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My Blog about Amphi festival is a bit late this year. I am still trying to get back into my usual festival mode :) After two years of break it still feels weird to be back to parties and festivals. I really enjoy it, but I get overwhelmed by a lot of people a lot easier.

I arrived in Cologne on Friday afternoon, so that I would have enough time on Saturday morning in the hotel to get ready for the first day. The pre-party on Friday was optional for me, because I didn´t know whether would have the energy for it. But I ended up going and it was a lot of fun.

My Saturday started out with hosting the Industrial Dance Meetup. I was a bit late for the meetup, because I underestimated how far away my hotel actually was from the Tanzbrunnen. I ended up sprinting in my platform boots through "entire" Cologne and arrived late with my feet already hurting. But the video shooting was a lot of fun. And we where a lot of people which made me really happy. I am currently still editing the video, but it is coming long.

After the video shooting I had a short photo shooting with Ulrich Waschul  And then I finally had time to watch a couple of bands. My favorite gig from that day were Solar Fake and [SITD]. The weather on Saturday was really good, only slightly too warm and a tiny bit too much sunshine. Besides watching bands I also spent a lot of time talking to friends and acquaintances. The sentence that was used most often was properly..."I think I saw you last in 2019". It was really good seeing all those people again. I ended up staying for the aftershow-party and danced there for a longer time. But not for too long...my feet were killing me, so I took a bicycle taxi back to my hotel.

On Sunday I was at the festival area pretty early again for the second part of the industrial dance video filming. And wow! We were so, so many people there. Filming all of them took me a lot of time. But I got awesome help from Anoxia, who was really good in coordinating the people to go where they need to be for the camera.

And afterwards I had a really nice photo shooting with Ulrich Waschul again. He is a really good photographer and I am so happy that he takes me pictures every Amphi and also does our meetup group pictures.

In general Sunday was unbearable sunny and hot. After watching Aesthetic perfection I had to go back to the hotel, to get out of the sun, eat something and take a cold shower. Otherwise I would have gotten a bad sunburn and a heat stroke at the same time. I changed into a very light outfit and flat shoes afterwards, so that I could enjoy the rest of the festival evening more relaxed. I watched the last bands and then stayed for a few hours of the aftershow party.  My favorite gigs from Sunday where Eisbrecher and Aesthetic perfection.

I went back home on Monday morning with the train. My learning from the Amphi festival: book a better hotel next time. I walked why to often the 40 minutes from my hotel to the festival area and back- which took energy from me that I couldn`t spend dancing. But otherwise it was a very, very fun festival and I am really looking forward to be there next year again.

Hello there! :) I did not write a blog post on here for a very long time. Usually I am writing my posts about the bigger festival I attended. But well...we all know what has been going on 2020/2021. I can`t believe that it has been over 2 years since I was last at a festival. I am not sure what 2022 brings, I didn`t make any plans for festivals/parties jet because I don´t want to be disappointed jet.

But there is also new projects coming up. I will have a photo shooting with a new photographer in February that I am very excited about. Also I am still looking for new photographers in Berlin :)

I am also working on 2 more video collaborations and one bigger video project. And I have a lot of fun lately with Tiktok.

So I try to make the best out of the situation. But I would love to be able to go to M'era Luna or Amphi or WGT festival somewhen again.

I hope you are all coping as good as possible with the current situation and that you are healthy.

My conclusion for M'era Luna 2019? - Water melon :)

It was my last festival for this year, since I am now pregnant in week 36 (so 4-7 weeks to go, depending whether the baby comes on time or later). I still really wanted to go to the festival, since after having a baby I won´t be able to go out for any party/concert/festival for at least 3-4 month and also afterwards it will be very limited to local parties at first.

My M'era Luna started on Saturday mid-day. Since I live close to Hildesheim I could get ready at home and then take the train/bus to the festival ground. I am still waiting for the year, on which I will finally make it to the camping ground at M'era Luna, so far every year something came in between (maybe that´s also due to the fact, that I live so close and never find the motivation to take the hustle to build my tent there).

The first thing I noticed this year was that they had a shuttle bus directly to the festival area, however I am not sure whether I might have missed it last year. But: the bus was driving far to few times especially at the arrival times on Saturday. And paying for it took a long time, because everyone in the line need a ticket. I think they should just make the shuttle bus part of the festival price (1-2 euros per ticket more, don´t make a big difference anyways).

