in no source. The Trancentral page cited as evidence gives neither dates nor producers — it reproduces the flyer with the caption "Boom Festival first edition flyer – 1997" and nothing more. This was an invented claim resting on a citation that does not support it.
- Sources
- Boom Festival — Trancentral (August 2016)What Are the Roots of Boom? — Boom Festival / Good Mood Lda
Known gaps
These things we do not know, and we do not invent them. If you hold documentation on any of them, that is exactly what the archive needs.
- The exact dates of the first Boom in August 1997 are not confirmed by any source we can cite. The circulating "14, 15, 16 August" appears in a post by the organisation on a social network we could not cite stably.
- The 1998 edition's dates are not documented in any source found.
- No academic source names a party, promoter, venue or crew from Portugal's first raves in 1994. Guerra gives the year and nothing more.
- Nothing documents what happened between 1994 and the first Boom in 1997: no intermediate parties, no names, no venues.
- No Lisbon or Porto warehouse is named in the academic sources.
- The closing date of the Cyberculture shop in Auckland, and the fate of the business after the 1997 sale, are undocumented.
- Founding years and founders for most Portuguese labels appear in no primary source — only the year of the first release.
- There is a real gap of about ten months in the verifiable Portuguese event calendar, between October 2026 and August 2027. That is a gap in the listings rather than in the research, and it fills in over time.
- There is no legible original of the first Boom's flyer. What exists in public is the image reproduced in a 2016 article, captioned only “Boom Festival first edition flyer – 1997”, with no dates and no producers.
The rule
- A historical fact needs a published source, or two identified and independent witnesses.
- Oral memory enters the archive as testimony, labelled as such, before it is treated as fact.
- Where sources contradict each other we publish both and say which is primary. We do not pick the tidier version.
- Exact figures come with their definition and the date they were read.
- A citation has to support the thing it is attached to. We check that rather than assume it.
- Event dates carry a check date and a link to the promoter. An event that has happened is written in the past tense.