MEADOWS IN THE MOUNTAINS, BULGARIA
IT’S not ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC HERE: IT’S about DANCING ON A MOUNTAIN TOP with NEW FRIENDS
You know how the hip part of any town 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 that it becomes distilled. (We guarantee a large proportion of the crowd will be from Hackney.)
Held in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains, the travel factor is the initiation test to reach this hipster prize. After a three-hour flight to the capital Sofia, a winding five-hour – yes, fivehour – transfer bus (around £3O) brings you to the mountain-top 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. Compared to your average four-man pop-up tent, it’s The Ritz.
The festival site itself is at the mountain’s summit – and what a summit it is. Green hills undulate all around; forests line the peaks; the sky is big and flawlessly blue. The two stages bookend the festival, hosting a mix of demented folk, upand-coming indie and bleeding-edge 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 because, really, it’s not all about the music here – it’s about dancing on a mountain top with the friends you’ve just made.
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 – the very essence of the hippest part of town. Go. Meadows in the Mountains, 6–9 June; meadowsinthemountains.com. Tickets from £126. Easyjet has return flights from London Gatwick to Sofia from around £1OO; easyjet.com