NorthSide is also about something other than music

The first thing that strikes me on Saturday morning isn't really the music.

It's the people.

NorthSide doesn't start at the entrance to the festival site. It starts all over Aarhus as early as 9:00 in the morning. In gardens, on balconies and in allotments, where people gather around the breakfast table with coffee, beer and the first plans for the day. Some have the program down to the smallest detail. Others barely know who's playing. Yet they're all heading to the same place.

As we walk around the square during the day and strike up conversations with people, it quickly becomes clear that most people don't talk much about the music. They talk about everything else. About the atmosphere, the community, and the friends and families they've come together with. And about the people they didn't know they'd meet.

I actually haven't even watched the program.

One of the conversations I remember from the day is with someone who is at NorthSide for the first time. She is with her brother, who has been here for many years now, and while you might think that a first-time visitor would have studied the program at home and planned the day down to the smallest detail, the situation is something completely different.

“I actually haven’t even watched the program.”

She is in the middle of a music festival and hasn't looked at the program.

Instead, she talks about the joy of going out with her brother. About a concert they ended up going to quite spontaneously, simply because they happened to be there at the right time and hung out. About the people they met along the way. And about the atmosphere.

Her brother nods. He's been here for years and knows the feeling. The conversation quickly shifts focus from the names on the poster, and when asked about this year's program, he says that it's actually better this year than it's been in a long time. There's more edge, more rock, and more names he's been wanting to see.

Glitter on the stomach

A little further on, just after the Champagne Bar, we bump into a group of friends who have brought their bachelor party to Northside. They make a good noise, comment on the groom-to-be's answers and laugh so much that it is difficult to complete the interview several times.

Today's protagonist doesn't spend many seconds answering when we ask what the best thing about NorthSide is, aside from the concerts.

“Glitter Wrestling.” The answer comes so quickly that we have to find out more, and when he pulls up his shirt, we understand why.

Because he hasn't just seen it, he's participated and also won. And the remnants of the victory still sparkle on his body with glitter.

We would of course like to hear what his wishes are for next year and there is no doubt about this.

“The Strokes.”

There are people who can analyze an entire festival program. And then there are people who just know exactly what they want.

The company and the coziness

Further along, the champagne bar is packed to bursting point. People stand close together with glasses in their hands and bottles on the table. The sun hits the tables, and the atmosphere is exactly as relaxed as you would hope it would be on a summer day in Aarhus.

Here we meet Carsten Bang. When we ask him what the best thing about NorthSide is, aside from the music, the answer comes without hesitation.

“Soda and socializing,” he says, laughing out loud and going on to say that he often looks at a program and thinks there's nothing he wants to hear, only to end up discovering some music he didn't even know he wanted to experience and that he ends up loving.

And that's actually a pretty accurate description of NorthSide. Because even though the festival sells tickets for the music, it's often the unexpected experiences that stick.

What people miss

Not everyone has the same thing in mind.

Two young women at the food stall area are missing several exits. They explain it with an energy that suggests it has been irritating them all day. “You find an exit, but it’s not an exit. Then we find another exit, which is also not an exit. One exit is just not enough,” they say.

They laugh out loud and we end up getting a huge hug before they move on.

Two men say they would like to have more indie bands and a bigger stage. Mostly because the small stages often get too crowded. In the middle of the conversation, one of the men's daughters comes running up to her father, laughing, and interrupts the interview before we can even finish.

And what do others we met say:

A man in the champagne bar wishes for better weather.
Two young women at the main stage want Kesi and several strong Danish names.
Another one is still dreaming about Travis Scott.
And a young man at the food stalls argues with great conviction for more toilets.

Everyone has their wishes. But none of them sound like people who are considering staying away next year.

It's about being together.

It's basically the same answer we hear all day long. Just in different words.

Two young women point to the community. A man at the food stalls talks about old friends he hasn't seen in years. A young man says that one of the best things about NorthSide is meeting people he never expected to meet. Others mention the atmosphere, the food, Skovbrynet or Glitter Wrestling.

The answers are different, but the conclusion is the same.

Maybe that's why NorthSide feels different from many other festivals. Most guests come from home. They meet in gardens and allotments in the morning. They take their bikes to the square. They bump into old acquaintances in front of a food stall or at a bar and end up spending half an hour more there than they had planned.

NorthSide sometimes feels less like a festival moving into Aarhus, and more like Aarhus moving into NorthSide.

When we leave the square later in the evening, the music is still going. The lights hang between the trees in Skovbrynet, people are dancing, and groups are sitting at the long tables, clearly in no hurry to get home.

For many, the music is the reason they buy the ticket.

But it's the people who keep them coming back.