Photo by Oliver Valente
It is truly a unique and special place, where RY X’s and FRANK WIEDEMANN‘s SACRED GROUND FESTIVAL takes place. Trampe, a little village about 2 1/2 hours away from Berlin in the Uckermark only consits of around 80 citizens. 80 super friendly citizens, who play a big part in making the festival a special event. Here are three reasons why this year’s SACRED GROUND has been an outstanding experience for me.
1. The citizens and their contribution
Already when you arrive with the shuttle that runs from the next train station Prenzlau, the residents greet you with a kind smile. It seems like the SACRED GROUND is one of their highlights of the year. And of course the festival entry is free for them. Some of my friends already went to the festival last year and got the idea to not camp at the actual camping side, because they wanted to have a fully intimate experience. I thought this would be impossible, but we met a very friendly couple who guided us to their house and their big front garden – only 3 minutes away from the festival area. They allowed us to camp at their private property, although they didn’t know us. It is so nice to meet such friendly people who trust you without doubting your responsibility. They even brang us fresh coffee in the morning: what could be better at a festival where you don’t really get that much sleep? But this hasn’t been everything: around four other residents also let people go into their gardens. Not to sleep there, but to take a shower. They even shielded the showers from viewers and provided choclate and coffee.
2. The location
The SACRED GROUND FESTIVAL takes place at a beautiful countryside and an old farm. Animals like cows, chicken, geese and horses just wait for you around the corner. Wide corn fields and old farm buildings shape the landscape. Fortunately the festival ground is set right in the middle of that. There are trees and meadows next to the stages and everything is decorated with much love. Even a special playground for children is organised and many different chill areas with couches, armchairs and pillows provide a lot of comfort during the festival.
3. The musician’s intimate spirit
There is no real backstage or VIP area nor a fixed timetable at the SACRED GROUND FESTIVAL. The acts stay at the same places like you: they sit next to you when you drink a coffee at the barn coffee shop, they stand next to you while waiting for your food in front of a food truck or they sit next to you at the meadow to see the next act. Everything happens at the same eye level and no artist plays the festival because of commercial reasons. When it starts to rain, musicians are relaxed: because of the flexible timetable it’s no problem to wait a moment for the rain to stop. Or to play a spontanious gig at a little church with other musicians. There is no rush, not for the artists nor for the visitors. Escapism doesn’t need a schedule.
I didn’t expect a festival to be like that. I’m only used to bigger festivals with set timetables, VIP areas and many people who don’t take care of the environement or other people. But now, knowing that there exist festivals which can be different from that, I don’t want to be a part of such big commercial events anymore. Thank you SACRED GROUND for showing me that there still are people that not only care for good music but also for everything else during a festival. And – of course – see you next year!
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