W27. Notes from Fusion.

Last week we were at Fusion. An alternative music festival in Germany, heavy on techno, but you can find just about anything if you look hard enough. In some ways it reminds me of Burning Man, there's a rebellious spirit at its core.

Taking photos is strongly discouraged. Nobody puts stickers on your phone like they do in Berlin clubs, but the norm is to put your phone away. The web app with the timetable opens with a reminder: NO PHOTOS.

I'm not phone shaming anywhere here, I'm as much of an addict as anyone else. But the energy in a crowd is so different when people are on their phones versus not. Are you really enjoying the moment if you think “oh I must capture this” and bring up your phone every new track? Are you allowing yourself to get lost in the experience? A few seconds is what I generally allow myself to capture, just to have a small reminder in my camera roll. At Fusion this year, I did not even do that.

I thought, maybe I can take this as a personal challenge to describe the experience in words, the old school way? If you're not a festival fan, maybe this gives you an idea of what the experience can be when you're two middle-aged people.

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY

We got lucky. After a night at a campsite a few hours away, followed by a chill morning with coffee, a run (probably the last healthy thing I accomplish this week) and my weekly volunteer call, we drove off and managed to arrive right at the sweet spot when nobody else was. A few cars in the line and we were through in 15 minutes. En route we also secured a campervan ticket, giving us a much better parking spot, from a kind soul on Reddit. We were in good spirits!

Fusion is huge. 65,000 people gather on the old airplane fields, in tents and campervans. Ages range from 18 to 80. If you're wondering if you're too old for festivals, you're going to the wrong ones.

After setting up our little camp, we biked to the island area for a dip in the lake. The temperatures were going to be mad this weekend, and it was already 32 degrees the first day. It was supposed to be 38 on Saturday. The lake was completely packed already, and I remembered the previous time when they shut down the lake on Friday, due to bacteria. But still, refreshing.

Back at the van we sat outside in the shade for a bit, had a drink, some snacks. Then we got ready, packed a bottle of Prosecco, and took our bikes to go visit friends.

This is our second Fusion. Last time we arrived on Thursday and wanted to maximize every moment here. By Monday I was a complete wreck. This time we decided to do things smarter. I wanted to take it easy, explore the grounds, enjoy the food, check out what's new.

We took our bikes to meet up with two friends at their tent and their camp setup amazed me. I'm not too old for festivals, but I do feel too old for handling the discomfort of sleeping in a small tent at a festival. Especially during a heatwave. We opened the Prosecco, toasted to having finally arrived. Time to roam!

The food trucks, spread out in clusters over the entire festival area, have almost any food you can imagine, but no meat; it's all vegetarian or vegan. I opted for a veggie burrito. It was delicious.

We walked around and stopped for a while at a stage playing disco. I'm not normally a fan of disco, but techno infused? Yeah, that I can get behind. Had forgotten my Loop earplugs in the van though, so after a while I had to move slightly away from the crowd.

The Sonnendeck stage was packed already. “It's the best stage during sunrise, the light is beautiful”, a girl said. “I don't think I've ever lasted till sunrise,” I told her. “Maybe this year!”

We watched the sea of rave sticks bop around the dance floor. Rave sticks, or totems, are poles with lights and a personalized creation on top that groups use to be able to find each other in the chaos that is Fusion. At this point it's more an art installation on its own and has spread to many other festivals. Unicorns are a popular theme, as usual, but my favorite this evening was a little alien covered in sparkling lights.

On we roamed. Found a metal dragon skeleton moving and spewing fire, surrounded by saxophones. A woman walked around it, playing a normal saxophone, and the dragon danced to the beat, fires everywhere.

Hours later, I decided that was enough adventure for the first night. We came home to the campervan, having clocked in at 22,000 steps, and a quick shower later I was out. (The luxury of showering before bed 😌)

DAY 2: THURSDAY

I woke up earlier than I wanted, it was already hot outside. I bought an AeroPress when I was in Koh Phangan, and it's my most precious travel companion now. Every morning this trip I start with making strong coffee with quality beans. In one cup I pour oat milk, in the other regular milk, add a dash of condensed milk to both, and foam it up with the milk frother. A couple of ice cubes, mix in the coffee, and voila, a luxury campervan coffee.

When we open all the windows, the draft makes it feel ten degrees cooler. I was reading Tone Schunnesson's latest novel, Ultravåld (only in Swedish, hope it will be translated soon), and had to force myself to put it down for a moment so there was a chance to sleep for a bit. Goal: stay out past midnight. Not a small feat for this 40-year-old. I closed my eyes for 45 minutes and might have drifted off for a while, tickled by the window curtains on my back.

Shortly after 18, an ambulance passed by and we took that as a signal to get ready. Poured myself a Mango Hugo from a can and grabbed my sparkliest eyeshadow.

Just when I was ready to go, we noticed all music from the festival had gone quiet. Instead, an announcement was playing. There was a fire nearby, outside the festival grounds, and all stages were paused until further notice. Everyone had to go back to their camps.

Our campsite was further away from the actual festival, and between us and the main festival area (stages and most of the camping spots) lies the old tarmac. As we looked out, we saw everyone at the festival being evacuated to the asphalt.

We realized this might take a while.

I poured myself another drink, a grapefruit spritzer, and had some yoghurt and granola for dinner. Weird combo, but it kind of worked?

Tom was restless, and decided it was the perfect time to bring out his big water spray bottle and umbrella to provide some cooling to the stranded people on the tarmac.

I frantically tried to access Reddit, hoping to find more details than the sparse info message on the app. Saw several comments saying the festival would be canceled, and was reminded again how quickly rumors spread in a crisis. One post said they would reopen around 21, and that sounded more reliable.

