Roskilde Festival. The biggest rock festival in the whole Scandinavian region. Four days of peace, music, culture and humanism. (actually, it's at least 9 or 10 days, including the "warm-up" days, hehehe...). On the lighter side, days of rest, relaxation, and eccentricity. Why is that so? You'll witness different weirdness during the camp, but in a way, you'll enjoy the odd approach of the people at the festival. To give you a little history about the festival: It was started by two high school students in 1971, and considered as one of the five biggest music festivals in the entire Europe (the other four being Sziget Festival of Hungary, Glastonbury Festival of UK, Paleo Festival of Switzerland, and Rock Werchter of Belgium). What does the Orange feeling brings to us? It can be something extremely wild and break free, but not in the other's expense; Days and days of partying at the camping areas, forgetting the outside world for the mean time; Meeting people that you would not otherwise met; Or it could be just a simple explanation of diverse community of people united in celebration and joy, created by more than a 100,000 different people, around the world --- That could be the Orange Feeling.
The CD Cover that i made.
I left home on the 25th of June, and i wasn't even feeling very well. That day, is the start of the check-in for campers, inlcluding the volunteers for the festival, 'cause i'm a volunteer as well. From Copenhagen to Roskilde, i was quite ok during my travel, until i arrived at the check-in area. My first attempt to check-in was unsuccessful, 'cause i forgot to bring an ID with a photo. Then after that, i felt very dizzy and nauseous. Then i decided to go to my friend's house a few kilometers away from Roskilde, but even before reaching her place, i vomitted liters of water, TWICE. And the thing is, i don't know what the heck happened to me. So, i rested there for a couple of hours, after that i proceeded to going back home to get an ID and then, went back to Roskilde to check-in and get my festival wrist band. Whew! Tiring isn't it?
The following day, June 26th, i went at the festival site as early as i can for me to be able to set up my tent on the best possible spot that i can get. Fortunately, i was able to put my tent up on a very nice spot, in my own opinion. That day i don't have any scheduled work for the organization i volunteered for, so, that's the right time for me to explore the whole festival grounds.
Camp site view at the Roskilde Festival.
It's already crazy, even if it's just the first day of the event. Overflowing of drunken people and noisy bunch of teenagers flock the area on it's maiden day of the festival. What i did most on the first day is to observe the environment, as it is my first time to be in a music festival and another thing is, i went there all by myself. I made some friends right away (Norwegian friends to be precise) after putting up my tent, and they're kind of nice. After putting it up, we sat on the grass, had some chips, beer and wine before we put up the pavilion tent (that's where we all sit around and get drunk, hehe..)
On the other side from our camp site, a big skateboard area stands there. Mostly of the so-called "warm-up" days, activities are going on there. Some of the activities, you can call "mini extreme games". Guys showing their stuff on the field with the equipment of their choice: A skateboard? A roller skate? A BMX bike? Pick your poison. During the day, people gather around the place to witness some gravity-defying, eye-popping acts that could wow people around, or, make them scream in anguish if the attempt failed in epic proportions. Just as easy as that.
The skate board area. A few steps away from my camp site.
One thing about Roskilde Festival this year is, the sun shone all the time with one exception from wednesday, 28th of June, when they day started gloomy and a bit windy, as well. But other than that, 'til the last day, the sun mightily spreads out the heat wave (heat wave? is that too much?) beneath us. But from the historical standpoint of the festival, the hottest year the event encountered was of last year, 2009, 40 years since it's inception. And to tell you, i'm quite dark right now while writing this, and my skin is starting to peel off the sunburn i had. There are also years that the festival experienced rain, as 2007 being the wettest one yet, by a very large margin. Most of the people left to watch concerts and do some other stuff, only to find later that their tents are flooded. Even though this is one of the rain-plagued festival, people still enjoyed their stay, played in the mud, and made the most out of it.
A photo from Roskilde Festival 2007. Flooded tents.
Another things about Roskilde Festival is that, they not only focused with concerts, they also have recreational and earth-friendly activities, not to bore the guests. They have a place where you can record a demo song, create your own album cover, play The Invaders and Pacman using guitars and keyboards (weird, isn't it?), free internet access, photo galleries of the past Roskilde Festivals, and so much more to tell that i don't remember the others. There's also a place where eco-friendly people show their stuff to help battle the ongoing effects of climate change. There's also an area where gamers are so welcome, as they have PC's and gaming consoles to put together in one place, avid gamer fans (just like me). So, you're not just stuck with watching bands performing, you can do a lot of things right at the heart of Roskilde Festival.
