Text and photos: Adele van Heerden
We arrived at Hellfest around four in the afternoon on the Thursday before bands started, exhausted, having travelled from London at four in the morning. After finding a spot in the masses of tents, our friendly French neighbours gave us beer and bade us welcome, even helping us to set up our tent. I had never heard of the festival before my boyfriend suggested we go, but upon arrival we were given a quick course on Hellfest history.
Apparently Hellfest had a long history of being attacked by right-wing conservatives for their supposedly demonic or satanic theme. Luckily it enjoyed continued support, despite large sponsors, such as Coca-Cola, dropping out because of the pressure.
This year seemed to be avidly supported by members of the whole family: I saw father and son enjoy acts such as Ihsahn and Immortal together, and absolutely no scorn between groups of people. Everyone was just there to dress up and have a good time, whether it be with their family or the people from another country they had just met an hour ago. I believe Hellfest also makes an important economic contribution to the town of Clisson, which embraces it in full: the town pharmacy played Metallica and everyone working in the shops that weekend wore Hellfest support shirts. I believe the local supermarket probably made more money than they would at Christmas!
The festival succeeded in providing extreme music in all its forms: from punk classics such as The Buzzcocks at the Warzone stage, to more commercial acts like Kiss at the Main Stage, and stoner metal legends Sleep at The Valley, to black and death metal at The Altar and The Temple. I found it relatively easy to get to the front for groups I really wanted to see, such as Cult of Luna, which I should think would be much harder to do at larger stadium shows.
I saw so much unity and inclusivity at this event: devil horns, singing and dressing up. No discrimination to age or gender, and so many hospitable camp-mates. If this is what a European metal festival is like, I need more.
Adele van Heerden is an artist and illustrator from Cape Town, South Africa.
http://adelevanheerden.tumblr.com/
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