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Wave-Gotik-Treffen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wave-Gotik-Treffen (ger. das Treffen means "the meeting") is an annual world
festival for "dark" music and arts in Leipzig, Germany.
50+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (Gothic rock, EBM, Noise,
Darkwave, Neofolk, Neoclassical, Medieval Music, Experimental, Gothic metal,
Deathrock and Punk being examples) play at several venues throughout the city
over 4 days on Whitsuntide. The festival also features several fairs with
medieval, gothic and cultural merchandise.
With its regular 25,000 attendants (unofficially up to 30,000), the WGT is the
largest event of the Goth, cybergoth, and rivethead subcultures worldwide,
closely followed by the annual M'era Luna festival in Hildesheim, Germany with
20,000-25,000 attendants.
History:
A first attempt at a Treffen was made in 1987 in
Potsdam. However, as the laws of the German Democratic Republic made this kind
of event illegal, only a few hundred visitors attended.
In 1992, after the re-unification of Germany, the first official
Wave-Gotik-Treffen was held in the Eiskeller club in Leipzig. Since then, the
number of visitors has increased greatly and most well-known bands of the genres
favored by visitors have played at the Treffen at least once.
The largest installment of the WGT was the one of the year 2000 with over 300
acts and an estimated 27,000 visitors. However, that year's festival suffered
financial collapse on the third day and had to be aborted.
After all festival security guards, most bands and much of the technical staff
had left, volunteer helpers and several bands who played for free staged a final
concert with an estimated 5,000 people in the audience. Contrary to police
expectations, no rioting of any sort occurred and the final day of the festival
was celebrated by the remaining visitors in a way that has been compared to the
Burning Man.
Since then, the festival has had 18,000 to 21,000 guests per year, most of them
returning after previous visits. As the most well-known Goth festival, it draws
visitors from all over the world. Many of the guests from Germany choose to camp
in massive campgrounds, while guests from overseas are more likely to stay in
hotels.
Events:
The major attraction of the Wave-Gotik Treffen is the
band performances.
Generally, the number of musical acts is close to 200, spanning the breadth of "dark
music" from acoustic folk to Medieval-influence to deathrock to elektro, EBM,
and industrial. The dozen-or-more venues are equally varied, from the stately
Schauspielhaus to the somber Krypta of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal to the
Parkbühne under the trees to the massive 10,000-person capacity AGRA fairground
halls.
In addition, there are Renaissance fairs, Viking and Pagan markets, Gothic
Romance events, CD/DVD and film premieres, literary readings, artist signing
events, brunches celebrating Absinthe, and many late-night danceclubs with
top-name DJs.
The main market in the AGRA that runs the entire duration of the festival is
perhaps the largest for the goth community anywhere in the world.
Festival participants typically stay either in designated camping areas outside
the Agra venue or in the hotels and hostels in and around Leipzig.
In order to stay at camping areas, participants must pay extra for an
Obsorgekarte, which gives them access to the camping areas. Camping spaces and
hotel rooms fill up quickly.
The date of the WGT varies from year to year. It is held on the German holiday
weekend of Pfingsten, known in English as Pentecost or Whitsun, which is 7 weeks
after Easter. List of Pentecost dates, 2002-2020. Unofficial events start in
Leipzig on the Thursday night preceding the date of Pfingsten, while the
official festival starts on Friday and runs until early-morning on Tuesday, as
Monday is an official holiday in Germany.
