Roskilde 2015

harney

After deciding to skip Glastonbury next year (6 Glasto's in a row is enough for me, at least for now), I thought I might head to Roskilde with my gf in tow.

Has anybody ever been there, or have any tips? My understanding is that I cannot bring beer into the stage areas, unless it is an open container e.g. plastic cup. Is this true, as it would be a bit of a pain considering you can bring as much beer to the campsite as you want. Apparently it is more expensive for beer at the bars than Glastonbury.

There is an option to pay your ticket in installments, which is an interesting idea although I am not sure if it applies to foreigners.

The place is open for 8 days, but it seems like there is music for 4 days. Will there be other entertainment in the lead up similar to Glastonbury kicking off with music earlier and earlier each year?

A few bands have been announced so far, listed in the link below, but from looking at last years headliners I guess there will be more "popular" acts announced later.

http://roskilde-festival.dk/music/bands/

Mickolution

Great festival. I've been 4 times, but not since 2008. Thinking about it for next year.

It's sort of a cross between Glastonbury and a regular festival, in that it's huge and has lots of stuff going on, but still has a campsite/arena division.

What makes it so good is the organisation. There's a train track that goes right by the site, so they just built a little platform there, meaning you get dropped about 50m from the entrance and you can get into Roskilde town for the equivalent of a few euro, meaning you can get back to civilisation for a few hours. Ever since the accident in 2000, it's been very safety conscious, so there's no crowd surfing or moshing or people getting up on others' shoulders or anything like that. They also have 4 massive pits at the main stage that get cleared out after every show, so it's possible to get in there for even the biggest of headliners by queueing for around 20 mins. The food is also excellent, not cheap, but nothing in Denmark is and you're getting a decent meal for what you pay.

With regards to the length of the festival, I've only ever gotten there the day before the music starts and while you may be stuck a bit far from the arena, I don't think there's really much on in the first few days, but I always find myself a little bored on the day before the music starts at any festival.

You're right about bringing booze in, but you get plenty of people walking around with massive open containers full of beer. I don't drink myself, so I can't say how easy it is to sneak anything more in, though I doubt it would be a massive deal.

Not sure if you're interested, but in terms of drugs, there's nothing harder than weed there in my experience. If that's up your alley, Christiana is worth a trip, excellent quality.

Overall, it's not Glastonbury, but nothing else is. It's a long week, but maybe not as hectic as Glasto can be. Denmark is an expensive country, just be aware of that.

Hopefully nothing I've posted here is out of date, it has been a while since I've been to the festival.

edit: One thing I forgot to mention, in my experience, it doesn't sell out until a few weeks beforehand and there'll usually be a warning on the site before this happens, meaning you can wait until the big announcement (around April, I think) to decide. The cost of the flights are the only thing to be wary of.

IrishmanSteen

I go every year. You can bring beer in to the arena. It's not too much but one open container and one closed. You can also bring as much drink as you want in to the campsite. As for the music, the 4 main days are at the end but the other days at the start, there are two stages with local and up and coming acts. You can also find a few raves by strolling through the campsite at night. Roskilde Fest has a camp of the year competition as well so the big camps will throw massive parties and welcome outsiders with open arms. Denmark is expensive but a 20 minute walk or 2 minute train ride to the town and you can get 24 (Coke size) cans of Tuborg for about €14. Same for a bottle of whiskey/Jager. Food at the fest is great as well. Worth the €7 odd...