Going Dutch: Lessons from Eurosonic

Netherlands | by Daniel Fahey | 14 January 2008

The three-day taste-making and band booking event returns to Groningen, North Holland offering the music-loving traveller an impressive 220 bands over 26 venues. Spotter’s grab your notebooks and get ready to boast about the artists about to break big this year before your mates have even had a chance to stick the radio on...

Tackling the airport and getting there
Pack your bag with a myriad of clothes and tat that you won't even take out and drag it to the airport. The likes of Gatwick and Heathrow are busy and boring places, but luckily (like festivals) they are one of the few places you are able to have a drink at any time of the day including your 9.40 flight to Amsterdam.

A rock and roll breakfast is easily accessible without wading through the throngs of a Weatherspoons bar. Find the duty free area and sample the Pimms and Mojitos to get rid of those pre-flight nerves and gain that excitable festival feeling.

Groningen is around two and a half hours from Amsterdam airport by train. Lucky travellers will experience the double-decker version (the novelty of riding one wears off pretty quickly) others have the chance to enjoy something resembling the Orient Express (without the murders, obviously.)

A huge advantage for a festival like this is the Dutch landscape.  Groningen is flatter then an X-factor auditionee so marching between venues to catch the acts leaves you with enough energy to mosh through the night.

Double Dutch: getting to grips with the lingo
For every Bobby Bilingual around there is likely to be Barry British who will struggle to loudly pronounce the foreign words in the guidebook. But luckily for those who've only learned the Dutch for "Beer," and "Thank you," many of the natives are almost fluent in English.

Note of caution though: translations aren’t as simple as they seem, with a burger advert leaving a certain journalist bemused in the Dutch version of a Homebase store.

Bikes and barges: hotels and around town
The urban event isn’t one for the conventional camper, with most visitors filling the city's hotels and apartments. But for the unconventional, there is the opportunity to stay in a cabin on a hotel barge with paper thin walls. Sea legs are not provided.

With so many venues to find it could be an idea to explore by bike. The city is known as 'World Cycling City' and deservedly so.  The occupants of the city seem to feel that having two wheels makes them invincible and bike dodging is a popular pursuit.  For an idea of how painful this experience can be listen to Katie Melua's 'Nine Million Bicycles' on repeat (on reflection just once will do.)

If you're drinking, cycling may not be such a good idea but that's a decision you can change if it's four in the morning and you've found yourself two miles outside of the city centre in search for your hotel.

Ways to fill the day
Eurosonic is a vampire of a festival with acts hitting the stage at 8PM and not hitting the sack until around 3AM. This means revellers have to find ways to fill the day and the selection of seminars and talks are the promoters and bookers main destination.

But for the festival-goer just interested in the bands the city offers a number of other pursuits aside for cycling. There is a market with one confectionary stall the size of small house, obviously a winner for when the Koffee Shops throw out.

For those appreciative of art and similar high-brow pursuits peruse the local architecture whilst remembering Van Gogh actually came from this country (it’s certainly isn't Florence), or perhaps spend some time in the local bowling alley.

Food and drink
Holland keeps in the spirit of most European countries with a buffeted selection of continental treats. Be prepared for a selection of hams, boiled eggs and bread.  If you're feeling inventive the chocolate sprinkles add an extra dimension to a ham and egg sandwich.

A great late night post-music snack is a burger bar ATM. Shelves of burgers, croquets in baps and other kebab shop treats are stored in drawers, eliminating the need for drunken slurring and pointing to a weary looking shop owner.

Groningen is a student town but don't expect Sarah studying history, politics and the art of Super Noodles, vomiting after a series Smirnoff Ices. Instead lager is provided in thimble-sized glasses allowing the seasoned drinker much better memories of the bands they saw the night before.

So there you are: our first 2008 observations of the way overseas nations do festivals. Stay tuned over the summer for more essential information on how to do European events like a pro.