Given it’s my seventh summer in Denmark, I decided it was about time that I made it to Roskilde. If you don’t know, the Roskilde Festival is to Denmark what the Glastonbury Festival is to the UK. And we call it “Roskilde” just like we say “Glastonbury”. It’s a major cultural institution here in Denmark, I think its biggest festival. Copenhagen and surrounding areas practically empty out during the period of the festival. It’s on for a full week – Saturday to Saturday – and there’s music the last 4 four days from the Wednesday night. I’m not a camper – I’ve tried it and decided it’s not for me (see Exhibit A and Exhibit B), so I bought a day ticket to rock out.
The journey to the festival was surprisingly straightforward, also due to a stroke of luck. When we got on the metro, we noticed a lady wearing a festival wristband and decided to follow her hoping she was going (returning?!) to the festival. She got out at Copenhagen Central Station, and we did too. We followed her to a train platform, not really checking the destination but still hopeful that we were going to the same place. It helped that there was a festival-looking crowd on said platform. Upon arriving at Roskilde Station (btw phew!), we followed the crowd to the platform for the festival train which is a seven minute journey to the festival grounds. As I said, straightforward but don’t follow my example folks. Plan your journey properly *hides face*
The whole journey took just under an hour (remember that!) and we arrived at the festival grounds around 2:30PM so we had the whole day to wander, take in the stalls, food options, people watch, get my face painted and check out the artists at the random stages we stumbled upon. There are lots of activities, chill out zones, shopping stalls, just lots happening. The organisers were clearly very intentional in their planning to keep people occupied over the days there. And foodwise, listen, you cannot go hungry at Roskilde. There’s a plethora of food options, some of which are really cool – I really wish I had gone back for the famous Diamond Slice pizza but my vegan burger and fries from Vegan’s Burger Box was pretty yummy.
I had been forewarned about the mud and rain, and I had even seen pictures and videos on IG, and yet, I still maintain that nothing prepared me for when I actually got there. The mud. Oh my gosh the mud was horrible. Thick, wet, hazardous and gross. My outfit was just wrong, I was hopeful the sun would come out but I definitely should have listened to my friend who told me to bring layers and wear trousers and wellies. The boots I wore were actually falling apart (they are now of blessed memory), and I am just grateful I brought a thick scarf which is probably the only thing that saved me from the flu. I think I was also expecting to be jumping about and dancing a lot, and it wasn’t really that vibe so there was a lot of static standing, literally stuck in the mud and the wind and rain punished me!
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t super impressed by the lineup this year, but because I had determined to go, I decided to go on Friday which had the Foo Fighters as the headliner. I discovered some very cool artists – Aurora and Kari Faux and also rediscovered some old faves – Roisin Murphy. The Foos put on a great show and they played my three faves – The Pretender, Best of You and Learning to Fly so I was a happy camper. The rain tried us all throughout the day but happily spared us during the Foos show.
Heading home was an unmitigated disaster. I think it was a combination of poor planning (because I just assumed that trains would run throughout the night – they don’t!) and national rail issues. We started the journey home at 2:40AM (a full 12 hours at the festival, whoa!) but somehow I didn’t make it into my home until just after 5AM owing to track issues which had us in the train not moving and packed like sardines for an hour. Wild. Anyhoo, here are some tips for anyone contemplating going for the day in the future:
- Download the Roskilde app beforehand – there’s a wealth of information on it, including a map (which is super helpful especially at night!) and you can also plan your music schedule according to the schedule on the app.
- Pick a cute outfit, but be mindful of the weather. Bring a proper raincoat and LAYERS and WELLIES!!!!!!!!
- Take toilet roll and wet wipes, because you will need it as the day progresses and the toilets become…erm… not so sparkling clean.
- Bring some protein bars/snacks as it can get quite expensive to keep buying food at the various stalls, some of which were an expensive disappointment.
- If you’re not staying the night, make sure to find out when the last trains are and plan to be on the second to last train so there won’t be a story.
- Come with an open heart and mind and with positive vibes. Even if you don’t know the artists, it’s a really cool experience.
On reflection, I think the price is quite steep for the day ticket but then again perhaps if I was more into the lineup and the weather wasn’t so trash, I might not have minded the price so much. All in all, I don’t regret going but not sure if I see myself doing it again. At least now I can say for myself that Aunty has done Roskilde!
