They call it the Scandi Glastonbury. But Denmark’s eight day Roskilde Festival, located 30 minutes outside of the capital city of Copenhagen, puts some of our British festivals to shame.
For one, the 130,000 capacity festival is entirely in aid of charity, and every single festival worker is a volunteer. It’s also shamefully sustainable. Sure, we make a solid effort to “leave no trace” at our festivals now, but when you see the number of bikes that neatly line the entrance to Roskilde each day (I’m talking thousands), you’ll realise we’re still far behind.
It’s the music that would make Brits feel most at home at Roskilde, ironically, with a diverse line up of homegrown acts including Brat of the moment Charli XCX, rapper Headie One, London-based indie band The Last Dinner Party, and buzzy pop artist PinkPantheress.
It was Charli XCX’s festival, really, thanks to a slick and sweaty performance of her latest hits from new, neon-green album Brat on the Saturday. “I left my passport at home today so I only got here 20 minutes ago,” she revealed to the crowd after a positively feral reaction to Club Classics and Von Dutch. The set included snippets of a remix of Caroline Polacheck’s Welcome To My Island, by her partner, The 1975’s George Daniel, during which Polachek herself came out to croon and bewitch the crowd.
Roskilde’s headliners are also familiar faces for the big British festival circuit, with Doja Cat, Foo Fighters and SZA topping the bill. Foo Fighters were predictably brilliant, serenading the Roskilde crowd with sweet nothings about this being a truly special audience. Dave Grohl brought tears to grown men’s eyes with his penultimate performance of Best of You, and even the most hardened electronic music fan couldn’t help but stop between dance stages to take in the band’s well honed stage presence. Other highlights included Bronx rapper Ice Spice, EDM king Skrillex, and neo-soul duo Jungle.
On the Sunday, SZA finally played to a festival crowd of the size she actually deserved, after a disappointing turnout at Glastonbury. Perhaps all-too-aware of this fact, she stepped up the energy of her performance, though it never hit the roof. However, that isn’t the nature of her music. It is no question of her ability or popularity, but perhaps SZA just doesn’t have the back catalogue to headline just yet.
Meanwhile, post headliners, the arena shifted into dance music territory with stellar performances from the likes of Shygirl and Overmono, and afterwards the party raged on back at the tents. Unlike British music festivals, Roskilde’s USP is that its campsite becomes an entire festival in itself. With Danes having stayed here for four days before the music even started, everyone gets very good at making their own fun.
That means sound systems, makeshift stages, flocks of roaming revellers, and thumping speakers. Best of all, you will inevitably be offered to take a hit of a “beer bong” at some point: aka a massive tube and funnel used to down pints at rapid pace.
This camping situation, understandably, isn’t for everyone. As a multifaceted woman who loves to go hard, and then go home, I opted for part camping, plus another day in a Guest Favourite AirBnB out in the town of Roskilde, a 20 minute walk away.
Ultimately, Roskilde is another world compared to British festivals. There’s a lot we could learn from it, though if the number of Lime bikes you can expect to see parked outside All Points East this year is anything to go by, maybe we’re on the right path.
