OZORA – Commercial festival but good for everyone.

Tertia, Renée and a few other South Africans made the trip of a lifetime to Hungary last week-end in order to experience the so-far Biggest Psy-Trance Festival in the world! Here is Tertia’s journey with her friends throughout the festival. Find out how and why she will never forget RAJA RAM and just how an event of this magnitude brings home every Psy-Hippie’s fantasies come true…

Arriving at OZORA, the first thought that trickled through my mind as I looked out of the car window – after seeing the ‘WELCOME TO PARADISE’ sign over the entrance – was “this is set to be big!”

Nothing proved me wrong, as I drove into the site; a forest of tents slowly emerged with a queue at the door estimated to be three to four hours long all waiting in anticipation for a party. Think of twenty thousand pre-sale tickets and buses filled with French, Israeli, German, Austrian, Hungarian and even more thousands of punters from all over the world arriving on the two days before the opening ceremony and you’ll have an idea of what was before us.

From the start the excitement was palpable – the shops were open and ready for business. Restaurants were fully stocked giving off aromas of great cooked food, showers were curtained, matched up with clean toilets while alongside these great home comforts other numerous activities were in full swing. One couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being in a huge shopping mall for hippies.

The décor in keeping with the OZORA theme was simple but effective, integrating superbly, catching the balance between man and nature. The dance floor was beautiful and airy and I recognised the signature the style of South Africa’s very own Carin Dickson. Behind the dance floor, high up on the hill, a mystical forest of large illuminated crystals shining in the night, creating an otherworldly ambiance, coincided perfectly with this years theme, ‘Alternative Universes’.

The event kicked off with the now legendary OZRIC TENTACLE, playing trippy sounds leading up to a full power first night. LOGIC BOMB, BOOM SHANKAR, SENSIFEEL and the rest, took us on a day journey with UNION JACK and SENSIENT taking us into the second night.  It was hard and dark, chaotic at times, messy and somewhat scary as nights often are!

GINO and the freshly returned HUX FLUX played killer sunrise sets, which left PROTOCULTURE with a big job to do.  He started of slowly, missing some kick, but finishing on a high note with the all time favourite Avalon which left the dance floor smiling and wanting more.

The one act however that will live forever in my memory was RAJA RAM versus SIMON POSTFORD. What a duo; playful and sharp with Raja bringing tears to my eyes with his haunting flute melodies and shifting of gears. They then handed over the decks to MAN WITH NO NAME who made us dance like no one was watching. By far the biggest ,best and most energetically pleasing dance floor I have ever seen!

A hard and full on last night ensued with PLEIADIANS and KRAAK preparing the ground for the stalwarts of the psy-scene, TRISTAN, DIMITRI and TRANSWAVE; always a pleasure to hear them and dance to them.

I was very happy to see our money being used to improve the festival site with a beautiful new chill out space under a brand new thatch roof, positioned up on the hill. We sat there chilling, catching the breeze which turned out to be a much needed relief on hot days whilst in between there were long walks to the different areas.

Delicious local food, friendly staff and security made the experience that much more enjoyable. This festival is undoubtedly a well oiled machine that runs fluidly, not surprising as it is already into its 11th year. Even though progress has been made in attracting greater numbers, I found a general lack of ecological awareness and was surprised to see almost no attempt at going green.

Also, considering the masses of people dancing under the sun, the shade on the dance floor was insufficient, leaning more towards decoration than functional.

However, even as the freak-show continues and the public becomes younger , O.Z.O.R.A 2011 was still unforgettable and has not lost its reputation as the biggest and most popular festival on the calendar, an absolute MUST for die hard trance heads and rookies alike!

In the words of the great RAJA RAM… ‘What a Festival!’

WORDS: Tertia Bright Angel

IMAGES: Renée De Wet