What remains?
About Crowd Surfing
Rock Harz Festival 2023 allowed crowd surfing but it remains subject to an endless discussion. Even if most of the surfers are fit enough for this ride on the waves of the crowd, some are not. Those crash down and might get hurt or hurt others. Here are some impressions of the interaction between surfers and Grabenschlampen.
Inclusion
Inclusion is one of the big topics nowadays. Sitting in a wheelchair or having any other handicap should not hold you back from enjoying festivals, concerts and the metal family. Rockharz had done a lot in the past in this case and improved even more in 2023. The size of the inclusion camp was increased by 2,5 times in 2023 compared to the previous year and accommodated about 200 people during the festival. A separate reception was set up for access, e.g. for handing out festival wristbands and all kinds of questions, which was staffed around the clock. The team of Lebenshilfe Braunschweig was on site with 24 people who offered care services of all kinds 24/7. The medical supply store Werner & Habermalz provided a mobile aid rental and repair service, for example for wheelchairs and aids of all kinds. The Adam Hall company supported Rockharz by providing wheelchair accessible crossing bridges at various focal points on the festival grounds. The inclusion team was, and will continue to be, available at the email address inklusion@rockharz.com in order to be able to successfully solve even short-term concerns during the entire festival. Rockharz will continue to promote these and other measures under the project name “Culture for All” in the coming years in order to make it as barrier-free as possible for people with disabilities of all kinds.
The true stars
The best comes last. I don’t want to forget all the people working for the Rock Harz Festival. In the background, backstage, administration, logistics, etc. Thank you for making the festival possible with all your patience and persistence. Thank you to the stewards helping to find the perfect campsite, thank you for being relaxed and calm under all circumstances. Thank you to all the safety guides at the entrance to the infield, on the infield and simply everywhere. Thank you to the First Aid staff for doing a great job.
And simply the best
Thank you to the Grabenschlampen who were simply fantastic and are the nicest guys in the world. Thank you to all of you for being relaxed and calm under all circumstances. It is lovely to see you interacting, working as a team. It is lovely to talk to you when there is time. And it is lovely to watch your own little interludes and choreos! I can’t think of any other True Headliner for RockHarzFestival than the Grabenschlampen. We love you!
Finally: YOU
What is a festival without you, the spectators, audience, metalheads? You are as important as the organisers, security, first aid staff and bands. Altogether this is the big metal community and family! So here they are, some impressions and portraits of YOU with the permission of the photographed persons.
Thank you to AG Metal and Club Mimimii, Jacky, M.a.De. for Kids and all those unknown great people in the audience for making the 30th anniversary of Rockharz what is was – a unique metal family.
Every festival ends and so did the Rock Harz Festival 2023. Sad, but true. So apart from putting your tents together, loading your car and driving back home, there is no agenda. But is there really none? There, and it actually helps to prevent the Post-Rock-Harz-Blues: “Putting your bin together and cleaning up your site to leave it as clean as you found it, no matter how much rubbish you had everywhere”. We have never seen cleaner campsites than at Rockharz after the last car had left, even cleaner than at the so-called “Green Camping” areas of so many other festivals. It is a good tradition to collect your trash and bring it to the big containers. There, as a little ‘thank you’, you receive a high-quality printed DINA1 aerial poster of this year’s campsite taken the day before, which makes for excellent memorabilia!
Curious for 2024 now?
2023 marked the 30th Anniversary of the Rock Harz Festival and it was a great, if not perfect line-up. After an exclusive pre-sale for regulars, tickets for 2024 are already on public sale, be quick and get your ticket soon. If you search for a teaser or appetizer, pay a visit to Rock & Metal Day’z nearby at Oschersleben one week earlier, it is worth it and just 40 km away.
!
Online:
And if you are looking for a small but fine warm-up festival, I can nothing but recommend the Rock & Metal Day’z at Oschersleben, 27.-29. June2024:
Please buy merch and physical music or downloads from the bands official sources and don’t stream it for free because it steals your artists’ income.
Original photos taken by Friend.X aka Mr. Deep
Proof reading by DermimBoad