By Little Chilean

/gaby.o

Whenever we’re travelling or living abroad, we not only get to discover new places, but also new music. Luckily for us, now in summer (in the Northern Hemisphere), there are concerts and festivals galore, and one for every music style possible! So, today I’m going to tell you why you should add attending a music festival abroad to your bucket list, and why it has been the peak of my experiences in new countries.

Someone recently told me “I’ve never been to a music festival” while we were deciding if going to an artist’s solo concert or seeing them as an act at a festival. It made me realize that not everyone will know why a music festival day is not just about that one band you really like, but it’s a complete experience. And, by all means, one that should be enjoyed at least once (or 30 times?) in our lives, and definitely be on all of our bucket lists.

Now, among the many perks of travelling is that you get to attend music shows by foreign bands, as well as festivals with both local and international bands playing. And if it so happens that your travel journey takes you close to big cities where massive festivals are happening, even better.

That was the case for me just a couple of weeks ago when I got to attend a rock festival in the west of France while living in the southern city of Marseille –a 1-hour flight away. The event is called Hellfest, and it was probably one of the best musical experiences I have ever had the pleasure of living.

Hellfest draws metal fanatics from all over the world and, according to Discover Walks, it’s labelled the “most diverse extreme metal festival in the world”, and many artists refer to it as their “favourite festival to play”.

This 4-day festival gathers every year with names like Iron Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC, Deep Purple and Motörhead to name a few. Now that was enough to catch my attention! But on top of that, this year, I was going to have the chance to see live for the first time one of my new-found loves, Alter Bridge, alongside bands from my teenage years like Sum 41 and Papa Roach. I don’t know about you, but that’s one walk down memory lane I’d take any chance I get. And oh! It was so worth it!

Diving into a music universe

An event like this is way more than just a concert, it’s a full day (sometimes days) experience. And in the case of Hellfest, one that you start loving from the moment you land at its closest airport, Nantes. 

The festival drew approximately 65 thousand people this year, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that even from the minute you arrive at the baggage area, you already see signs, ads and practical information directed to all “hell-bangers” arriving.

Then, as you walk outside the airport, you’re received by a big statue-like electric guitar with “Hellfest” written on it. From then on, you know you’re in for one hell-of-an experience (pun intended) during the next few days. 

Most festivals take place in giant open spaces a bit further away from the main city, so you won’t normally have public transport. However, because of the high number of attendees, you’ll always find direct festival buses or some sort of shuttles that will take you there from the main airports or train stations. 

And so it was. After being sprinkled with the Hellfest fairy dust as soon as I set foot in the city of Nantes, I made my way to the main Gare (train station). There, I boarded the train to Clisson and from there, I took the Festival shuttle –it was way faster and cheaper than it sounds, trust me.

Right outside the Gare, we’re received by staff members from the station giving away bracelets, tote bags and water pouches to get us ready for the festival. Then, once the shuttle arrived at the venue, you could spot the sea of black-t-shirt-wearing festival goers walking on mass towards the festival gates.

Hellfest is so big that it has become a brand on its own. One that it’s proudly worn by many attendees parading previous year’s t-shirts, written on every board and sign on the way, and even printed on a completely branded bus. All carefully arranged to get you more on the Hellfest mode by the second. 

You could hear the banging guitar cords from the first meters walking from the car park, and step by step, we started spotting sky-high figures of speakers, guitars and a giant Lemmy. Fun fact: A 15 meters tall statue of Lemmy Kilmister, founder of the band Motörhead, landed on the festival site last year, replacing a smaller one that was already getting rusty, and it is actually a show of its own.

And just a few moments later, a street lined with food stands ready to please every palate, information tents, security, cash services, charging pods and more showed up in our sight. And with it, hundreds of staff members ready to welcome everyone, check our tickets and give us the right bracelets.

The best place to discover your new favourite band

I’ve had the pleasure of attending a dozen festivals by now, and each experience has been different and wonderful on its own. What I just described is more or less the same every time. But the best scenario of a festival that you’ll recurrently find is actually the mix of up-and-coming bands, the decades-old ones and great shows to cross off the bucket list, as well as performances worth checking out for the first time.

In other words, at every festival, you get to see the bands you didn’t know you loved until that day, and that, to me, is the best part. So, how do you discover them? Well, in most cases, the complete line-up will be in the same music style or at least cohesive enough. So, you already know you’ll at least enjoy passively listening to anyone playing, really.

But you can either check the complete schedule on the festival app, the paper programs you’ll find at the information tent, or simply by doing your own research in advance. You might spot names or recognize bands from which you really like that one song you heard ages ago. 

Well, this is the perfect time to discover their repertoire in more depth or, as I mentioned, to simply sit down and enjoy from afar bands or singers you have absolutely no idea who they are but that they might end up surprising you in the best of ways.

At Hellfest, I got a chance to jump in a crowd full of rock lovers to songs I used to spend hours listening to back in my teenage emo years –yeah, cringy, I know! Sometimes, these bands are not even playing anymore and they got together for one last world tour. In any case, seeing Sum 41 and Papa Roach was an epic and memorable experience, one that will stay in my heart forever thanks to Hellfest and my festival fellows.

Thanks to those days of pure music-loving vibes in June, I got to cross another dream off my bucket list. And, I hope this can become an experience you can enjoy soon, too. After all, again, it’s summer. If not now with massive events going on all over the world pretty much every day, then when? 

Happy festival(ing)!

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