5 Roskilde Festival Myths – Uncovered

July 9, 2014  //  By: Sidsel Marie Lyhne  //  Check Out, DISCUSS, Featured  //  Comments are off

CBSLife was at Roskilde Festival last week, discovering what it’s like to experience it for the first time. This week we will provide you with fun facts, tips and thoughts about Roskilde Festival, which will be fun to read no matter if you are a Roskilde-virgin, or Roskilde-veteran. Today’s article evaluates some common prejudices against Roskilde.

Anyone who has never been to Roskilde is likely to have heard a lot of things about it;  “It’s smells like pee everywhere”, “it’s impossible to sleep because of the constant parties”, “there’s a lot of nudity”, “the queues to showering seem limitless” , “all your stuff gets stolen” and so on. One person, one day, at one point said one of these statements, these rumours got passed on, and twisted and turned until it’s hard to know what the truth was, and what has developed into being a good story. So what is true, what is exaggerated, and what is completely false? I went to Roskilde Festival having some of these classic Roskilde prejudices, and came home with a whole new picture of what Roskilde is, sounds like, and smells like…

Myth #1:“It smells like pee everywhere”

Exaggerated. Put 133,000 people in a relatively small area, give them lots of beer and a limited amounts of toilets, and it’s bound to smell a bit like urine. But not everywhere – only if you walk close to the fences, and urinals, any corners, and of course near the port-a-potties. We aren’t animals, and people tend to respect that there are certain places to pee, and certain places not to pee – for example, don’t pee in your tent (unless you’re this guy) , or while you are in the moshpit at a concert. Just don’t. Also, the blame can’t be put entirely on the guys who have a much easier time peeing out in the open; you see girls squatting by fences as well, and Orange Press (the Roskilde newspaper), even wrote a whole article about this which you can read here on page 11! And concerning what people say about getting used to the smell of pee, I guess that’s true, but only because it’s mixed with so many other strange smells at Roskilde…

Myth #2: “You can’t walk two metres without stepping on trash”

True. At Roskilde, everyone seems to forget what a trashcan is. Sometimes finding a spot to sit on the ground is difficult without sitting in someone’s half-eaten French fries, or a squashed beer can. It’s mostly in the camping area though, and if you’re really picky about trash, you can live in camp J; the “Silent & Clean” area. Furthermore, the festival area is pretty clean, and the grass is even green in some places! However, if it wasn’t for the 30,000 volunteers at Roskilde, some of which go around picking up trash, Roskilde festival would look much, much worse – so a big thank you to them!

Myth #3: “People don’t shower”

False. If the heading was “people don’t shower everyday”, then that would be true. It’s a hassle standing in line to the showers, especially if you are a girl, but it may be the best thing that happens to you that day, until you try the Dixie burger. When I was in the queue to get a nice hot shower, I heard someone say that they had waited 3 hours to get a shower one of the days! But when you walk around all day in the boiling sun, with random people spilling beer on you at concerts, and urine-dust clouds blowing into your face, believe me, you WILL want to shower.

Myth #4: “There’s more sex than sleeping in the tents”

False. Many people associate Roskilde with a huge orgy; singles having one-night stands (or one-festival stands if you’re satisfied with the partner you found the first night), and couples going at it while their friends are at a concert…or maybe sleeping next to you in the tent. But I was surprised to find out that, according to Roskilde Festival’s Analysegruppe, this year only 36% of the festival guests had sex. Maybe it’s related to the lack of daily showers, and people being too drunk or tired to perform. Or maybe today’s youth is becoming less promiscuous, and even the Orange Feeling is not enough to get them turned on. Or maybe it’s because of a lack of available condoms. If Roskilde wants to encourage more safe sex at Roskilde, a good tip would be to have more shops selling condoms, or being more active when it comes to handing out free condoms. When it comes to redheads, the statistics are a bit different – 47% of redheads have sex at Roskilde, so what they say about redheads being wilder, might be true.

Myth #5: “People drink beer for breakfast”

Exaggerated. Morning drink, anyone? Why not! It’s 5 o’clock somewhere! A beer in the morning is a great way to take off the edge from last night’s partying, and it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you have to start drinking hardcore from 9 o’clock. It is socially acceptable to stop after one beer. Others prefer to drink water, juice, coffee, or tea as well, and don’t start the serious drinking until after lunch. So in the morning, have no fear – you won’t get peer pressured to drink beer!

So there you have it. 5 Roskilde Festival myths – busted! There are definitely many more, but this is one step in the right direction of getting to the bottom of all Roskilde prejudices. If you want to know more, comment below, or ask your friends what myths are true or false.

About the Author : Sidsel Marie Lyhne

At the meagre age of 19, Sidsel is the youngest of the CBSLife crew. Although she is Danish and loves to shop, party and go to university in Copenhagen, she secretly misses Dubai (where she grew up) on those cold winter nights. She believes she has discovered the meaning of life – to be happy – and she manages to be happy 99% of the time. If you wish to introduce yourself to Sidsel, you are likely to find her with her friends in the middle of the dance floor on Thursday nights at Nexus. She is pretty short though, so finding her can seem like a game of hide-and-seek. When she is not showing off her weird dance moves, she studies International Business and is on her second year.