Check out these festivals and learn more about one of the most interesting cultural phenomenons on World Goth Day!
The gothic subculture is a contemporary subculture thatΒ began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene as an offshoot of the post-punk genre. This has spread to several countries since then gaining followers who celebrate it through events and festivals featuring mainly the Gothic style of fashion and music.
1. Wave-Gotik-Treffen
(Courtesy :Β daily-rock.com)
Wave-Gotik-Treffen is an annual world festival for “dark” music and arts in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (Gothic rock, EBM, Industrial, Noise, Darkwave, Neofolk, Neoclassical, Medieval Music, Experimental, Gothic metal, Deathrock and Punk being examples) play at several venues throughout the city over 4 days on Whitsuntide. The festival also features several fairs with medieval, gothic and cultural merchandise.Β With 18,000 to 20,000 regular attendants, the WGT is one of the largest events of the Goth-, Cybergoth-, Steampunk and Rivethead subcultures worldwide.
2. Whitby Goth Weekend
Courtesy : i.dailymail.co.uk
Whitby Goth Weekend abbreviated to WGW or referred to by attendees as Whitby, is a twice-yearly music festival for goths, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire.Β The festival was held yearly until 1997, when it became twice-yearly in April and October. It has grown into one of the world’s most popular goth music events attracting around 1,500+ attendees from across the UK and beyond. The main event is held in the town’s largest venue Whitby Spa Pavilion and the Bizarre Bazaar ‘Goth Market’ is also held there and at Whitby Leisure Centre and the Brunswick Centre.
3. Convergence
Courtesy : amazonaws.com
Convergence is the annual net.goth party run by and for members of the alt.gothic and alt.gothic.fashion newsgroup, and other related Usenet newsgroups. Started in 1995, it is a chance for net.goths and others who normally only intearactΒ on the Internet to meet. Events at Convergence typically included live bands and club nights, bazaars, fashion, art shows, panels, and tours of goth-themed locales in the host city.Β In recent years, however, the festival aspects of this event have been stripped away leaving the event transformed into a meet-up for old friends from past Convergences to get-together.
4. Infest
Infest is an annual three-day music festival held at the University of Bradford Union in the United Kingdom, featuring alternative electronic music acts from genres including industrial, EBM, futurepop, synthpop and power noise.
5. Bats Day In The Fun Park
Courtesy : memes.com
Started in August 1999 as a joint effort between the promoters of the goth/industrial and deathrock clubs Absynthe and Release the Bats, it has now become an annual three-day event.Β The event started as a relatively small goth “meet up” event of about 80 people from two dance clubs, Absynthe and Release the Bats. It has grown to include more aspects of the goth subculture. Other dark subcultures represented at the event include Horror punk, Halloween, Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Black metal, Steampunk, Hearse Societies, Industrial and EBM.
6. M’era Luna Festival
Courtesy : zimbio.com
The M’era Luna is a festival of goth, metal and industrial music. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, Germany at Flugplatz Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, a former British Army airbase.Β The M’era Luna includes camping facilities and has two stages: a large rock festival style structure, erected for the show each year, and a former aircraft hangar.Β With its 20,000-25,000 regular attendants, the M’era Luna is one of the biggest dark music events in Germany.
7. Lumous Gothic Festival
Courtesy : lecool.com
Lumous Gothic FestivalΒ is the largest festival dedicated to the goth subculture in Finland and the northernmost Gothic festival in the world. The four-day event is organised every summer in Tampere in late June or early July. While the primary focus is on music, covering musical genres such as gothic rock, deathrock, industrial, EBM and neofolk, other cultural and arts events have also been organised as part of the festival. Lumous Festival consists mainly of club nights organised in bars and clubs in the centre of Tampere, and also includes a cruise dubbed die dunkle Seereise on the lake PyhΓ€jΓ€rvi.
8. Children Of The Night : Black Soviet
Children Of The Night : Black Soviet is aΒ festival of goth, metal and industrial music. It is the largest such festival in Ukraine and has now becomeΒ anΒ annual tradition for admirers of gothic/dark/electro aesthetics from Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldavia and other former soviet union countries.
9. Eccentrik
The Eccentrik Festival is an annual 3-day Goth and industrial music festival held in the Raleigh, North Carolina area and has been spread out between several different venues over the years since 2004. Musical styles typically featured at Eccentrik include deathrock, psychobilly, gothic rock, industrial, post-punk, dark cabaret, steampunk, synthpop and other related genres. The festival is also notable for its party-like atmosphere, the pre-festival meet n’ greet, art show, and a dancefloor featuring goth, deathrock, industrial, steampunk and post-punk DJs from around the US.
10. Castle Party
Courtesy : thenews.pl
Above the town BolkΓ³w stand the ruins of BolkΓ³w Castle, built in the 13th century. heavily damagedΒ in the Thirty Years’ War it became a property of GrΓΌssau Abbey in 1703, though restoration efforts did not begin until 1905. Since 1994 the ruin is the site of the annual Castle Party Gothic rock festival.