Festival Report: Hurricane & Southside 2018 combine diverse music styles with great vibes

Southside 2018
Photo: Athanasios Kouklas (Southside 2018)

Last weekend, Hurricane & Southside festivals took place in Germany. The twin festivals were organized between 22 June and 24 June in Scheessel and Neuhausen ob Eck respectively. During the weekend more than 100 acts performed at the two festivals, offering a unique experience for those attending the events. 

Festileaks was there and asked over 100 festival goers about their opinion on six categories of the festival experience. We present the average grades in the Festival Report. We will do this at several festivals all over Europe this summer. Want to stay updated? Follow Festileaks on Facebook or Instagram.

This was Hurricane & Soutside 2018 according to the festival’s visitors.

Lineup: 7.4

Southside 2018, Arcade Fire
Photo: Athanasios Kouklas (Southside 2018)

With exclusive festival performances from Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys, Hurricane and Southside offered a variety of bands from different music genres. From Parcels and Two Door Cinema Club to NOFX, Pennywise and Boysetsfire, there was something for everyone. As two of the biggest festivals in Germany, there was also a strong representation of German bands like WandaMarteriaKraftklub and more. However, for some like Kate (27) from Thessaloniki, Arcade Fire was the best performance of the weekend. She says: ”Arcade Fire offers a special show every time, with the band having a unique connection with the crowd and energy during their performance”. The crowd also seemed to enjoy small and upcoming bands like Gang of Youths, Coasts and Jain, who mainly performed at the White Stage of the festivals.

Side programme: 5.1

Southside 2018
Photo: Athanasios Kouklas (Southside 2018)

Festivals nowadays often offer some non-musical activities. However this part seemed to be missing from the two festivals. Only a ride in the Ferris Wheel and other activities like a Public Viewing of the World Cup matches took place outside the festival grounds. Some sponsors of the festivals also offered special places at their own stands, where you could enjoy the view from the top and drink special beverages. Yet, a lot of people did not seem to mind with the lack of a side programme, thanks to the awesome lineup.

Atmosphere: 7.7

Southside 2018
Photo: Athanasios Kouklas (Southside 2018)

At Hurricane and Southside festivals you can find every kind of people. Especially at Southside, due to the location of the festival close to the southern German borders, you could easily meet friendly people from France, Switzerland or even Italy. ”The atmosphere here is great and everyone seems to enjoy themeselves” said Alissa (28) from Basel. The crowd did not hesitate to jump, mosh and sing along with passion during the performances. Even after the concerts had ended, people continued to dance, while moving toward the direction of the campsite or the White Stage, where DJs continued to play music till the early morning hours.

Location & looks: 6.7

Southside 2018
Photo: Athanasios Kouklas (Southside 2018)

Just like the previous years, Hurricane takes place in Schessel and Southside in Neuhausen ob Eck near Tuttlingen. Although there is nothing special about these locations, the festival ground especially in Southside is located very close to the different campsites. Matthias (29) from Fischingen, who comes to the festival for ten years now said: ”The location of the camping and especially this of Green Camping (Grüner Wohnen) is a huge plus for the visitors, because they can catch any performance they want, without having to leave the tents early to get in front of the stage”.

With two big open-air center stages relative close to each other, and another two smaller indoor tent-stages the various musical acts were good balanced between those. The decoration of the stages and the festival ground was quite basic, with a huge Jägermeister deer and a Ferris wheel making the only difference. Although, the sitting places were not many, people still enjoyed some of the performances by just sitting on the ground.

Food & drinks: 7.3

Southside 2018
Photo: Athanasios Kouklas (Southside 2018)

The food selection at both festivals was quite good. Although, some may complain that healthy choices like salads and fruit bars were absent, Hurricane and Southside offered meals from different kitchens and cultures. The average price of a full meal was around €7, which is satisfactory for festival standards. Furthermore, you could easily spot beer and cocktail stands in the festival site, while you could also get water at various drinking fountains near the toilets. However, some people complained about the fact that you could not get coffee onsite.

Logistics: 6.4

Southside 2018
Photo: Athanasios Kouklas (Southside 2018)

Most of the festival visitors would agree that the trip to the festival was very easy and convenient. With frequent shuttle bus connections between the Tuttlingen train station and the camp site in Southside everything was quite well-organized. However, there were not many extra trains for people who wanted to leave on Sunday, and as a result they had to miss major acts. The bus connections on the last day of the festival were a bit chaotic according to the visitors, with people waiting for about 40 minutes in order to catch the bus, with a chance of missing their last train back home. At the camp sites there was a plethora of clean toilets although the access to the water station was quite limited.

Hurricane Festival Logo

Hurricane Festival 2024

Locatie
Duitsland
Scheeßel, Duitsland
Datum 21-23 juni 2024
Tickets Kopen

Over de auteur ✍️

Athanasios Kouklas

From Thessaloniki, Greece, currently living in Switzerland. Travel, music and festival enthusiast. Been to Pinkpop, Rock Werchter, Wacken, Rock am Ring, Southside and numerous concerts of all kinds in Europe. Favourite bands include: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Rammstein, Foo Fighters, Motörhead and The Rolling Stones..

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