THE PEAK PARTY

MEADOWS IN THE MOUNTAINS, POLKOVNIK SERAFIMOVO, BULGARIA

You know how the cool part of any city keeps moving to somewhere slightly more obscure? Constantly sifting out the most cutting-edge sounds and sights? Well, Meadows In The Mountains is the logical conclusion of this process — a festival so hidden away it becomes distilled. (We guarantee a large proportion of the crowd will be from the latest coolest part of London.)

Held in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains, the travel factor is the initiation test to reach this prize. After a flight to the capital Sofia (from Australia, that’s usually a near-30hour journey), it’s then on to Plovdiv. From there, a winding four-hour transfer bus (around $30) brings you to the mountaintop village of Polkovnik Serafimovo, the festival’s base. Accommodation is mainly homestays at local cottages. Campsites are available, but the cottages offer a bed, a clean loo and a shower.

The festival site itself is on a mountain’s summit — and what a summit it is. Green hills undulate all around, forests line the peaks, the sky is flawlessly blue. The two stages bookend the festival, hosting a mix of up-and-coming indie, folk and bleedingedge DJS for three days of truly diverse music. It can be difficult to figure out who’s on when, as running times seem at first only loosely stuck to, then abandoned entirely. But that doesn’t matter, it’s not all about the music here – it’s about dancing on a mountain with new friends.

Ramshackle bars, makeshift restaurants hosted on locals’ verandas and one hell of a sunrise after an all-nighter add up to an atmosphere that is one part super-cool pop-up, two parts the best party your mate’s ever thrown. It’s the very essence of the hippest part of town. Go. June 4-7, 2020; meadowsinthemountains.com