Nowhere

Over the next few days we will all start arriving back to our various homes, getting clean and start sifting though our memories of the event.

I hope you all had a wonderful time, i know i did, and it was awesome to finally put some faces to the names on the forum.

So how was it for everyone, What were the highs and what were the lows?

Many highs! Especially two new ones on Sunday. "Nowhere over the Rainbow" and then looking over my shoulder on the way downhill to MoN at the closing ceremony & seeing the lights from more people than had been there for the entire event two years ago brought tears of joy!

Special thanks from me to all the Saturday night djs and to Dave Bradshaw for all the help they gave to make the party so special.

Well,
It was magical ! I really enjoyed nowhere, it was like a new way of living more than a festival. Firstly, I was happy to leave the dust and to return to the "civilisation" but then, 2 or 3 houres later, coming back home I was really nostalgic, a little sad like if I had left my home...

It was my first time at nowhere but I'm quiet sure it's not the last !

Then yes, certainly more highs than lows !

It was my first time @ Nowhere and it was amazing ! I loved the first scene at the gate, the animations, the guyz all around me, the spirit but there is just one point left, most of the parties stopped to soon and many peoples around me agreed with that. I have the feeling that we were at the Paris nights time, with parties started at 9pm and stopped at 2am ! So frustrating ! Hope to make my own camp next year !
It's not a reproach, just an observation, don't be mad ! I really loved this event and all the persons I met there !

some of our parties (Funhaus) stopped early because of problems with our generators, some because people were complaining about too much loud music. Its difficult to keep everyone happy.

Highs:
The people... everyone with no exceptions
The outfits / costumes and the general effort that everyone went to
The amazingly original camps and all the organisation that went into making things happen
The closing ceremony that brought a tear to my eye
The drive there and back with some totally fab people
Seeing people I have not seen in ages and putting personalities to names and faces
Meeting new fabulous people
The general atmosphere
All the workshops that happened
The Norg team who made it all happen
The Malfare teams who kept us alive
Everyone else who did things behind the scenes
and so much more

Lows:
Only one - I was feeling a bit low on one day, but a hug from a stranger made everything better.

G

Back to Paris... How hard it is !!

It was my first experience at Nowhere, and I would like to be there some more days... peoples, events, landscape and general atmosphere were exceptionnal !

Many thanks to all of you who made this possible, and see you all next year (or made before... who knows ?)

Jeckel / Julien ... from The Pool

the good:
What a lovely time! I so enjoyed being part of the MalFare team and getting to help some at Werkhaus -- what amazing people! I was very impressed with how dedicated many of these individuals are to hosting such an event!!! At larger burns, there are more people and it can be spread around more -- but here, many of the behind-the-scenes people worked 24-hr shifts and slept with their radios on to ensure a safe and fun event for all -- and they succeeded!!! Big Time!!! Mucho besos y abrazos to all of you!

the not-so-bad:
I would have loved to had more energy and I wish I would have contributed more time in doing different areas of Volunteering. I really enjoyed working in MalFare, but would have loved to help out more at Werkhaus and wherever else they would have needed me too. Long-nighters like Morgan, Gary and Twilight (to name just a few) simply amaze and humble me with their dedication!
I also would have loved to also have made it over and visited more with the Italians (such lovely people and a fabulous camp!)

and the a-little-bit-ugly:
I would have preferred that there not be "assigned drug days". Do what thou wilt and all... but really -- it kind of set a "this is just a party" type feel and felt like it cheapened the event some to me. Not trying to criticize, just sharing my .02. I love to party, dance, and celebrate in a variety of ways, but it is more about the celebration than whatever it is I may or may not be using to get there

Curry wrote:


You and me must have been mixing with different crowds, as much as that is possible in a place like Nowhere, cause thats the first time I heard of anything along those lines!?

I think you'll find that was not condoned in anyway shape or form by the event organizers.

Now while i dunno how those rumors got started, an educated guess would be an individual or two said something, and it progressed around the event like Chinese Whispers.

While it was a bit of a concern to the Malfare team at the time, it proved to be more rumor than anything else.

