Rock Werchter was the reason. 10 Bands In 10 Countries. This was to be our fourth such entry. After Canada, Japan and America, this was also the first one where we intended and set out to go as a destination to fulfill this project.
Leuven is a nice little town in Belgium. It was littered with festival goers. A shuttle bus (free) ran constantly from the train station to the festival site. Campers were in town looking for cheaper food than could be found at the stalls, or groceries to take back to the camp site or other supplies. Concert goers were headed out to spend a day listening to music.
While we had gotten a cab from the train station to the hotel, we decided to walk to the bus. It wasn’t a long walk, really only about 20 minutes. This also afforded us the opportunity to see more of the town.
The gates opened at 12 and I wanted to be there. Stephen agreed, and this leads to another learning experience. On the first day, stick together. Learn where the meeting points are and work them out ahead of time. In this case each of the three stages had two check-in points for Facebook, and we agreed that after a particular show if we got separated we would meet at the one on the left as we face the stage.
Wristbands were used as the festival entrance. The gates opened, and we were searched for certain items. Learn ahead of time what things are allowed in and what they mean in the local language. A little further in our paper tickets I had printed out back home were taken and our wristbands issued. Then we were inside.
Get a locker.
It cost €7 a day for a locker, or €20 for all four. Even though we were only going to be there for three days, getting the locker for the run of the festival was the smart investment. When you purchase and bring in outside food (picnics are allowed at Rock Werchter) you can place that in a locker to eat later. Got a water bottle but don’t want to carry it around while listening to music? Put it in the locker. Buy a concert shirt but you are afraid it might get lost in the crowd? Put it in the locker.
Pick a band you wouldn’t normally see.
Pick a band you’re willing to miss and get out of the festival.
Make sure you can get reenter before leaving
Respect the security. When they say to stand, you stand.
Bring sunscreen. Use it. You can store it in the locker.
Bring your own roll of toilet paper
Know your routes
These are some of the tips we have picked up. Learn from our experience. Make your festival going much more enjoyable with a little bit of forethought and planning.
The bus from the Leuven train station to the festival site didn’t drop us off at the entrance. Instead it was about 1.5 kilometers away. Time for more walking. This also meant there would be walking on the way out. Unfortunately, it was dark, we were once again tired, and there weren’t enough signs pointing the way. Sure, there was a large group of people heading towards the bus, but there were also large groups of other people heading off down the other roads towards campsites. Once again, we asked. There were plenty of people working for the festival and they were easy enough to spot so it wasn’t difficult to get some help.
It was nearly 2 when we got back to the Leuven train station, and while I was hoping to get a cab (I was tired and sore) there were none to be found. So we walked. We wound up walking each day from the hotel to the train station in the morning and then back in the evening (well, technically the early morning).
Walking in Leuven was great, and when you have the opportunity to walk around foreign cities during your travels, even if it is an hour between trains – do so. Even if it is to just walk around the train station, down the block and back. There’s so much interesting to see.
I liked the organization of Rock Werchter, but there were a few things that I found rather bothersome, the lack of adequate trash receptacle chief among them. By the end of each day the ground was impossible to navigate without stepping on trash. There were many trash receptacles next to the food stands, but none further in where most of the people were.
One way to help curb the litter was with a recycling program. In order to purchase food and drink at Rock Werchter you had to buy tickets, and food cost X-number of tickets, with most drinks costing 1. If you returned 20 bottles or cups at designated stations you earned one ticket good for a drink. You’d get a few industrious teenagers going through and picking up nearly everything getting loads of free drinks.
The other big problem I had was the urinal troughs. These were simply out in the open. In one spot there was a urinal trough situated in between the ticket booth and the drink stand. And no privacy screen or anything. It’s just like peeing on the fence. Sure there were porta-potties but the proclivity of these urinal troughs was disturbing. And the smell.
One of the things that simply wouldn’t fly in America was the way beer was distributed. Each of the drink stalls offered water, Coke and beer. Every one. And there was little to actually curb any underage drinking. If you looked the legal age, you could drink. With no limit on the number of beers one could buy at a time, one person could go in, buy 8 beers, then take them to their underage friends. There were so many people drunk before 4pm than I was comfortable with.
I would have liked a few more logistical signs, and maybe one more stage to keep the music flowing, but overall there’s a lot to like about Rock Werchter.