Vodka is NOT Water

Arriving late at the free rock and folk music festival Woodstock made finding a comfortable camping spot impossible so in turn I spent the rest of the weekend sleeping awkwardly on a rock. But of course at a music festival when is there time to sleep? Certainly not on the first night! My friends, Aga and Zuzia, and I found what can only be described as a sweaty cesspool of very friendly people. Within hours we were crowdsurfing to Zebrahead. We only stopped and crawled back to our tents as the sun rose over the main stage illuminating lost shoes sunk deep into the mud pit.

There are 3 stages – Main stage, Folk stage and Krishna Tent stage – and on them plays a huge variety of artists: The Prodigy, Blackjack and Dog Eat Dog. Woodstock always draws hundreds of thousands of campers from all over the world and that year it drew in 700,000 people.

The Hari Krishna village were handing out free food. Plastic plates piled high with veggie food we sat down lazily and listened to the distant music. As more beer cans opened and the night passed on a massage circle was created out of complete strangers! There is no better way to bond than a good shoulder rub!

Friendly people, great music and free food are not the only things Woodstock has to offer. For 100 Zloty you could go bungee jumping. So as an early birthday present my friend paid for me to leap off a crane. Adrenaline pumping and fear seeping in I was lifted high into the sky until the instructor asked, “Do you want a push?” Turning and looking at him in what can only be described as a wide-eyed glaze I said “no” and fell.

Woodstock in itself is an amazing experience; you really feel safe and yet at the same time on edge! The train back has a funny reputation with stories of the train whizzing by full of naked, dancing people. Our journey back was uncomfortable, smelly and wonderful. I had a space to myself that only fit my rucksack with me on top of it. During that 11-hour journey I had a love song sung to me, had to climb over the tops of the chairs and when the train stopped in the middle of nowhere people poured out to go to the toilet on the bank and as the horn blew and the train began to move away throngs of people pulling up their trousers were yanked back onto the moving train.

Woodstock’s uniqueness comes from the fact it’s free and that gives it its various nature, drawing in all nationalities and personalities. These people not only make the festival great but the journeys unforgettable.