My apologies... I was not trying to infer that the organizers set that up. No... it was just individuals and such... and just commenting really. I enjoyed the event a good deal and was impressed by a lot of the hardwork that went in to it.

Hugs, healing and happiness,

Curry

Oh i know since you were there for most of our discussion about it in Malfare

But for those that may have not been involved, clarity is a good thing

This year was a brilliant year for the most part:

HIGHS:
The chilled out feeling with the crew from the time I arrived at the gate until the time I left. I could tell upoing rocking up, by the way the Gate was all chill, that the crew was relaxed and I loved that.

Greg and Victoria. What a great couple of people and I'm so stoked that they came this year. Greg was fluffing before my arrival, helped me blow up Space Hoppers and test them out, and was a delight the entire time. What an incredile kid and a truly fabulous addition to the population. And his fire spinning on Saturday night was AWESOME!

So many new faces including two babies that were less than a year old. I loved meeting all the new people, visiting all the new camps, and knowing that there was no way I was going to meet everyone that weekend. I loved that some old faces returned to the event - Mel, Zero, Zooty, Paul, and Scally.

I intended to do Space Hoppers every evening but by Friday it became quite clear that more enjoyment was being had by people bouncing on them all over the site or using them for seating or yoga balls at MoN.

Miss Nowhere pageant. This is the first year I watched the whole thing and I found it hysterical. I loved heckling it and cheering for Julio at inappropriate times. Arkem was brilliant and I'm over the moon that he won.

The Baby Shark song. 'nuff said.

Malfare being big enough for several patients but not needing to be used for any all too crazy serious injuries. A quiet Saturday night for Malfare and the radio.

All the munecas that appeared and were an absolute delight to behold. THey all looked so much like the bigger versions of themselves and it was great to see how Tali saw people and how people saw themselves. I'm gutted I didn't get to make one but I was doing lunch that day if I remember correctly.

Helen DJing at Burrow and ice camps musical afternoons so it wasn't all oonz oonz all weekend. I think I'm one of the few people that doesn't get all into the oonz oonz and most years there hasn't been much for me unless Bongo is DJing. I love when Helen DJs and I was pleased that ice camp added some variety to the afternoon music.

Nights that were warm enough to go without layers and to sleep under the stars. It's worth the agonizingly hot afternoons to get a night that is warm enough to go with some bare skin.

LOWS:
I also didn't like the themed drug days that people decided to do. You are all adults and can take what you want when you want, but I found the themed days (including a Sober Saturday I assume for balance) to be a bit full on and made the event seem like it was drug-fuelled mania at times. This was my fourth Nowhere and the first where I felt like illicit substances were a bit too much in the forefront - they seemed almost to be an additional Citizen at times. I think that a little respect for the others in the community who either don't partake or don't want others partaking to become an overwhelming factor, the advertising of use and themes and such should be toned down.

It seemed like most everyone blew their wad on the Thursday night party and by the time Saturday rolled around a lot of people were exhausted and it was strange to have a Saturday night that was sort of a low night with either not many people around any one place or people fucked/off their faces really early in the evening.

Feeling for the first time at Nowhere that I couldn't just leave stuff lying around while I nipped to the loo or over to ice camp or whatever. This was not just because things of mine were taken but also hearing that nearly everyone had an experience where something went walkies and in some instances not receiving those things back. I had a conversation with a long time NoFo who basically said they didn't feel comfortable leaving things lying around even in their own camp kitchen because they didn't know if it would still be there later. I find this very sad.

Also leaving the event and feeling a bit let down that a gift I provided for the entire community was not respected as that and I left the event with half the Space Hoppers I arrived with on Wednesday. If you didn't bring something to the event you shouldn't be leaving with it - excepting Lost & Found at the end of the event.

