Between June 16h and June 18th, the dedicated Kragelund Festival close to the northern sea gathered again thousands of dedicated hard dance lovers. With a bold lineup, the young festival wanted to lift prior years’ limits to a higher level. We from HardstyleMag participated the whole weekend.
Rene
For sure, the northern part of Germany is mostly known for its costs at the Baltic Sea but also at the northern sea. Therefore, the Kragelund Festival owns a very unique spot and with its debut in 2022, it directly delivered a strong show. Including a camping side and two stages, we experienced a nice weekend back then. For 2022 the organizers announced several improvements and even a bigger Lineup for 2023. Let’s start.
ARRIVING AND ENTERING
We arrived pretty early on Friday but the campsite was already crowded, but luckily no bigger stops for traffic jams. The organization was well-planned and executed. The first stop was the check-in, after checking the ticket – all guests were handed over a bracelet that had a small Volume X plastic chip on the top. This chip was used as the payment system. As on the festival area, no cash payments were accepted, guests could easily charge this plastic chip either cash or with EC at a charging station or directly via the organizer’s website. Which worked quite well. Whenever you wanted to buy food, beverages, or merchandise you just had to show your bracelet with the chip.
The whole entry process was quickly done. Thanks to enough gates either friendly and professional security members we didn’t had to queue up.
AREAS AND CAMPING
The main stage was a huge black stage with flags and towers on both sides. Next to moving heads, there were several flame throwers and firework sparks. What we directly noted was the heavy sound system. Surprisingly the sound was heavy but not too loud – you could feel the bass in your breast but for this, the volume was never trigged over a spot when your ears started to hurt.
The second area for Techno and Psy Trance was on the other side of the festival area and disguised with typical banners, nets and powerful colors. Thanks to the distance to the mainstage but also due to sound barriers, both areas got never into conflict.
The camping area was accessible via a gate centrally between both stages. This was compared to the last year a good improvement, as in 2022 we still had to work aside the mainstage to reach the second stage and therefore had to walk across the dancefloor.
FRIDAY KICK OFF
The Friday got kicked off with some local Artists to bring the party people into the right mood. Thanks to the convincing sound system and the artists, the guests’ moods where right from the beginning good. The floor filled quickly and whenever a classic got played the crowd sang along.
The first small headliner was Tiberias who played tracks like “Bassline” and “Midnight” which is a collaboration between him and the Swedish artist Radera. Next was Storah with his track “Unbehold” and a very special Chainsaw Edit. Now the crowd was really on fire – every kick got worshipped. Scarra fired up the crowd with some bassline breaker edits and the later it got, the harder the kicks became. Exprodz, Spitfire and Project Core turned up the intensity with some heavy xraw sounds showing no mercy.
Day two started with a free breakfast for all campers organized by the Kragelund Festival. Fresh rolls with meat, cheese, and salad. What a nice gift from the organization. The gates opened at 4 PM and therefore 1 hour earlier than on Friday. The lineup had again a portion of Hardstyle Artists but more Rawstyle artists in the loop.
A clear highlight was the current rocketeer Aversion – who really delivered an outstanding performance with his tracks like “Valhalla” and “Activation” and the complete crowd kick rolled with him. The German raw duo Riot Shift then took over and directly increased the intensity with their ultimate Raw bombs.
Highlight was the anthem Show by Sins of Insanity who was responsible for this year’s anthem “Let’s Survive” – supported by Strobes, fire and fire sprinklers the whole main area got turned upside down. Whilst completely packed the dancefloor seems to act like one. Next highlight was Mutilator. He brought the sound system definitely to the max, with his track “Onslaught edit” more than1000 people just raised their fists. And whilst the Sunday was already dawning nobody on the dancefloor was willing to quit.
CONCLUSION
We are impressed by this vibe and the dedication the organization pays to this festival. And considering the fact that this was only just edition no two, we must say that here a lot of things were done absolutely right. The well-organized camp side, the short ways to the party area, the superior sound system left some really nice impressions which were definitely appreciated by the people. No matter who we spoke to, all guests had only positive words. The crowd’s vibe confirmed that. The edition for 2024 is already in the pipeline and once we know more, we will let you know. See you there in 2024.