Ten years ago, we were nowhere near old enough to be at Selectors.

We were, however, old enough to imagine the fabulous adults we would eventually become. The ones who travelled for music, spent entire days on dance floors and always seemed to know what was playing. Because, for legal reasons, you certainly would not have caught us sneaking into parties at 15.

So when Dekmantel Selectors turned ten, it felt only right to revisit 2016 properly.

For our first pilgrimage to Tisno, we brought one of the decade’s greatest technological achievements along for the ride: a rose gold iPhone 6S. Part nostalgia, part experiment, and a very effective reminder that photography used to involve considerably less evidence.

What followed looked appropriately 2016. Overexposed sunsets. Questionable zoom. Blurry dance floors. Friends caught somewhere between posing and asking whether the photo had already been taken. In other words, a fairly accurate depiction of how the 5 days felt.

From the moment we set foot inside The Garden Resort, Selectors delivered on its promise of sun, music and togetherness. Blazing heat, crystal clear water, boats disappearing from the shore and a soundtrack that seemed to change every time we turned a corner.

There were sonic surprises everywhere. Getting bewitched by Deetron at the Voodoo stage. Finding ourselves at the Nest time and time again – whether for Dirtydms, Identified Patient, or Rozaly (as they say you can get the girl out of the Amsterdamse Bos Nest but you can’t take the Nest out of the girl). Getting on the Dekmantel boat and rubbing shoulders, sharing champagne and laughs with strangers who did not feel particularly strange for long.

And then there were all the little adventures in between. Swimming between sets. Losing people and finding them again. Wandering somewhere because we could hear something interesting in the distance. Making friends over records. Talking complete nonsense in the water. Watching the sun disappear and realising, once again, that whatever plan we had made for the day had become entirely irrelevant. Laughing uncontrollably as we tumbled home. 

Perhaps that is what makes Selectors feel so special. The music is taken seriously without anyone taking themselves too seriously. Curiosity is rewarded. You can nerd out over a track with a stranger one minute and be waist deep in the Adriatic with them the next.

5 days began to feel like one very long, sun drenched day.

And then, suddenly, it was over.

Time flies when you’re having fun, as they say. Which probably explains both how Selectors managed to turn ten quite so quickly and how our own five days disappeared before we had properly realised they had begun.

Luckily, somewhere on a rose gold iPhone 6S, there is evidence that they happened at all.