There were times that the music was a bit too loud. I don't know how to fix that though because we are not in an area like BRC where we can have loud camps in a certain ares and designate a quiet side or a sound side of the city. In some cases turning the speakers away from the quiet camping area helped. I think with this, much like photos and drugs, respect for others is the key. If you have been banging music all night, don't crank it up a notch at 6 am when most people are either sleeping or going to bed finally. Quiet camp was a nice idea but I'm not sure it was ever really that quiet. Maybe having quiet camp down by where Burrow was or in that field behing Yes Please next year and then all the sound camps from MoN on and in the far field where the Healing Tent was with speakers facing away from Quiet Camp might work better?

Me n my crew had a wonderful time, lots of lovely people, weird shananigans, an intriguing french cult who seemed to wander around in a pack, some sweet tunes, and a lovely location. Having gone to Burning Man, I've gotta say we all really loved our first time at Nowhere. A perfect sized party with an inspiringly friendly and ecclectic bunch of nationalities

I was a little bit disappointed, however, that going to nowhere was a bit like entering an alternate universe. It didn't resemble anything particularly European, no mad anarchist free party crews, not even much weird experimental new music. It was a bit like a little bit of burning man had descended on Spanish soil. Perhaps that's a compliment...I dunno. It all seemed a little tame and unadventurous to me...kinda tea n biscuits really....especially seeing as I missed the thursday night and everyone seemed to go to sleep almost every other night...and where were the morning ravers dancing to the sun rise?!?...too bloody lazy or old I guess

I don't know why Nowhere started but, if it's anything like Burning Man, there's probably some pretty radical ideals in there somewhere... self-sufficiency, creativity, environmentalism, etc. Things which go against this for me are primarily 1) the theme camps... these only serve to split up people into walled off tribes rather than forcing them to mingle. Burning man is so much worse, with special vip parties going on for theme camp members only... but the whole theme camp thing just seems plain wrong to me, going against the grain of personal liberation imo. 2) the music...something less than 10 years old would've been nice to listen to. I'm not complaining cos we all still had fun and there were some sweet tunes, but surely Europe has more to say music wise than just House music and cheese? 3) the price...i completely understand that the ticket price is cool, I'm totally up for paying it, and it covers the costs but wouldn't it be cool and open minded to give away a certain amount of tickets for free so that free party crews, homeless people, and bankrupt bankers can enter into our momentary bubble of a utopia?

Just some ideas. These aren't gripes cos we all had a wail of a time...more philosophical meanderings about what the whole point of the thing is. I guess the question probably remains...which would you rather have... a crime free nicely managed idyllic dream world of disney-esque imposible freedom...or a more dodgy unmanaged mess of real tangible anarchistic freedom? I guess what it all comes down to is that Burning Man and Nowhere are just dream bubbles which we can decide to live in for a week, if we can afford it, but which are completely and utterly unsustainable outside of that, without some form of dictatorial control. Shame really because I kinda hoped there'd be an element of counter culture to the whole thing. It was a fun party, though, filled with bloody nice people and, after all, who needs a revolution when the polar ice caps are melting, the international banking system is collapsing, our governments are invading whoever they want, and our brains are being fried on an endless parade of graham norton, property programs, and people selling shit out of their attics?

Peace to you all and thanks for the wonderful times

wonky chris wrote:


Ah... you met the French Swingers.



It is a Burning Man regional event so there should be some element of a Burning Man feel to it - that being said it shouldn't be just like it so the lack of 6am dancing ravers should be considered part of Nowhere's own personality - cos really if you just want a big sound camp with oonz oonz and dancing non-stop well Burning Man does that pretty well.

As for the sleeping early, this was my fourth Nowhere and the first that I recall Thursday night being the big night. I was surprised by that but I guess everyone just wore themselves out with the heat of the day.

As for the music, the idea with Nowhere is pretty much if you think something should be at the event then you should bring it. In your case it was a certain kind of music that you didn't find there, people dancing at 6 am, and more action at night through-out the week. Well if you were into the idea of a theme-camp then you could easily have a sound camp that played what you wanted to hear and kept things bumping into the wee hours for those late-night ravers. Or maybe you could join up with other people that find that lacking as well and DJ at their camp?

