Rockstone photographer Marketa and I visited ‘de Beschaving – Festival Universalis’ and discovered a magical creative wonderland within the beautiful grounds of Utrecht’s botanical gardens.
The day did not start out well for me. I made two fundamental mistakes. Firstly, seeing the menacing clouds thickening, I went ALL OUT with my festival survival gear. Having survived two of the muddiest Glastonbury’s on record, I thought – ha! I’m no festival rookie who gets caught out by driving rain. Donning my knee-high wellies and rain cape I strode confidently out of the door.
The second mistake was, having totally failed to properly read the press email, I merrily headed straight for the main festival entrance. A marshall looked pityingly at me as he explained that the press tent was all the way on the other side of the terrain…and so began a long sorry trek around the festival perimeter. Of course by now the sun was bursting through the clouds and said rain survival kit was beginning to gently steam and create a sauna-like effect on my poor overheating body. To add insult to injury, I was catching glimpses of happy festival-goers through the trees as I trudged onwards in my chaffing rubber boots along the (completely bone dry) pathways.
Half an hour later, I arrived at the press entrance a sweaty, forlorn mess. Almost ready to give up, I was scooped up (figuratively speaking) by the super nice Hein and led into the grounds.
Moments later, as I walked through a giant glass greenhouse filled with exotic plants, I discovered that, like Alice, I had stepped into a sort of magical wonderland. Giant Kangaroos lolloped by (complete with genuine Ozzie accents), a large inflatable brain wobbled gently in the heat as people emerged from its core, mad scientists conducted weird and wonderful experiments and, in the middle of the lake, magical lotus flowers came alive as beautiful etherial ballerinas danced within them.
On which planet had I landed?!
De Beschaving is an intimate one-day festival blending culture and science for the “creative, inquisitive and smart”. The whole concept is one of discovery, whether through science experiment or new music. At it’s heart is inquisitiveness and playfulness and visitors are encouraged to explore, learn and delight in all the festival has to offer. It lives up to it’s name as a Festival Universalis with a surprising combination of music, film, theatre, comedy, cabaret, seminars, and wacky and wonderful stalls and experiments.
Of course I was here for the music, and here the festival really delivered with six stages, offering international, national and local acts spanning pop, rock, hiphop beats and electronic music.
As with most festivals I didn’t manage to catch everything I wanted to see, but my highlights were:
- Thomas Azier – A captivating, electric performance from a musician who sings like the forgotten lovechild of Ian Curtis from Joy Division.
- Bladzun – powerful, heart-pounding, multidimensional, indie rock.
- Bells of Youth – whiskey drenched voices, soaring harmonies, and badass rocking guitar solos.
- Town of Saints – joy infused, rabble-rousing indie folk that got the crowd stomping.
We also bumped into some more of our Rockstone Friends enjoying the laid back atmosphere – Project Bongo, When We Are Wild, and Coppersky.
All in all, I was totally and utterly charmed by this gorgeous festival. Great food, warm people, fantastic line-up and enough weird and wonderful delights to melt even the hardest heart. Watch out de Beschaving, we will be back!
Thomas Azier
© Marketa Tichavska
Bladzun
© Marketa Tichavska
Town of Saints
© Marketa Tichavska
Chef’Special
© Marketa Tichavska
Bells of Youth
© Marketa Tichavska