This year my main focus where not the bands, but meeting people and friends and getting into the general festival atmosphere. The weather was perfect, not to hot, not to cold, no rain. Only a bit windy. 

What I like about M'era Luna is that is seems to be a very relaxed festival. Everything is close together, and due to the location (on a field/old airport), people are sitting everywhere around, enjoying the music and chilling in the sun.

The festival is also very nicely decorated. The only thing I missed this year where the stilt walkers/acrobats. They were there every year since I was at M'era Luna, however somehow this year not. I hope they bring them back.

M'era Luna as has a very nice shopping area, that contains also a lot of shops that  sell unique handcrafted things and not only the cheap resellers, that buy stuff online and sell it for twice the price at the festival.

One thing I want to try out next year is the Academy (a place at M'era Luna where you can take different workshops). Not necessary because of the workshops itself, but because I am interested to see how this goes.

I did watch some parts of the Gothic fashion which I very much enjoyed.

After a full festival day it was very hard for me to motivate myself to get ready again on Sunday morning. Not because I didn`t want to go to the festival, but because in every movement I make the belly is now in the way. However I found the motivation and I was very happy about it in the end. I meet more people and friends that I missed out on the day beforehand.

I can not say a lot about the bands this year. The line-up would have been every good in my point of view, if I had been able to watch the bands. However I needed to stay away from the stages because they where way to crowed and too loud for the baby in the belly. But next year I will be able to go to the front row again. :)

In general this M'era Luna festival was very "full". The festival got more and more popular over the last years and this year it was sold out. I can only repeat what people who camped told me, but the camping ground seem to be too full and the arrival pretty stressful. Maybe they can open more space next year.

However what was very nice (and unfortunately not very common at festivals) - there were enough toilets (import for a pregnant woman^^) and water stations available so that you didn´t have to wait in a long queue.

So I very much enjoyed M'era Luna festival this year again. My festival experience was properly a lot, lot different from most people, because of my "late-stage" pregnancy. But I am so glad that I was still so fit that I could last a full festival day. And next year I will be able to fully enjoy the concerts again, something I am really looking forward too.

Amphi Festival 2019 was super fun again. Also it was again a bit different for me, since I am (still) pregnant - now in week 33.

This means I have to stick to outside locations, where it´s not so noisy and not too crowed. However I am just so happy, that I am still able to go to festivals and there were a couple of really good bands playing outside on the main stage.

My friends and me arrived in Cologne on Friday evening. Usually that´s the evening of the pre-party. Well, I had to miss out on that - since it is inside. We went to pick up our festival wrist bands and found a every nice restaurant in Cologne to eat dinner.

Saturday started pretty early. A friend of mine spontaneously organized a little "cyber-meeting" - to be honest, I would rather have it called "industrial dance meeting" since it is more inclusive. Not all industrial dancers and ex-das-klubbers are Cybergoth. The meeting was set to be at 11 am - I made it there at 11:30. Getting ready in the morning just takes 3 hours, especially if you have a big belly in front of you that makes moving around a bit harder. I had a very nice photo-shoot with Ulrich Waschul afterwards - I take pictures with him every year. In general festivals are starting for me to become more like family-and-friends meetings. I didn´t even check the Amphi Lineup beforehand. I just knew I had to be there to meet "my people". And a couple of good bands are always playing.

I saw a bit of Chrom, Hocico and Lord of the Lost that day. My highlight was definitely Hocico. Unfortunately I was so done, that I had to leave Lord of the Lost early. Just before a big rain shower started. I missed Blutengel which I would have loved to see, but baby comes first this year. :) The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful for me - having a nice dinner, enjoying the bathtub in my hotel room and then crushing into my bed. I really hope everyone else went on to party! :D Besides this rain shower the weather for Amphi Festival was actually perfect this year. Not to warm, not to cold, not to rainy, not to sunny. Perfect for running around the entire day and dance. :)

Sunday started later - which was nice. Some people really wanted to do an industrial dance video at the Amphi again. My friend Lunara organized a meeting point very spontaneous - and I stumbled into the responsibility of filming and editing it....so a week after my Amphi impressions video, there should be also an industrial dance video from Amphi 2019 online. However I really want to do it properly organized next year again. But a couple of friends (Anoxia, Frettchen, Lunara, me)...already decided, that next year that will happen. :)

This day I saw Faderhead and a bit of Welle:Erdball. Faderhead was definitely my festival highlight. The gig was super fun and the people were having a great party. I missed out on Nachtmahr that day - because they played inside.

