As the only American at Urban Art Forms this year, I think it is my duty to take the time to write out a full and detailed review. So I will cover the basics now.
The Weather
It rained pretty heavily for most of the time I was there. The stages are actually on proper flooring, not on a field, so the festival wasn’t really affected. The tent area however, turned into a mudbath. It was totally crazy. All the locals seemed to have wellies with them, so they adapted nicely.
The Facilities
The provided several sets of indoor toilets and showers. The quality was pretty high and they didn’t seem to run out of toilet paper. Make sure you bring some of your own just to be safe, along with a towel and one euro coins for the showers! The whole place was pretty nice and everything was within 10 minutes walking. Some of the toilets did get clogged during the festival, but there seemed to be staff there all the time trying to clean up etc.
The stages were divided into two areas, so you could spend 30 minutes getting out of one area and through security of the next. This was kind of annoying, as I love psytrance! The decorations were pretty good and the food and beer were not TOO overpriced. Certainly more than most pubs in Austria, but less than a lot of high end clubs in London. The food was tasty, although I brought a lot of my own as well. Good way to get through it all.
Near the psytrance tent they had a drug testing setup as well. Similar to what DanceSafe does. They would test everyone’s gear to make sure no one got poisoned etc. I think in this day and age that is a really important thing. Safety first! Also a few of my friends had to go by the first aid station. They had a proper doctor there in addition to all the ambulances. The medical treatment was pretty quality in my book.
The People
Austrians are really friendly and amazing. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but everyone I met was so cool and shared their supplies. I made some new friends. The girls in Austria are pretty as well, so if you’re at the festival looking for that it’s possible. I was so busy with my friends and rushing to see all the DJs etc, that I only met a few girls. I was the only American there and a lot of people were shocked and didn’t believe I was from Los Angeles.
You can definately come to this festival alone and not have to worry about having a killer time and making amazing friends. It all really flows nicely. The vibe was really positive. I did see one fight at the back of the main stage though. It ended quickly and the first thing I heard someone say was, “Germans…” I thought that was hilarious. Austrians kick ass.
The Music
This is what you really want to hear about. If you like psytrance or drum and bass, then this festival is a no brainer. It’s cheap, not too crowded and these stages were amazing. All of the DJs I saw were awesome and the vibe was so cool. The mainstage was a mix of genres, mostly focusing on techno. I have to say that Deadmau5 was awesome. Definately the highlight of the show for me. Personally, I really love trance and that was sorely missing at the festival. Overall, the sound quality was insane and never too loud. They had sound engineers all over the place constantly checking levels. That part was really top notch. If you like any of the DJs on the lineup, then I definately recomend checking out this festival.
Leave a Reply