This festival definitely gives Burning Man a run for its money.
We at Festival Sherpa take pride in introducing our readers to the weirdest, strangest and yet, unsung and underrated festivals from the shiftiest crevices of the world. Ergo, we love discovering new festivals, and we love enthusing about them to you. Here’s this week’s fix of quirky for you.
You may have heard of the name KaZantip fleetingly, perhaps strung along in a sentence about unabashed nudity or misunderstood orgies. But KaZantip is more than that. Taking place on an island in the Russian Federation, this festival has its own rules, raves, and religion.
What is Kazantip?
KaZantip is a counter-culture festival that takes place in Russia every year. It has been dormant for the past year or so, but it’s far from being over. KaZantip sees thousands of near-naked individuals every year, their ViZa in hand – the festival’s version of a ticket – ready to party it out for two weeks in this alternative reality. With music, impeccable fashion, and orange swimsuits littering the beaches, this festival is the ultimate beach party. Known as one of the craziest events in the European festival circuit, KaZantip is the ultimate goal in many a bucket lists. You can count on a few things at this festival – an escape from reality, nudity, freedom of expression, a sense of community, and respect for the venue.
So it’s basically the European Burning Man?
Yes, and no. KaZantip has been dubbed as the European/more exotic Burning Man, but that’s not entirely accurate. The greatest thing about KaZantip, is the KaZantip “Republic”. The sense of exclusivity and detachment from the rest of the world is what sets this wonderful festival apart.
Will KaZantip take place in 2016?
We have no confirmation so far. The Facebook page of the festival asks it’s fans to stay tuned. However, the popular European festival is going through a really rough patch at the moment. After relocating twice over the past year or so, the new Cambodian home of the festival has also shut it’s doors for the gathering. According to the Cambodia Daily, The 10 – day electronic music festival was scheduled to kick off in the Koh Puos island, but military police have been deployed to block the bridge linking the island to the mainland to prevent the rave from going ahead. Many reliable sources show August 6 to 27 as the dates for the 2016 edition of the festival, but The Sherp has no official confirmation yet. Do stay tuned to find out if this wonderful festival will be back!
(All Images Via: Kazantip Republic)