The rest of my day was again pretty uneventful but nevertheless super nice. I spend most of the time talking to friends, that I haven`t met in a long time. And when everyone left for Nachtmahr, I left again for the hotel - straight into the bathtub.

So that was my Amphi Festival. I was forced to miss out on a lot of things, nevertheless I am super happy that even in 9th month I am still fit enough to travel and attend festivals. And it´s only 9 month, so next year it will be a lot different again - I will be able to go to inside locations, dance a lot, drink a bit. But most importantly I will meet my friends at Amphi 2020 also again. :)

This year's WGT was my second with a pregnancy belly. My older daughter is now 3 years old now and with her in the belly I was also at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen. So in a way, I already knew what to expect and what I can do and what I can't do with a belly inhabitant. First things first: the WGT was super amazing and I was happy that I was still able to go. It was a lot "slower" then usual and with only 3-4 concerts, but at least I was there. Biggest set-back for me however as the Pagan Village (Heidnisches Dorf). I will come to that later.

I arrived in Leipzig as usual on Thursday evening. However to a much later time then usual - because I had to give my master thesis defense right before hopping into the train. I got picked up by my friend, festival and stage partner in crime Lady Flauschig. Originally the plan was to camp together on the camping ground, however due to my belly that was postponed for a later WGT. After getting my stuff into the flat, we  went to the Agra area that evening to pick up my festival ribbon and meet up with a couple of friends. The pre-party was to loud for the baby so we went to bed pretty early.

On Friday we got ready for the Victorian Picnic. I always love coming back, because people seem to be so relaxed and you get to see some of the most amazing outfits of the entire WGT. The little café that in the middle of the park also upgrade it´s amount of toilets, so the queue was a lot shorter this year. (Unfortunatelly the queue for the ice cream was much longer, so I didn´t get one).

After the picnic we went to the Haus Leipzig for the Synthattack gig. Usually I am on stage with Lady Flauschig together, however this time I found a very good replacement for myself. Snowy Firefly will be dancing instead of myself as long as I have my pregnancy belly. But I was allowed to stay on the gallery to see the gig. Otherwise it would have been to crowed for me and the belly, but in this way I got to enjoy the concert. (Thank you very much to the event manager for letting me sit there).

For me that was already my Friday. After the concert I was starving and after having food I was so done that I went to bed. But I send out Lady Flauschig to dance and party for me.

Our Saturday started super early. Because friends of us have a new band called TOAL and we wanted to support them as they played as opener in the Nontox. They are all experienced musicians that play in multiple bands, but as TOAL it was only their second gig. The gig was really nice and I am sure for the next gigs we get to sleep longer, as they make their way up the line-up. :D

After TOAL we went back to the flat to finish our hair and makeup. Afterwards we did a short trip to the Agra area, however only shortly afterwards I meet a lot of friends that wanted to go back to the Nontox for Epinephrine, Noisuf-X and Centron. We took the cap to the location, because the Nontox the the worst location to reach out of all locations of the WGT I have been so far. Additionally they also had a replacement bus service they year, which took extra long. The concert of Ephinephrine was really nice and I was able to dance a bit. Much to my disappointment they enhanced the bass by a lot when Noisuf-X started, so that I had to go, because it was again to loud for my baby. So that was my Saturday, it was super fun nevertheless.

Our Sunday started super late and it took us ages to get ready. Because Lady Flauschig and me were already pretty done from the festival. When we finally got ready and reached the festival area, we run into to friend photographers, who`s model had just cancelled them. So we spontaneously went to a photo shoot with them. Lady Flauschig went afterwards to see Soman in the Täubchental. And I wanted to go inside the Heidnisches Villages. Well - my part didn`t go as planed.

