My understanding of a festival, in my experience is you go to somewhere you've never heard of, and find that there is not much there, only green fields and all year round they seem to have okay weather until the certain festival starts and then huge amounts of rain thrashes down on your time there, and the only good aspect you get out of it, is that you get to see your favourite DJ's and Live acts.
At the festival you have to put up with rain, mass amounts of different variants of mud (yep there is more than one kind at festivals), smelly people, and overpriced drinks and food.
Unknown, is a festival that is truly unknown to me. This is a festival that, as you could probably tell by my depiction of a festival, is not in Britain, this is in Croatia.
Unknown, is located on a split terrain of forests and beaches, not just muddy green fields.
"Getting to Unknown is Simple"
I would not agree with that. Getting to Unknown is not simple, its is an adventure.
How are you getting there?
Now when it comes to asking people at festivals I've been to before, the most you ask is "Where have you come from?"and most people respond with various different parts of the country. From that you just assume that they have just came here by car on the motorway. Not the eccentric adventure in my opinion.
For Unknown however, everyone is to have a truly incredible adventure to get there, and with that will come an amazing story of how they got there. Myself and Dave Collins are to go partially by plane. However we are not getting a plane to Croatia. We are getting a plane to Italy, and then getting a transfer from there.
Sound pretty straight forward?
It's true, we are getting there by simply getting a flight to Italy, and then getting a transfer from there. However its how we get there, that makes a truly incredible journey....for me, the type of person that has only gone to UK festivals.
GO.
From the word go, Dave Collins is to stay over at my flat in Derby, and then from there we are to drive to Birmingham Airport where we will travel by Ryanair (which will be an adventure in itself) from Birmingham Airport to Trieste FVG Aeroporto. This airport, is not actually in Trieste. It is on the very outskirts of Trieste, in between 2-3 other Italian city's.
From here, Italy is a new experience for the pair of us, as neither of us have been to Italy before. Once were there, we wait a short while for our transfer to Unknown festival to arrive, and then we set off:
As Dr Thornthwaite described it to me:
"You go on the Italian motorway from the airport,
where you will see some of the Italian coast, then you
will go through border control into Slovenia. From there
you will have to go through a Slovenian mountain pass, which
looks pretty scenic from what I can see, and then you go through
more border control into Croatia, and then you go on a Croatian
motorway through some of the countrysides of Croatia before
eventually turning up in the coastal town of Rovinj."
Before Dave knew of this travel itinerary, this was his main concern:
"What so, when we get to Italy, we're probably gonna have to take a cab, and we'll get in, and the cab driver will say 'Where you goin babada bupi?' and we'll say 'Unknown' and he'll say 'What?! You don't know? Mamma Mia!'." - Dave Collins
So telling that to someone will feel like Frodo telling someone what he did when he travelled to Mordor. I'm feeling very excited for this adventure and it will be a great sign off for the summer of 2013.
The festival itself...
Comparing Unknown festival, to other festivals Ive been to,
you have a main stage(s) and big tents, and thats about it.
I always prefer tents, because it keeps you out of the rain.
At Unknown however, the rain shouldn't be an issue.
At Unknown you have stages, in such unique ways:
So this stage comes with fascinating art from Kid.Acne, and also includes BBQ's...Something I have never witnessed.
The Main stage, when your there, apparently has glowing forests to your right and open sea to your left. Something I have never witnessed.
Straight outta' Ibiza. I have never been to Ibiza, Ive always wanted to, and people have spoken about amazing pool parties in Ibiza, So I can't wait for this one.
The forest stage. Once again, an area of terrain I have never witnessed. Ive raved in fields before, but never forests.
The other stage...which I have no idea what to expect, apart from mirrors. Your guess' to whats going to be happening at this stage is as good as mine, looks very interesting.
The awesome reflection of Moroccan culture, in a stage area. Im just going to state two things about this stage. 1. Hammocks
2. Shisha
Oh my lord.
If that doesn't amaze you, the icing on this crazy croatian cake is this:
Ibiza clubbing partners and parties always boast that they have boat parties. Well, now Unknown does too.
I have never been on a boat party, always wanted to too.
It will be hard however to be put on a boat and sailed away from these beautiful stages that lay there.
Seems like a big place?
Here's a map of the Unknown festival land:
Here's a map of the Unknown festival land:
If your going, I'll see you there. If not, why not come next year?
