A little over a week ago, I was having dinner at my friend's house to celebrate Sukkot. At the dinner, he introduced me to his cousin, Din. After a great meal and some chit-chat with the other guests at the dinner, Din told us about a 'nature party' that he and his friends would be attending on the 20th this month. Aside from the obvious hippie connotation, a 'nature party' was described to me essentially as a music festival that usually takes place either in the desert, the woods, or on the water. This particular one would be taking place on the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. Intrigued by the potential adventure and the low cost (150 INS, i.e. €30), my friend and I asked Din to buy us a couple of tickets to the "Free Spirit Festival - Sukkot 2008".
48-hours before leaving for the festival, I received a call from my friend:
"Hey Dave, my parents are flying me home for the week before school starts, which means I can't go to the festival. But I talked to Din and he'll still take you and another friend if you know someone who wants my ticket..."
Not what was originally planned...but undeterred, and realizing that I had already spent 150 shekelim anyway, I decided to trust my gut and go with it - inviting my roommate Adam along for the ride.
A couple of days later, Din picked us up and we proceeded to pick up his friend Tal, before driving to a mall and meeting up with five other friends of Din's. Together, we grabbed all the necessities that a group of nine energetic guys would need for a 24-hour excursion: disposable barbecue set, lots of water, plenty of food, some drinks, and a few snacks.
After a two-hour drive, which included the occasional stop to quickly make some coffee on a portable hob that one of the guy's brought, we stopped on a hill for our late-night barbecue. Over some good food, Adam and I began to befriend everyone in the group before heading to the festival.
Upon entering the festival at around ten o'clock at night, live music could heard throughout the entire site. We took care of important matters first: getting our bearings straight, setting up the tent, and getting friendly with our temporary neighbors in the adjacent tents. Once settled, we made our way to the stage and quite literally danced and laughed the night away - passing out at 6am for a quick 2-hour nap, right as the sun was beginning to rise.
The next day we were greeted by scorching 35*C heat, but whenever anyone felt warm, a quick jump into either the lake itself, or one of the pair of water-slides was easily accessible (- the festival organizers really did think of everything for this one). My routine during the day was simple: water-slides, dance, sit in the sun until the water dried, water-slides, repeat!
I have been to music festivals in various parts of the world (Belgium, Holland, U.S.A, Scotland...) and I can easily say that this one ranked among the best for various reasons.
Firstly, although I have attended a festival where the Loch Ness Monster is said to live, bragging rights do not get much better than "I partied where Jesus is said to have performed a miracle".
Secondly, it was extremely well organized: security at the entrance as well as throughout the rest of the 36-hour period was efficient without being intrusive or overbearing.
Also, the entire atmosphere of the festival was of an intangibly loving nature: everyone there was on their own little adventure, and yet everyone was there to have a great time together. For instance, at this festival I only witnessed one incident where an individual was clearly experiencing a bad trip, and collapsed on the dance-floor: immediately, the surrounding group of twenty-or-so people stopped dancing, called for help, and one of the hippies (a doctor when not at festivals) took care of the young man, before getting three of the burlier festival-goers to escort the patient under a canopy for some fresh air, water, and monitoring. Granted, I didn't see everything that took place at the festival, and I could simply be blowing this anecdote way out of proportion, but I find that the way everyone around the young man reacted to his predicament reflects the general feeling that I got from the festival.
The main reason though for enjoying this festival so much, would have to be, simply, that I ended up going with a bunch of people whom I basically I didn't know at all when we left, and returned to Ramat Aviv with a great group of Israeli friends. Din and all of Din's friends are just really great guys, who love to laugh, and couldn't have been more genuine or nice throughout the trip. With my classes starting this Monday, I could not have planned a better way to enjoy the end of my break.
To see more pictures of the festival, check out my Facebook page.
1 comment:
Just realized I never commented.
That festival looks hilarious. I think Israel is still living in the late 1970s.
Speaking of Israel, I watched Don't Mess With the Zohan this week. First movie I've seen in a LONG time. Not Sandler's best, but still fun.
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