The Pagan Village (Heidnisches Dorf) was a huge disappointment this year - because they are only interested into profit and not that people actually enjoy it. The Pagan Village is independent of the WGT - however they work together since years. The pagan village is one of the few places were you can go with a day ticket without buying the entire festival ribbon. However - they are selling day tickets without limits. So that people who paid the entire festival price can not get inside anymore. The queue for the village was at 3 days up until the train station. So about 500m! If you didn´t get inside the pagan village by mid-day you could not get inside at all and once you were inside you couldn´t go outside again, because...you wouldn´t get back inside. In the village itself it was so crowed that it was also not much fun. For me the pagan village was always essential for the WGT. When you didn´t have anything else to do you would go inside, have a honey wine, some sweets and chill out on the meadow. However this was not possible this year. It was especially disappointing, since I was pregnant and couldn´t see most concerts. So the pagan village was actually one of the things I really wanted to do. Just sit in the meadow and listen to some nice music from afar. To be honest, I am not sure, whether I will pay the festival ribbon again, if they don´t find a solution for this. The ticket got more and more expensive over the last year`s and they cut more and more things that are included. If the pagan village is now also not available anymore then I don´t see a point in spending so much money.

On Monday we got up early again - because at least once I wanted to go inside the pagan village. However there was on music playing and the moment and my friend didn´t want to be there, because she ''forgot'' to eat again in the morning, so we went outside again soon. On that day, I pretty much only did some walking through the Agra area and enjoying some food and good conversations there and on the camping ground. And then it was already time to get back to the train station and leave Leipzig again.

So was WGT fun? Yes! I am happy that I went and didn´t let my pregnancy prevent me from having fun. However I was very much disappointed with the Pagan Village disaster. Will I go next year again? Properly, but only if they find a better solution for the pagan village. If they don´t find a solution I will simply do the without-a-ticket WGT. So Friday Victorian Picnic, Saturday a day-ticket for the Pagan Village. In the evening Nontox (you can get day tickets for that as well). Because if I go next year, it will be with my entire family, 5 days are too long to be without my then born baby. And as the family we will have the same problem - most concerts are to noisy, the Agar area is not so nice to sit and play at. So it really depends upon if and how they manage to solve the Heidnisches Dorf situation. Otherwise the tickets are simply to over-priced for the service I get.

This year was my third M'era Luna festival. And at some point I should really camp at this festival, because I think it makes festival experience a different and properly also even more fun. But since I live only 25 minutes by train way from Hildesheim every year I come up with another excuse to not sleep in a tent there. This year I am just a little overworked and didn´t want to bother with preparing for camping. Last year it was too muddy.... :D

M'era Luna 2018 was the first festival in a long time where I didn´t have a gig or any obligations, that's why I didn´t plan anything. I just wanted to go there, meet up with friends, see some bands, dance and enjoy myself. I didn´t even bother looking which bands where playing when I bought the ticket. So on Saturday I took my time to drink coffee and get ready at home, before arriving around 14 pm at the festival area.

The only band I was truly interested into that day was Nachtmahr and the Prodigy. Unfortunately I had to catch my last train, so I missed out on the Prodigy. But as I said, seeing bands wasn´t the main reason I went to the festival. I went more for the festival vibe and for my friends and fans.

I really love how M'era Luna always feels like a mixture of a goth and a metal festival. You have all the dressed up people, but also a lot of people in plain t-shirt sitting around in the grass enjoying the bands and a cold beer. Also the huge medieval market is really nice. If you want to you can also do a lot of "goth shopping" there. :D

On Sunday there where a lot more bands that I wanted to see and dance too. So I saw Frozen Plasma, Aesthetic Perfection and Roter Sand. If I didn´t have to take the train I properly would have watched Eisbrecher and Hocico as well.

But I was able to dance that day and had really nice conversations with old and new friends.

M'era Luna festival was nice. I feel like I am a bit festival tired at the moment, with Amphi Festival only being 2 weeks away. But I will camp next year at the M'era Luna festival. I think it will be a lot more fun this way.

Like Amphi Festival it´s nice that at the M'era Luna everything is really close by and you don´t have to travel thru the entire city like at the WGT. And unlike Amphi Festival you can camp at the M'era Luna, which gives you a lot more of the festival experience (if you do so^^).

One thing that does start to bother me are the safety rules that are increasing every year and seem to get more and more ridiculous. Checking into the concert area start´s to feel like going thru a airport security check in. So If you go to M'era Luna 2019 pack a see-thru backpack that isn´t bigger then A4 so that you can take at least a few thing to the in-field like a jacket, sun screen, a fan....

What I love about M'era Luna is that say always seem to put a lot of effort into making the festival area fun to look it. They put a lot of afford into the decorations of the festival. And every year they come up with something new. So M'era Luna 2019: be ready for me and my tent. :D