So I got back from Roskilde two days ago, dead tired, but welcomed by my family congratulating me to my 18th birthday. Party decoration adorned the walls and presents laid waiting on the kitchen table. I couldn't have imagined a more welcome reception to the real world from the veritable anarchy that was Roskilde.
In fact, Roskilde is where I actually celebrated my birthday which is on the 7th of July. I went over to the 7th during a Metallica concert at the Orange Stage which was incredible. Heavy Metal isn't my usual choice of music, however they could put on a fantastic show, incorporating spurting flames and fireworks. It was no doubt better than Rihanna the night before. Her performance seemed unauthentic and she had virtually no stage presence, whereas Metallica seemed more genuine and ironically, younger than the 25 year old Barbadian. Otherwise, I saw (among others) Baauer, Kendrick Lamar, Slipknot and Kraftwerk. Of these, I found Baauer to be one of my favorite because of the enthusiastic crowd and the addictive resonating bass that embodies trap. We we're also able to get hands on tickets to a Green Day concert on Copenhagen on the 2nd of July. They played on a huge stage set up next to what seemed to be an abandoned factory during a beautiful sunset that shone on the crowd. Being part of the jumping crowd singing along to 'Holiday' was simply amazing.
The festival itself was something out of this world. Simply arriving at the queue to our entrance was a sight to behold in its own right. Hundreds of eager festival goers were collected in front of the gates waiting with not only with their belongings and camping equipment, but the stacks and stacks of cases of beer as well as the enormous home made loudspeakers on wheels they brought with them. Most had already been waiting since the morning, if not the day before and were already drunk. Once the gates opened at 18:00 people stormed into the campsite in a hurried frenzy to secure a spot to set up camp for the next week. Because there were only four of us, were we able to find a spot inside a designated tent area in a relatively good, centrally located spot - our precise location was called L91.
The days would consist of drinking with others or walking around the enormous area and discover the incredible things people would be doing. For example, in the area known as Dream City, we walked passed the Waldo camp to find a talent show taking place. However, the talents that people were performing were in fact stripping naked, unfortunately, this was only being done by the men. One of the most impressive of these strips was done by a man who, as he was taking his clothes off and giving a lap dance to a girl, chugged a bottle of the Danish, "Fiske"; a sort of liquorice vodka popular in Denmark. The fantastic thing is that after all this alcohol, people don't become molesting or too rowdy as this would be a breach of the 'Festival Contract', embodied in the 'orange feeling'.
During the day, drinking is characterized by a game called beer bowling and just sitting together under a pavilion in camping chairs. In the night however, the fields of Roskilde turn into one enormous outdoor club. Powerful homemade speakers boom the latest dance music and function as magnets for people to come and party. The loudest speakers have the largest parties, some probably have over 100 people at a time. One of the biggest of these parties is located in the "Dome" in the center of Dream City. One camp will roll their speakers inside and entertain the probably up to 200 people with their music in combination with the lights built into the structure. Its a club inside the festival where there is no lack of alcohol or beautiful Danish girls. While we were there, we began to notice that all of the main party camps were in "West", the western zone of the camp. One night, we went there and headed to the skate park. There was an enormous concert taking place! We had no idea who was playing until later in the concert when we discovered that it was some of Denmark's leading dancehall artists. Due to the large crowd, I actually didn't get to see very much of them. That is, until Raske Penge jumped onto a loudspeaker and started rapping while making the crowd go wild!
Roskilde was amazing. It was my first festival and I can say that it won't be my last. I love the vibe, the people and the freedom it provides to just do anything without any concerns. Most people don't even have to worry about their tent because the vast majority actually leave theirs standing.
The very last night was actually quite weird. I would say that only 10% of festival goers actually remain Sunday to Monday. This means that for those 10%, it is time to loot. Many went around rummaging through abandoned camps looking for alcohol or anything else that they could possibly use. To my amazement, this was actually incredibly easy to do. People came back with large amounts of beer seemingly forgotten next to destroyed tents, wet from piss. While this does result in a final night of fun, the air of the festival is quite depressing. Most of the food stalls are closed because their supply is finished, there is very little music playing, and of course, hardly anyone is there! So this last night was ironically quite sobering and seemed to say, "You have had enough."
Nonetheless, lessons for my next festival:
- Bring a large group of friends and know people in other camps. This way you will never become bored of anyone. In addition, it will become much easier to find good parties to go to at night, or where the fun is during the day.
- Don't go out to eat. Yes, Gringo Nachos were amazing, but damn they were expensive! I would say that one prepared meal a day is worth it, but the money really adds up. To be economical in a festival, one has to eat a lot of Makrel eller leverpostej me rugbrød (Mackerel or liver pate with rye bread).
- Bring more beer beforehand or purchase it outside the campsite. A case of beer at the camp costed 190 Danish Crowns. Outside of the festival, beer can be bought for almost half the price.
Can't wait till next time!
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