‘You experience some kind of natural high’

‘People should go to festivals for the relaxed and sociable atmosphere. People start talking to each other and you can have a beer with anyone, people you know and people you don’t. And the people you get to know keep on coming back year after year, even if the line-up isn’t as good as it was. This year I’m going with 30 friends to Metalcamp, a festival in Slovenia. It is cheap; five days for 150 euros. The swimming is fabulous and you can paraglide and you can even get good beer. It is a totally different experience from Pinkpop. That is way too big and expensive for my liking. At a good festival you experience some kind of natural high. You can’t tell one day from the other and you find you can party on just a few hours’ sleep a night. You don’t have a thought in the world; you get no email and there’s nothing you have to do. And everyone there has the same feeling, they have come together to make the festival into a great party. It is a pity that I can’t go to more festivals this year. I’d love to go to Graspop, Wacken or Lowlands but I am really skint.’