2022, is the year of my first festival season. Oh, and it flew by and I liked it so much that I already have two festivals planned for 2023, haha. Some of my friends have been going to festivals for some time and this year, I thought, I listen to that music a bit more now, let's give it a try. I definitely threw myself in at the deep end this year and was able to attend quite a few fun parties. Curious about my opinion and experiences, read on!
Supersized Kingsday – April 2022
The first festival I attended was Supersized Kingsday, aka celebrating our King Willy's birthday in style. Since King's Day fell on a Wednesday this year, 2 friends and Martijn & I had booked a hotel at Eindhoven Airport. Supersized is celebrated at the Aquabest site, which is located near Eindhoven. I had breakfast first thing in the morning, well, I couldn't really eat a bite because I found it all a bit exciting. Once we arrived at the hotel, we hustled the keys before check-in time and left our bags in the car. Then, in style aka a Tesla Taxi towards the festival site.
After all the checks and walking a few more kilometers to the entrance, we were finally inside and the search began for our other friends who had been there a little earlier. All I could think at that moment was, “this is huge, I shouldn't lose anyone” hahaha. When I look back on it, I think it's a bit of a cute reaction, it makes sense, but I'm used to it now. I also thought the stages were very nicely decorated, which surprised me, but now I believe that it gives a good extra atmosphere to the site.
I wouldn't remember which artists we all saw live, but what I won't forget is how much I enjoyed Rebelion's live set. This is one of my favorite duos that produce this style of music. The whole group of friends stood together, just screaming to the song “Bring It On”, so loud that people started looking at us quite strangely, but we didn't care.
I wouldn't have wished for another first festival, after this festival I also decided that this was going to be an expensive hobby because, wow, coins are expensive. After the festival it was extremely busy on the road and the taxi had difficulty finding us. After running across a highway exit and many nettles further, we arrived at the taxi that first wanted to drop us at a completely different place. In the end, Mo'tje succeeded and we ate some Turkish food and slept wonderfully. Waking up feeling satisfied and knowing that you have found a new hobby is the best way to wake up. Oh yes, this festival was so popular that we literally already bought tickets for 2023 in the early bird sale, a few weeks after the festival.
Intents Festival – May 2022
The second festival, which was lucky because there were four tickets on TicketSwap and the Kwartetje purchased them. Quarter? Yes, meet Nicole, Colin, Martijn & Myrthe aka two couples but no one knows who belongs to who, not even us sometimes haha. Okay, not quite, Colin & I always watch Nicole & Martijn fighting with each other, good show haha.
With the party bus to Oisterwijk, with one stop where it is of course impossible for a girl to go to the toilet when there are 10 other buses. So you can guess how badly I had to go to the toilet when we drove into the street.
The heroes who organized Intents Festival had placed dixies along the road, which was also the only road that could accommodate such a bus. And since I really needed to pee and saw a dixie, I asked the driver to open the door (we were just standing still on that road anyway) and you couldn't have made me happier. When I got back to the bus, the driver decided to kick everyone out because we were faster at the entrance on foot than by bus.
After all the checks and smuggling of spray deodorant, we walked further into the grounds and first ate something, because I certainly had not eaten a good breakfast (I see a pattern here). There was a very wide variety of food, from Surinamese cuisine to burgers, fries & pasta. I wolfed down a delicious pasta and then started enjoying the music and wine. One of our other friends was also staying at IntentsCity and had already spent a day there, we had dinner with him and then headed out.
Since I was still quite new to the world of outdoor festivals at that time, I thought the site was quite large. The festival consisted of 10 stages, 400 artists & a fully developed theme in terms of stages. All stages were beautifully decorated with decorations and lights. We soon discovered that the site was very long, but that there were only three toilet places in total, which were usually not really close to the stage where we were at that moment. I must say that I hope that they will change that next year if there is an opportunity to do so. There was also a Ferris wheel and booster on site, which unfortunately we did not visit. We wanted to go on the Ferris wheel, but when we got there the man who worked there said it was closing but still let people through after us. His habitation is screwed hahaha.
