HOLLAND SEPT 2011 pt. VI - FESTIVAL
We awoke to find all of us had made it back unscathed, save for a few items of clothing which were sand encrusted and still dripping with last night’s rain, and it was not long before we were reminded of our early afternoon obligation, in which two of us were summoned for an impromptu acoustic session. The session went down swimmingly, as did the remaining three of us, who went swimming. Later, we made the trip along last nights route back towards the festival, this time in the daylight and able to see so much that we missed. We watched bands, ate food, exchanged pleasantries with friends from the beach and once again ran into our old pal Dave Driver (remember him?) who had a whole fish and a baguette for his lunch. A combination favoured by many, though i never actually saw how anyone actually went about eating this. Did they make sandwiches? Was the fish still full of entrails and bones? Presumably so, since it had a head. One day i intend to know everything, starting with this.
The festival area itself was designed to look like a fort, surrounded by wooden tied fencing with a large sentry station positioned centrally. It all had a very homemade feel to it, with all of the signs and adornments of each area hand-painted and incredibly individual. Relatively small in comparison to many festivals i had been to previously, it seemed fitting for this island i had never heard of to hold a festival that felt so exclusive it could be secret. When entering the main arena you were asked to show your wristband and had your bag checked in an apologetic manner by a group of half a dozen polite and welcoming young ladies. This is perhaps the polar opposite of entering Exit Festival as we had done earlier this summer in Serbia, where upon arrival you are greeted by two armed police who hear English and reload their machine guns.
The last night of the festival wrapped up early, as did we due to our early boat back to the mainland the next day.
LW