Good points Snarky...I totally get the whole bring the party to the party thing and my crew definitely tried to do that, bringing art work, dj'ing, massaging and cooking up meals for passers by

I was only making some vaguely interesting wishy washy philosophical points which struck me whilst I was there. Burning Man's been going for a long time now and its running the risk of becoming a simulation of itself for tourists to visit rather than keping fresh and reinventing itself with new energies and new ideas. I don't think Nowhere needs to follow it down that route. I guess the upshot of all this is that...if I think there's some radical new potential in Nowhere to move beyond Burning Man then I should probably just shut up and make it fuckin happen. I'm humble enough to recognise that but I thought I'd just express my opinion anyway just incase it gels with anyone more on the inside of the whole thing

I don't want this to derail this thred so I'll shut up now. Awesome party...I'll try and bring a little something more to it next time if I can find the time

peace

Definitely express your opinions, but also bring what you want at the event to the event.

I would hate for Nowhere to end up like just a mini-burning man and I think it has enough character and personality of it's own to prevent that happening.

There were LOADS of new people there this year and for quite a few of them it was their first event of this kind. I'm very excited to see what they'll bring back next year.

Welcome back! I hope you all had as good a time as I did - yet another magical Nowhere year, for reasons both special and mundane... Nowhere seemed quieter to me this year, yet it still seems to have flashed by in a smile-filled haze of dancing and hugs - heaven in the desert! We're going to be canvasing proper feedback from everyone in the next few weeks, but it's fantastic reading everyone's posts in the meantime... Thank you!

Carole/Lady Belle xx

Amazing - for me, Nowhere 2009 was a turning point: the year in which Nowhere became better than Burning Man. That's just a personal perspective, of course, but it's great to feel I don't have to go to Nevada to feel properly at home any more.

It's all an evolution of course, and there are things that could do with improvement...

But, it was great to see so many camps, more things going on and it's at a size where multiple things can happen at the same time and have enough participants to work. That's a point I've been looking forward to. I'll treasure this size - not too big, not too small - for as long as I can.

Personally I'd like to get involved in placement/layout planning for 2010. Sound is becoming an issue, and I hope we can find a way of keeping both the loud parties and the quiet corners happy. Yes Please! tried to create a quiet, comfortable area, but at times our hopes clashed with camps way over the other side of the site who wanted loud parties, and our sound system was drowned out a few times.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to 2010 already, so I can enjoy both the loud parties and the quiet places (or at least I hope), depending how my mood takes me...

Huge thanks to all the crew for working so hard on an amazing event, but also to the other participants - I found the mixing of cultures really interesting...

Hugs

Snowstorm/Matt

It's really interesting to me, being an old raver myself, that sound and general noisiness seems to be an issue shared by people here. Perhaps it's the desert. I whent off walkies a few times myself to go and find some quiet. Perhaps also the desert was simply too hot to sleep in during the day and therefore people actually tried the crazy newfangled idea of catching a few winks at night? That's a shame cos, for me, the spiritual heart of dance culture is the shamanic dance, seeing off the setting sun, partying under the stars, and then welcoming the sun's rebirth into the miracle of a new day. Without this cycle, dance has no heart imo.

Perhaps nowhere is at a turning point between noisy revellry and quiet retreat? At some point it's gonna go one way or the other but at the moment it's inbetween. On the constructive side, I think the parties which balanced these two approaches best were ones run by a single sound system who timetabled the music to run from 7pm to 9am, after which would be whole day of quietness, yoga, activities, etc. This would be my solution. Not spacing but timetabling. Of course you'd have to timetable the theme camps too.

On a passing note.... I think it's unfair to expect DJ's to be psychic as well as entertaining. These people only want to make us happy and dance.... of course they don't want to annoy us. If there was some kind of clear timetable then I'm sure they'd be quite happy to follow it. The saturday night dance off, for example, was scheduled to run through to the sunday morning by the organisers. If that was wrong then we shouldn't blame the DJ's...they were the entertainers who stayed up in order to bring a little more color to our experience. The quiet heads and the party heads just need to figure out between them what kind of party or timetable they want