Foods are also one part of the festival that made it great, although if you're not prepared, it might look at bit expensive to buy foods there, like going to a war without enough ammos for your gun. But, in a rightful conclusion, the food is great (even if the food that i ate the most are burgers and pizzas, hehehe...). It's more of a multicultural delicacies. You have scandinavian food, italian, mexican, indian food (from India, not the indians in the US), and many more to choose from. One thing i find weird is, i've been all through the whole festival site, but i never saw one store or bar that sells --- Coca-Cola. Yes, you read it right --- until i went to this one concert and beside of the stage is a mini-bar, with Coke! So, i grab the opportunity to buy at least one cup (attention: one cup of Coca-Cola (0.5L) costs 25 danish krones). There, i quenched my thirst under the blazing hot sun.
The Orange Stage - Roskilde Festival's symbol, circa 1971.
After the warm-up days, the main festival site opens. My eyes were amazed to see the Orange Stage, first-hand. It was very beautiful. It's the one that symbolizes Roskilde Festival. This year marked the 40the year anniversary of the fest. Other than the festival, they also held a, somewhat, a Memorial Day, for the casualties of 2000 Festival accident. 9 people died --- 3 Danes, 3 Swedes, a German, an Australian, and a Dutch --- were crushed when people started rushing towards the Orange Stage, during the Pearl Jam concert. Before the accident in 2000, Roskilde Festival is considered to be one of the safest festivals. So the following year, massive revision with regards to safety were made, to avoid similar accidents. This year, is the 10th year of their passing and they made a memorial grove in which every year people place flowers in honor of the young people's memory. I wasn't able to witness the commemoration, but my heart is with the people who help ease the pain from the families' victims of the tragic accident.
When the main festival site opened, that's when the big-name bands starts performing. The first day of the concert, i was there, and Gorillaz were performing. Quite a wonderful experience for someone like me who never goes to places like that, and i think i lost my voice singing with 60,000 people at the same time in the tune of "Clint Eastwood". The last time i went to the Orange Stage is on the 3rd of July, to see The Prodigy perform. 3 hours prior to their concert, i'm already on the line, waiting for Muse to finish their performance. I was able to go in the front of the stage, meaning in the front pit, where all craziness happens. When Prodigy played "Breathe", all hell breaks loose. Boys and girls, we all jump like crazy lunatics with no regard for human life. I was even hit with an elbow to my cheek bone by someone i didn't see. So, as we swing our elbows and kick our legs randomly, whoever gets hit, well, all we (or should i say, "I") can say is --- sorry. After that song, most of the girls (well, there's still some brave women who stayed and wrestled with every men inside the lion's den) who entered the front pit decided to go out and leave all the banging for the tough ones. The banging is so hard that i didn't felt that i lost my wallet, only when i decided to get out, then i noticed my wallet is gone from my back pocket. Good thing, there's no money inside of it, but my klippekort (the card that i use for transportation) is there. So, out of guts and natural instincts, i still tried my best to look for that and used my mobile phone as it has a flashlight --- right in the middle of the crowds' furious frenzy. The thing that i did not gave up looking up for is admirable, one guy in the crowd said, and miraculously, i found it. So, after that, i decided to go out completely, in fear of losing it again.
I decided to go home sunday morning, 4th of July. I started packing my things right after waking up. I left almost noon, but with no regrets, and a smile painted in my face. Truly, Roskilde Festival opened my eyes to a wild, crazy, joyful world of peace and music. I'm already satisfied with what i had experienced, even if there's one more day of celebration. I've done my part for volunteering and helping the organization i signed up for, and for that, i want to say thank you for the people, who let me experience and join them to this annual event that i'll forever remember for the rest of my life. For the guys that i met during the festival, see you when i see you.
Some of the guys i worked with in the organization i volunteered.
Overall, the festival is one overwhelming experience and i'm looking forward to doing it again. These are the days that you can seclude yourself for a while, have a drink, go to a very big party, and enjoy life. Roskilde Festival epitomizes unity, camaraderie, friendship and peace. As years goes by, i'm expecting that the flame of the Orange feeling continues to burn and let the aura and power of music flow for the next hundreds and hundreds of years to come.
Long Live the Orange feeling!
Rock on!