So if you go to a festival by party bus, you are there from the start and the events usually last until about 11 p.m., which is quite a long time - since you hardly sit down. We also went back to the bus a little earlier and therefore did not see the end show, which we found out afterwards was very unfortunate. But it also cooled down very quickly and Nicole had missed a glass of wine and was therefore not feeling very well. Oh yes, the way home was really pure poverty. Of course we also had to travel over that narrow road again, but the bus can leave as long as everyone is on it. In other words, our bus was already complete, but no other bus was complete so we couldn't start driving yet. You would think, go back, not an option because you were completely surrounded. Fortunately it was back to a Dixie so that was the only pleasant thing about the situation. After leaving 1.5 hours later, we slept on an air mattress at Colin's house and enjoyed the next day and chatted about the festival. Definitely worth repeating, but in terms of transport, I'll have to explore more options haha.
DEFQON. 1 – June 2022
DEFON 1. had been on the list of a few friends for some time and we were lucky enough to get tickets on Friday. We went with a nice group and turned it into a weekend festival ourselves by booking a house nearby. So, on Friday in the car with sandwiches of which I ate exactly ½ of them (erm pattern) I drove that way in a bit of a hurry. Luckily the reception was great and we were able to pick up the key earlier and just as we were ready the taxi arrived and we drove to the site. Here too, the road was a bit hopeless and we walked the last part, but our taxi driver was a hero and would also pick us up, so we immediately agreed on another place to pick us up.
After another half marathon, security checks, where Martijn got a very strange look because my lip gloss was still in the bag, we were inside and just in time for the weekend opener of Sefa. Wow, that man turned beautifully.
But because I hadn't eaten that much and the white wine was warm, things didn't go very well and I soon got a stomach ache. The dampness and heat of the day didn't help either. Since everyone was so excited and I had made the fashion choice of long black skinny jeans & the black Intents shirt that I had bought, we emptied part of the merchandise store. Something I thought I would never do, but which I thoroughly enjoyed in that dampness, was walking around in my Defqon sports bra, which is very comfortable. Fortunately, no one there cares what you are wearing and most of them look even crazier haha.
Defqon takes place in Biddinghuizen, next to Walibi, so it was again a huge site, but there was enough space for everyone and no one stood very close to each other. Yes, only at the end show of that evening, but that makes sense. I really enjoyed the freedom at the festival and we walked quite a few kilometers to get from one stage to the other. Since we were on a Friday, we didn't necessarily know all the artists, but that didn't spoil the fun.
Because of this we also chatted with JurTerreur for a long time because he & Martijn are practically besties and just jump on each other when they see each other in public. Of course the fanboys/fangirls photos were taken with Jur haha. Fortunately, I started to feel better and at the end of the day I no longer had any problems. T wasn't really sick anyway, but more of an annoying nagging belly ouch.
Supremacy – September 2022
Supremacy, the indoor festival known for its animal light show. And oh, how it lived up to its name. The foursome went for the bougie experience and decided to buy VIP tickets which came with the benefits of their own toilets and their own bar hehehe. I can tell you, we made good use of that. Niels also came along, but unfortunately he could not get a VIP ticket, so at the beginning we mainly just stood on the floor - which is also the most fun - but when he met some acquaintances we spent a lot of time on the VIP deck.
By taxi from Spijkenisse to the Brabanthallen with a great taxi driver, top woman! The queue for the VIP, on the other hand, was much longer than the normal checks, so that started well. I also didn't manage to smuggle the closing deodorant in here and it was unfortunately taken away, but I'll try again at the next festival haha. Fun fact, I love Stelz and I had already seen on the map that CLUB Stelz was there, so we took a look here first. It's a miracle that the suspension of the bus is still intact haha. When we arrived in the hall, we visited the VIP deck and drank the accompanying champagne. Then back to the floor to just enjoy. It was still quite quiet at the beginning, so we were actually at the front. A few Stelzjes and half a pizza later, time passed quite quickly and it was time for one of my favorite artists, RooleR.
I had to see him on the VIP deck with the best view since the deck was at the back of the hall. I stood on the back of such a wooden bench during his entire set so that I had the perfect view! I just barely looked into his soul, I could see him so well from that spot haha. Oh how I enjoyed it, I honestly got goosebumps during his set. I think it's so beautiful to see how within a year I have really come to love the music and know it better and better, but I still have to go around in circles sometimes (if you know, you know) haha. Skip forward a few minutes, Rooler had finished his set, so toilet break and back to the deck. RooleR just stood there, as the artist deck was next to the VIP deck and a fence was the separation. Because Martijn has a hawk's eye, he saw it and we ran over to take a picture and have a chat with him. He is one of the nicest Italians I have ever met. Yep, big fangirl here!
