Wave-Gotik-Treffen 2018, Review & Tips 

with Hedvig Brandt.

Wave-Gotik-Treffen officially started in 1991 and is this year's 27th also called WGT, which is the largest Gothic festival in the world, which takes place in eastern Germany, Leipzig once a year in May (20th´ish). The festival extends over four days and includes everything from concerts, events, parties, lectures and art exhibitions spread throughout the city and the Agra Messepark area, where the main festival takes place and where the band's main name also plays. When the WGT ticket is purchased with a bit of trouble over the net, the bracelet gives free access to all public transport in the city such as tram and city buses, art exhibitions and other events. It gives a lot of freedom and you should not worry about buying any transport tickets. It is relatively easy to find the Wave Gotik tram No. 31, which is indicated in black also called the "Grufti line". It is reasonably cheap to get to Leipzig by bus and train. I recommend to include any delays in the itinerary as possible. It is also a good idea to arrive at least one day in advance - from Thursday to Tuesday if you have chosen to stay in the tent area and if you want all the WGT to be pre-party and, for example, all closing parties with.

I book my WGT stay in Leipzig in very good time and arrive on Thursday, as the trip can be quite tiring, I choose to arrive from Wednesday to Wednesday next year, as sleep is probably what you want to get the least off, but I learn for each year I attend. There are up to 200 band names each year and approx. 20-25,000 festival participants coming from all over the world. The music extends from EBM, Gothic Rock, Dark Ambient to Classical music, so there is ample opportunity to find a suitable music genre in your taste. Band play schedule is published one week before WGT start, which may seem a bit stressful.

The food here is also an opportunity to buy in the main area, - Agra Messepark, from Vegan dishes to various meat dishes. The price is pretty much, however, I think if you get the chance to find a place to eat outside of Agra, the price will approx. be halved and it can be better in the long run. We were lucky to find a cheap Syrian Vegan restaurant at our apartment tram station and we became new regular customers!

My travel friend and I arrived as mentioned this year on Thursday, with a two-hour stay in Hamburg. We chose to travel at night to arrive in good time Thursday morning in Leipzig. After that, we should first get our key to our booked apartment somewhere else in town. We had been given a fairly detailed instruction on how to get the key out of the key box, as we had received a code for each. mail. Thankfully, Leipzig is really sweet to help and we got two people to help us get the key out of the box, we were close to panic. We were happy when we finally got the key in our hand. We took the tram to the main train station to get on our tram to our apartment. It was a really nice apartment and nothing was missing from our balcony to the river, Weisse Elster. We had a supermarket at our tram station and had agreed to go shopping for the coming days. All this without having closed an eye for really many hours. We chose not to go to WGT pre-party but to get some sleep instead so we could get ready for Vicktorianisches Picknick in Clara-Zetkin Park, which takes place every Friday afternoon, from 14:00 to 17:00. We made it clear and took it. Last year, unfortunately, we did not get along, so it was brand new to me and with really great Victorian clothes. We were followed by a Gothic couple who were also on their way, otherwise, it is relatively easy to follow the black stream of men's men.

After the Victorian Picnic, we went back to the apartment to change clothes to Agra. My other friends from Denmark and I had agreed to take white clothes on this day. Unfortunately, we did not really get some concerts that day. It's very hard to reach all the concerts in the WGT program as the concerts are scattered all over the city and the tram tours take a lot of time, you may also risk standing in a long queue and unable to get in any way. No matter how much you have prepared, it's impossible to reach all of them, many of the concerts you might want to see play at the same time, so you must prioritize! You also choose either to go to all the parties or choose to go to the concerts, you can not do it all, it's simply impossible! That's something you have to do with yourself before you leave. There is a parallel festival, namely the Gothic Pogo Party Festival, as it is also possible to buy the festival ticket over the net before you leave, otherwise, you can buy entry per. every evening. Most of our after parties took place. We also saw some concerts in the Agra Hall, The Jesus and the Mary Chain, Wardruna and other bands. I recommend watching 1-2 bands a day, as you will spend a lot of time in the tram. It is as the kind that WGT first comes out with a band playing the plan one week before the start so it may seem a bit strenuous to wait for, only then you can start making your schedule. Certain events take place on the same day and time each year, so it is a little easier to plan. I would highly recommend going to the very big WGT Closing party at Moritzbastei the last night and night, it's really there that's happening. Also worth mentioning, - Der Vicktorianisches Village and Heidnisches Dorf.

WGT tips:

Book well in advance of your stay in Leipzig and make a schedule of the things you want to achieve. Choose either just to go to after parties or experience bands, you simply can not both unless you want to go around like a sleeper and you do not get that much. Of course, it's possible to go all-in-one of the days, usually on Friday for most. Choose your travel partners carefully as an unforeseen situation can occur quickly. Pre-appointment with your travel friends what you want to see and experience, it is very rare that the same bands and events you want to see and it's nice to know where you want to spend time in advance. Respect each other's WGT time, which runs extremely fast. Choose the right audience, it will give you the best WGT experience and it is worth it. I will be back next year, where I will endeavor to attend more concerts!

Remember that it is also possible to attend some of the concerts without WGT bracelet against a payment at the door, but not all concerts, museums, and events are included in this. You can also easily buy a Gothic Pogo Party festival ticket unless the WGT itself is something for you.

Hedvig F.