Sun and Sound in Austria

Psychedelic Holidays

Counting the party density Austria is one of the world's top locations for trance already for some time. But my second visit to our neighbour country this year showed that this is not only about quantity but also about quality!

Sonnenklang Festival has just happened last week and proved again to be the biggest gathering of trancers in Austria. About 7000 people made it to the Dobra lake this year - one of the most amazing locations for trance parties worldwide! The ruin of an 1000 year-old castle lies on a half island of the lake and is the home to two dancefloors and some bars. You can climb the tower to overlook the whole area including the main dancefloor that is hidden in a group of trees. Walking down the hill you find the lake - perfect for a very refreshing bath. The camping and parking area lies further up the hill at another castle. OK you walk for 30 minutes but maybe it's good so you have to enjoy some time to relax from the party. Up at the camping you find another two or three dancefloors. So two castles, one lake, hills, forest... What more would you wish for?!

While the last Sonnenklang was a pretty wet story with rain most of the days the organisers and partypeople got indemnified this year with amazing weather from the first day on. Actually it rained two days before the party and two days after. Karma?

This meant that people were boiling in temperatures over 30 degrees celsius in the day and freezing to temperatures close to zero in the night. Not easy to handle but... "nur die harten kommen in' garten"! I went to sleep most of the nights as I prefered to freeze in my tent rather than on the dancefloor! ;-)

As sunny as the weather was the spirit. I could clearly recognize we're not in Germany here. The vibe was amazing, most people greatly friendly, freaky, shanti, alternative. Rastas whereever I looked, politically correct food, hard to find coffee, beautiful people! Obviously the Austrian scene is still young and fresh so I tried to put my best smile and hid my third theeth in my tent!

The only thing that didn't catch me that much was the musical concept. OK, there were some highlights but most of the music played was standard full-on. Also the sequence of the artists partly didn't make much sense. The music could use a bit more creativity in the next year.

I also didn't understand why there was no deposit on the beer bottles. At the end of the party you encountered piles of beer bottles everywhere: On the dancefloor, in the forest, in the castle ruins. The austrians showed their skills as beer drinkers - or were these all imported germans like me??!

However... besides some small details the party was a blast! A holiday resort for trancers, regular freaks, alternatives, families alike. Big respect to the group of organisers that put this festival together and stayed quite relaxed during the party! See you next Year!!!

More info: http://www.sonnenklang.at

Sam@Chaishop.com

Date: Jun 2, 2005 - Text: Sam@Chaishop.com - Photos: Mat Mushroom, Sam@Chaishop.com