Form of the festival: Official
Type: Urban Highline
Place: Mountains of Imagination, the Netherlands
Date: Autumn/Winter
Length of lines: 20 โ 130m
Height range: up to 35m
Distance to spots: 5 min
Availability of spots: flip-flops
Safety: daily checking of spots, one person from rigging team per spot, buddy check
Additionally: in some regions, you wonโt be able to pay by Visa or MasterCard
Each festival is individual, unique and one-time only. We already know that. This one, however, belongs to the most original ones, due to its peculiar structure, which consists of several main elements.
First of all, The Netherlands is famous for its high, hard to reach mountains. The Mountains of Imagination that we speak about, are located between the River of Fantasy and the Desert of Delusion. In addition, they are constantly moving.
That is why this festival is a flying festival. It’s flying from place to place and hasnโt settled down so far. Thanks to this, we can explore new places. The first edition took place in February 2017 in Kerkrade. When the mountains from Kerkrade vanished in the air, the mountains in Heerlen appeared.
And here, in November 2018, the second edition took place. It is not known whether this will always be the case. Nature is at all times unbridled and unpredictable, hence weather forecasts often do not work. Time will tell.
Secondly, although perhaps it should be the first, it is the most social festival. By social, I mean that everyone is actively working for the festival during its lifetime. You can feel it. Everyone creates a festival a bit and adds something from each other – from the heart. Everyone determines their role in co-organization sooner or later. It is all about small and large things that, in effect, make up the whole. From the delivery of equipment, rigging and derigging of tapes, as well as safety-related duties, through food shopping, cooking, washing dishes and cleaning, conducting workshops, stage design, and artistic performances.
Thirdly, it is the most safety festival. If you know what I mean, somewhere between the lines, you will see hazy, high ranges of the Dutch mountains, flocks of unicorns who smoke pipes … and a flying Silly Billy (โKozioลek Matoลekโ a character from a Polish fairy tale).
Transportation:
Depending on where exactly the mountains are. Below are the mountain trails that will help you reach your destination:
Accommodation:
It can be shortened as official squatting in a residential or office space. It is warm, there are carpets, space for mats, mattresses, and hammocks. Toilets and showers are often present in the above-mentioned spaces.
Food:
Since we are in this section, let’s go to the kitchen for a moment. Magic is happening here. The aromatic scent of the east, culinary diversity and richness of the west, south and north blends together. This happens when people from all over the world, divide into groups and cook together. You wouldnโt believe what is the final effect and how it tastes. Magic! – I repeat myself. The task is not easy. You need to cook up a lot. Naturally, it depends on how many people are at the festival. That means up to one hundred and several dozen meals have to be done, three times a day. In the end, serve what you cooked in a way that nobody will be left without a meal. And there are always plenty of people willing to eat an extra portion.
During the weekend, it is worth going to the city center, where stalls are located (chutes, shacks on wheels). You can try here Dutch fish delicacies (among other goodies). With a clear conscience, I can recommend ‘Kibbeling’ (breaded pieces of cod loin fried in deep oil) and smoked eel.
If you came to this festival just to eat and you still hungry, take a few steps to the supermarket.
Surroundings:
The area is more or less visible from the roof, depending on the weather. It is, in fact, a roof festival. Every line, regardless of the place where the festival takes place, has its beginning and end on the roof.
More seriously, rather than focusing on the area itself (which is different and depends on the place of the festival) it is worth to mention artistic performances, organized for local highlanders. The performances are amazing every time, and the locals gather in crowds. We can admire dance on highlines, music played while highlining (the artist walks on a highline and plays mostly on a wind instrument), dance (acrobatics) on a sash hung from highline (aerial silk), or evolutions performed after dark in illuminated costumes.
The last thing I would like to mention here is the workshops. This is probably a festival with the largest number of different types of workshops. You will be able to learn to knit the woopsling here, standing on your hands, rodeoline exposure, and do all of that while maintaining a steady breath that will heal you. There is no place for boredom there…