I previously mentioned that Rebelion is one of my favorite duos in the production of this music and of course they were also present at this festival.
With an Overdose set, well if you're not familiar with this, enjoy the videos. Wow, you just don't know what you're experiencing. I was also lucky again because I was at the front of the VIP deck so I was able to take great photos and videos of the set.
Unfortunately, my luck ran out after this. Que the photo of me with an ice pack at the emergency room. Yes, you read that right, I have one. Visited the emergency room. Long story short, coming back from the bar with a couple and walking behind Colin at the moment of the beat drop. An elbow against my jaw didn't hurt that much at the time, but after Rebelion's set I started to feel it a bit more, so I decided to cool it down for a while. Luckily no bruises and I still love you Collie!
Supremacy had a lot of good artists so we were there from the beginning, luckily the taxi came earlier than we planned and so we could go home a little earlier. We all felt satisfied and for the migraine that Nicole developed due to the lights and my jaw, it was very nice that she could come earlier. Supremacy is definitely an event that I would like to visit again, but I don't think it will be next year. Supremacy has certainly met all my expectations 😉
REBELLiON: One With The Tribe – November 2022
We had already had the tickets for this festival for 2 years, and last year it was already completely set up and we had already arranged transport, but then corona came into play. This year the time had finally come! Another raw party & another overdose set, but I'll tell you more about that in a moment. November, you would think it wouldn't be an outdoor festival. Well unfortunately, or kind of. It took place in a tent in the middle of a meadow in Haaren. And oh how lucky we were with the weather, wasn't it... it was sickly cold outside, like 1 degree Celsius max :). Fortunately the tents were heated and it was easy to do in the tent, I was even dressed too warmly in the end haha.
To continue my breakfast pattern, I started with two egg sandwiches with full courage. This turned out to be one, but I just added one more breaker to make it a little better. So there is progress, haha! After a pleasant taxi ride with the group and being forced to stand on people's BeReal, we finally arrived. After buying a locker in the cold, because they were just outside, we went inside to buy coins and eat a hamburger. There wasn't necessarily a lot of choice for food, but there was something for everyone. There were two stages at this festival, but I actually only went to the main stage the entire time because I liked those artists more.
As I already described, Rebelion presents overdose again, and oh how I enjoyed it again! Actually from every set. Since this was a somewhat smaller festival, the quartet actually split up for the first time, since we couldn't really lose each other. Nicole and I also played a game at D-Sturb, while the other two were at the other stage. I don't think it looked very charming, but hey, we're just enjoying our lives. For effect, Nicole and I took a look at the other internship, but then left again haha. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see Malice perform, but I must say that I was happy that we weren't there too early like at Supremacy. Now the festival was easy to complete and I didn't necessarily want to go home early.
If I can give the organization a tip, I would like to just give my couple in the can and not in a cup
What nonsense that is, I get even less. But hey, I was happy they had it haha. I have to say that's the only thing I can complain about, everything else was really well organised. I lied, I also want to complain about the margarita pizza I ate, which was truly one of the dirtiest pizzas I have ever had. This is probably also because it had been under the warming lamp for a while. It did fill, so the purpose of why I got it is fulfilled. As with every festival, I bought another strap so that it can go in my vase, and this time I also had a coin left over, which Martijn pushed in with some force the day after.
has got. As I said at the beginning, it was very cold, this was certainly noticeable on the way home. We had the same top woman on the way back as on the way there and back from Supremacy. She even said that she likes our group so much that she would like to sign up to drive the ride to Spijkenisse. You could say that we are practically besties with the taxi driver haha. After she dropped us off safely at Metro Center, we had to walk home. It was so cold, it was impossible. In fact, Martijn & I got sick from the heat differences we experienced that day.
Rebellion was a good end to my first festival season! Just like Supremacy, this is quite a festival I would like to go to again, but probably not next year. I am very curious about other events from the same organizer, so maybe we will see them on the schedule next year!
I thoroughly enjoyed the festival season and have certainly developed a second personality that is more than happy to continue this hobby! There are also a number of fun parties planned for next year, so I can certainly look forward to that! Are you also a fan of a good festival or do you prefer a house party? Let me know in the comments! Supersized Kingsday, Intents Festival, DEFQON 1., Supremacy & REBELLiON: One With The Tribe, thanks for all the experiences and see you next time!
xx Myrthe
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