According to official records around 220000 people attended this year’s Woodstock.
Woodstock 2017 was just as good as the year before or the one’s even before. Each Woodstock has its special moment. At every Woodstock, i was able to see & hear new bands, meet my friends randomly in the midst of 200,000 people, and most importantly have a good time. So i could not say that any Woodstock is special.
Woodstock is the only place where i feel people don’t care about what Your religion, or Your nationality is. Woodstock is the only place, where You could go and say hi to a stranger and not be looked upon as crazy. This year I saw my favourite bands Amon Amarth, Annisokay. I danced to ‘jump, jump, jump’ by House of Pain, and had the chance to see the legendary Polish artist Hey ‘live’. This year for the first time i also had the chance to play Capoeira at Woodstock.
How was this year’s Woodstock different?
There was a political tone to this year’s Woodstock. At 17 hours on the first of August(the W hour), the alarm sirens used in case of danger, went off. Festival goers were reminded about the importance 01.08. Polish flag was upheld by 1000’s of concert goers and Jerzy Owsiak reminded that this date marked the 73rd anniversary of the Warsaw uprising. He remarked, that everyone has to celebrate this day in harmony and brotherhood. What the organisers did, might not sound as ,,politically correct”. After all Woodstock is a polish festival. People at Woodstock were nice, and there was zero aggression or hatred towards me or any other foreigners(by following what is going on in the polish political sphere, You could expect another reaction).
Blood donation
According to the official Woodstock page, at this year’s Woodstock, around 1576 people gave 709 litres of blood. This again goes to show that, there is more to Woodstock than music, and partying. Organisers check people for their immunity level, and alcohol content. I myself wanted to give blood, but didn’t do so(i was tired from the previous night). I promise myself to give blood in Wrocław at least once.
Capoeira Przystanek Woodstock
Every year friends from different Capoeira groups around Poland, organise a meeting at Woodstock called ,,Capoeira przystanek Woodstock”. This year was the first time i went to their camp. As soon as i reached the ASP village, i saw the Capoeira banner, and ran towards it. There were small workshops for beginners, where they learn to ginga(the basic movement in Capoeira) and do some basic movements like au. Oncoming concert goers were very curious, and eagerly watched to understand what is going on. Some of them even joined us to play and sing with us. We played for close to 1.5 hours daily during the whole period of Woodstock. This year for the first time, 7 Capoeiristas even had a chance to play capoeira onstage during one of the concerts in the hare krishna Village.
Closing ceremony
Just before the final concert, the organisers informed that there would be no barriers at this year’s closing ceremony. It was nice to see that they trusted the festival audience. Everything went well actually. The closing ceremony involved a concert by Mr Bukartyk and his band. He was accompanied by the band, and a choir made up of singers chosen from the artistic workshops at the ASP village. I had no idea who Bukartyk was. My friends told me that he is a famous polish Radio presenter and singer/song writer. I thought its gonna be pretty boring. How can the Woodstock people invite a poet to close the ceremony? But boy was i surprised. The tunes were really catchy. I had a chance to watch the concert from up close.
As always, during the final ceremony, Jurek Owsiak came and spoke a few words. He took this moment to thank the festival goers, and told that Woodstock is a success due to them. Jurek took a moment to mention how much he appreciates Poland and how much he loves his country. As usual he took time for bashing PIS. He didn’t bite his tongue, and told what eactly he thought about the politicians in Poland.
Now that i am seeing the pictures from this year’s Woodstock, and writing about it, I feel more and more nostalgic. I just wish i could go there and spend one more evening just walking around the grounds
Cant wait to go to the next year’s Woodstock. Za ro(c)k będzie Ciemno!!!!