Lots of action, meager turnout
I’d eagerly awaited the autumn season’s first festival. Knowing that Day 1 of the three-day event, which included live music and film projections, would feature a loaded agenda of contemporary acts, I felt overwhelmed by impatience as the Earthdance Festival’s first day, on September 14, drew nearer. I was in for a surprise when I got to the venue at Alimos, southern Athens. At 10 p.m., some 30 people had turned up to the event’s Pop stand, despite thorough local media coverage in local media. A further 50 bopped away at the nearby Dance stage. My friends and I were shocked by the poor turnout but it did feel like a family experience when the Greek-English pop-rock band Zebra Tracks took the stage with their guitars. The following night, a Saturday, managed to attract over 500 people, I was informed several days later. But those who didn’t attend on opening night missed out on a parade of Greece’s indie-rock scene. «Greeks aren’t used to all-day festivals,» said Nikos Papageorgopoulos, one of the event’s organizers. «We put on acts from 6 p.m. and people were trying to get in at 2 a.m. We’re going to carry on this way because all-day events offer audiences a different type of entertainment and overall vibe,» he added about the new festival. I was left wondering about the turnout figures. Were the national elections to blame? Was it Greece’s Eurobasket quarterfinal match? The mix of sea, sun, and music was too good to be missed by so many. It goes beyond the comprehension of Greek behavioral patterns.
