Good Or Shit: How Weed Improves A Festival Vibe

So, I went to Amsterdam right? And yes, all that stuff about weed is true. You can buy it and smoke it pretty much anywhere and no one gives a toss how stoned you are because most people are really stoned. What I also discovered was a beautiful city consisting of 17th century buildings along tree-lined canals built for transportation and perfect for romance. And I discovered that Dutch people are really really cool. This last part became the most apparent when I left the tourists to their “coffee shops” – has anyone ever bought a coffee in these places? – and their hookers-behind-glass-doors and went to a music festival on the other side of town.

Appelsap in Ooster Park boasted a line up of underground American rappers I was stoked to find were in town at the same time as me. As my friend and I made our way toward the entrance I realised that he was carrying a lot of weed – but the only thing we weren't allowed to take in were our water bottles.

Have you ever walked into a commercial, heavily promoted music festival carrying your five-year-old daughter, loads of weed, and not even considered the possibility that you may be greeted by cops bearing dogs because you know you won't be?  Have you even taken children to a festival that didn't have the words “blues”, “roots”, “folk”, “carols”, or “candlelight” in the name of it? We knew the Dutch were cool but they deck their toddlers out in head to toe Nike and stand amongst the crowd listening to Ab-Soul with baby-sized industrial ear muffs to protect their little ears. Did you even know they made industrial ear muffs for babies? 

I crossed the bridge over the lake in the middle of a lusciously green park to find the main stage and this is what I saw – Vans, Converse, and so much Nike. I'm glad I didn't wear my Jordans and not because they would have ended up thrashed but because everyone else was wearing them, including the toddlers. It was hipster central except the Dutch are actually hip and not just wankers in odd clothing. There wasn't a scrap of fluro to be seen and not a single douche bag bashed into me in a crowd or in a queue. The atmosphere was so relaxed I had to ask people if it was normal – the general consensus was yes, this is normal. And if we're going to be honest about it, it's probably got a lot to do with how stoned everybody is.

I spent most of the day in front of the main stage to see Danny Brown, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, and French Montana. Despite their main-stage allocation the Dutch didn't really seem to know who they were but rather than clear off to find a stage with acts they recognised the crowd remained at a steady level of swollen the entire day, dancing and raising their hands in the air and really kicking off when their own local hip hop acts came on. Two more stages accommodated artists from local rnb singers to DJs from across the globe and even in crowds higher on more than simply weed and life the atmosphere remained relaxed, chilled out. UK sibling DJ duo Disclosure were definitely a highlight – I have now heard their remix of Artful Dodger tune Please Don't Turn Me On. It's wicked. I predict murder by radio when the song is finally released – hundreds of people surrounded them, on stage, hardly moving until a tune climaxed and then as though on queue, they all began to periodically wiggle until the music calmed down again and they resumed standing around on stage looking hella ripped.

The last time I went to a big name festival I swore I would never do it again. There is something about music festivals that turns people into massive idiots who always seem to be in my way. But in Amsterdam people manage to be respectful and mature at the same time as having fun. I didn't see a fight, I didn't see vomit in the porter loos, I didn't see a single police officer. This city is doing something right ... I wonder what that is...