Defqon.1

Saturday I got up early and took the Sydney subway to Penrith, a suburb in the outskirts of Sydney. In Penrith lies the Sydney International Regatta Centre, which this day was turned into a festival for the Hardstyle music genre. The one day festival started at 11 AM and ended 10 PM with over 15000 people attending.

It is hard to describe the festival in words. The Hardstyle genre attracts a very special kind of people, mostly young adults. There where all sorts of outfits, some very different from anything you will find anywhere else. The music itself is also unique, but something I like more and more.

The Regatta Centre is located on an island in a lake. The festival had 5 stages spread around, each featuring different kinds of music. The stages all had different designs and when the night came, different light, laser and smoke effects.

At these kind of events there tends to be a large amount of drugs. There was an impressive amount of security and police presence, but I still noticed that very many people where doing ecstasy. You could see the ground littered with the small plastic bags and a few people being carried of too the medical tent due too overdoses.

Non the less, the people where very friendly and there where no violence that I could see. I had a great time just walking around from stage to stage, taking pictures and listening to the music. I was thoroughly exhausted when I got back home at midnight, with my ears ringing and my head filled with memories.

I have included some pictures and videos I took, including the lineup for those interested. Sorry for the bad audio, my phone's video recording capability is limited.