When they started allowing people in, we headed over to a friends' camp to join their adventures. Their totem was an adorable flower water pot, with red and white fairy lights coming out of the nose. Attached was a small basket where they kept heart stickers to give out. “Liebe, liebe,” they shouted as we moved through the crowds. At one point we met a snail totem with much joy from all parties. I love the silliness at festivals. We need more spaces to act like kids and connect, both with others and music.

I had not expected the night to get as cold as it did. From 32 degrees during the day, it suddenly turned freezing after sunset. I had the foresight to bring my red sweatshirt, but it just barely kept me warm enough. When we were on the dance floor, surrounded by dancing bodies, it was fine. As soon as we moved outside I was shivering.

The rest of the night was a journey from stage to stage, dancing to different genres of electronic music, until I decided this was enough. I was done with being cold and ready for a shower and bed. The others partied on while I curled up in bed, with sweater, comfy pants and a blanket.

DAY 3: FRIDAY

There's something about starting festivals early that messes with my weekly orientation. On Wednesday I kept thinking it was Thursday, on Thursday I kept thinking it was Friday, and now Friday is here and I have finally given up on keeping track.

Woke up too early, as usual, at 09. My watch tells me I need to recover and should sleep 9.5 hours tonight. I considered taking it off, nobody needs this kind of negativity at a festival, but seeing how many steps I take every night is too entertaining. From 00 to 02, it was 10,000, in case you're wondering.

This year we were lucky enough to have bikes. Fusion is massive, and our first year we got tired just from getting from our camp to the stages.

I started my morning with my usual bougie iced latte and sat outside, watching people. Said hi to the neighbors and people walking past. Noticed that one guy in the camp next to us looked like Monolink, a DJ I loved for years. Made a mental note to tell Tom this.

Festivals, and camping in general, is a lot about these little rituals.

Getting ready for a party is another ritual for me. It's not so much about putting on makeup and deciding what to wear. It's the process of turning from Normal Sanna, who's on top of things, prioritizing health, doing her work on time, to Relaxed Sanna, who's up for adventure, ready to explore, and never thinks about her sleep score. I pour myself a drink, listen to music, take my time. I could do it quick and simple, but this process is my portal into another mindset. I enjoy it.

Tom, who takes a quick shower, puts on shorts and a shirt, and is ready in five minutes, does not entirely get it. But I appreciate his patience.

It was a hot day and we ventured out later in the evening. First stop was checking out the Sonnendeck stage, where Oliver Koletzki was playing. I saw him live in Berlin a few years ago, had fun. But this, for whatever reason, was not the vibe. We speculated that it was the heat, creating a more chill set than he usually plays. The sun was still blazing over the whole dance floor, despite it being 19 in the evening.

We moved on to the other stage. Grabbed a drink and sat down to wait for Township Rebellion. Their set was a highlight the previous year, and I was sure it would be amazing.

It started off strong with Hot Sauce, a track Miss Monique has a remix of, which I (of course) love. But that was as good as it got. We sat on the wooden structures around the stage to avoid being in the direct sun, and found ourselves feeling ... bored? Not the vibe we were going for. We roamed around, came back, still not the vibe, but eventually, it was time for the next DJ. A couple of friends had told us about Kaufmann, their favorite at the moment, and we met up with them close to the front. It was 22, the dance floor was packed, and what followed was a journey. That's really what I'm looking for, I want the DJ to take me on a trip, not just play the same music over and over again. Two hours flew by, and we stayed for the next set as well. The crowd thinned out a bit, giving us more space to dance. Another two hours went by.

After that our luck ran out, and we decided to check out another stage. After walking around, noticing that after a certain point at Fusion every stage seems to play the same type of techno, we decided to call it a night.

DAY 4: SATURDAY

This day was a whopping 40 degrees. We spent the whole day in our camp. Mostly lying in bed with all windows open, desperate for any little draft the air could muster. Spraying ourselves with water and waving a fan with one hand, holding our Kindles with the other.

The official app had announced the day before that the lake was closed due to bacteria, but we heard from others that people kept going in anyway to cool off. Felt grateful for our van with a shower.

We started our evening out after 17 to get food. Reibekuchen was our starter and when I saw a girl walk by with a delicious looking langos, I had to get one. It was delicious, but huge, and neither of us could finish our halves.

Picked up an iced flat white from my favorite coffee truck. I've tried asking baristas in Lisbon for an iced flat white and they always stare at me with a confused look and tell me they can only do iced lattes. Funny how this is normal in Germany and almost nowhere else? Is there a rule that if you have iced coffee it either has to be black or a ratio of 1/5 espresso and 4/5 milk?

Walked around and passed by a little wooden stage in the shape of a boat, with a wide ramp to get up on it. It was a dedicated stage for wheelchair users. One of the things I love about this festival, they make a real effort to make it inclusive.

At this point, I felt pretty satisfied. We'd done a lot of what we wanted to do, and had very few expectations on this last night. It's the best feeling, we could simply go with the flow and see where the night would take us, without any fixed ideas of what it should be.

When the festival started I fed the list of artists into Claude, told it what DJs I really like, and asked for recommendations. The one it recommended as closest to Miss Monique was Solee. Never heard of him before, but we gave him a chance. What followed was a 10/10 set. Just listen to this starting beat. Phew.

Have little else to report from this evening, we danced, we roamed, and at a decent hour, we went back to camp to sleep. Fusion done for this year. See you in 2028?

*A few days after Fusion I saw this photo from Monolink in my feed. I recognized the group and the location. Apparently we were camping next to one of my favorite DJs the whole time. 🫠