Southside questions

[ourkid1984]

Couldn't find a Southside festival up to date topic so thought I'd create one.

I've got a few questions about the festival so hoping people would be able to help. Firstly;

Whats the easiest/best ways of getting there from South England?

What's the atmosphere like?

What is the prices like on the festival site?

Is it easy enough to get by not speaking German? (I'm a typical English guy who fails in foreign language)

thanks

[branvan]

hey, the atmosphere is very chilly. you best get there by train & bus, may flying to stuttgart or zürich.

new bands:

Billy Talent | The Smashing Pumpkins | Paul Kalkbrenner | Bloc Party | Gogol Bordello | Ben Howard | Jimmy Eat World | Parkway Drive | Alt-J | Sout Out Louds | Johnossi | Converge | Steven Wilson | Passenger | SDP | Swim Deep | Skaters | OK Kid | Modeselektor | Parov Stelar Band | Breakbot live

[Operator]

very chilly? well it's actually normally f**cking hot up on the hill.

(chillig ist nicht gleich chilly so wie sensibel nicht gleich sensible ist )

The atmosphere is great. no hassle, no idiots, no piss-throwing, no nothing. be careful when the festival is over though (sort of as of sunday evening), security just opens all the gates and lets everybody in and out, meaning that locals come in as well and start looking through your tent and everything.

apart from that, it's probably one of the safest and coolest (or chilly ) festivals in europe.

it's a bit outside of the next village but buses run to and from the festival the whole day. the festival though has everything you need or might have forgotten (tent, toothbrush...) and of course tons of food and drink stalls all with fare prices for a festival - except for the hot dogs that get more expensive every year but you can get a good bowl of asian food for about 5 euros and a slice of pizza for about 4 e.g. and beer is about 4 euros for 0.4 of a litre (pint = 0.56 or so)

it attracts a crowd of people between about 15 and 30.

it's a rather green festival with green camping (quiet) and rubbish deposits meaning you get 5 euros back if you fill a bin bag with rubbish and throw it away (think it went up to 10 this year) but be sure to keep hold of the little deposit coin you get when you get your wristband while entering or you won't get your 5 or 10 euros back!

the people are all ok, everyones there to have a good time, and I haven't experienced anything on the contrary ever. some might say they have...idk.

getting there by train, plane or whatever will mean flying to either zurich or stuttgart as mentioned in the post above this one. if you fly to germany you will be able to use your festival ticket as a rail pass on normal trains (not the ICEs or ICs which are the equivalent of an intercity in england) so you wouldn't have to pay for any trains. and shuttle buses then run from the villages station and take you up to the festival.

bring sun cream!

concerning the language bit: you'll be amongst german teens and twens. for some reason they think its cooler to speak half english/half german. dont know why, its just kids these days so dont worry a bit about that. anybody you meet and talk to in english will probably be over the moon and yeah...you'll see.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Operator

[TobySoprano]

Well, I went two 3 times in the last 5 years and I have to say this is a great festival if it doesnt rain all weekend. If it does, which it tends to every other year, it can get really muddy and therefore smelly on the festival site and the camping site. In 2011 it was brutal, and that year we didnt even camp but stayed in a hotel nearby. 2012 was fantastic though. We had green camping, which wasnt quiet because ther is a disco tent 500 meters away which is so loud that it blurs over the whole campsite, but it was a really clean camping space with nice people, and hot water showers just for the green camp. longest I waited to take a shower was 10 minutes. it was a really nice way to camp. I am not going this year since I dont like the line up one bit, but If you like the line up there is no real argument against going to southside. and since it is considerably smaller than its sister festival hurricane, it is also a tad bit better organized...

[ourkid1984]

Thanks for some of the brilliant advice, much appreciated.

the line up is a bit hit and miss at the moment but for the price its great.

does thelocal village have a shop to stock up on supplies?

We are looking at staying a bit before and after the festival. Any tips for where to stay?

Thanks

[davalex]

i'm totally crazy for this year line up. Can someone tell me if is possible stay in hotel nearby festival zone? any suggestion or past experience?

[Operator]

there are shuttle busses running from the closest villages so you won't be very close to the festival but don't worry, it's a 10-15 minute ride max.

I'd say just use www.hrs.de e.g. and see if there's anything available. same goes for this festival: be early and book asap or every place might be full.

I've never looked at hotels or youth hostels during the festival before so I cannot say if you'll have problems finding anything vacant or not.

[davalex]

Thanks Operator, i find a hotel in Tuttlingen, 2km from the train station, seems good.

[Operator]

wait a sec

by coincidence the festival posted this on facebook today: http://www.southside.de/de/infos/das-southside-hotel-busshuttle-paket/

a hotel package deal, they may have negotiated some special price for festival-goers. take a look, theres a bus shuttle as well...

switch the language in the upper right hand corner if the link goes to the german page

[davalex]

fantastic! Thanks a lot for you help

Edited February 21, 2013 by davalex

[fireztorm]

I know a lot of festivals are pulling out the plug at like 2 am, how is Southside in that aspect? is there music all night?

[TobySoprano]

The stages close up around 1 am, after that there is only the disco-tent in the camping area....they close shop around 6 am...

[branvan]

hey BeauAgst, since the train is free with the festivalticket only in germany and not in switzerland (but not the fast trains!...), you have to buy a train ticket from switzerland to the german border. so you'll have to pay for one way +- 10 pounds. you have to take regional trains which means it takes about 140min and you have to change trains.

if you chose the direct fast train vom zürich to tuttlingen (85min, no changes), then you'll have to pay +- 25 pounds for one way.

note that in switzerland, you can't buy a train ticket in the train, you must buy it before you enter the train. no problem to buy a train ticket at zürich airport.

for swiss train times prices..: www.sbb.ch

[Operator]

yep, thats all included campsite opens on thursday normally between 2 to 4 in the afternoon. and it closes monday midday, staff go round and see that people are awake and packing up quite early.

[TobySoprano]

First of all the trains are indeed for free with your Southside ticket, as long as you do not use high speed trains labeled IC or ICE. As you can see below this would be a connection that brings you to Tuttlingen from Stuttgart Airport for free. You have to change trains in Stuttgart main station (Hbf) and from Tuttlingen there will be shuttle busses to the camp site...

Stuttgart Flughafen/Messe Do, 20.06.13 ab 11:38 Train: S 2 S-Bahn Schorndorf

to

Stuttgart Hbf (tief) Do, 20.06.13 an 12:05

xxxx change train xxxxx

Stuttgart Hbf Do, 20.06.13 ab 12:18 Train: RE 19039

to

Tuttlingen Do, 20.06.13 an 14:10

Edited April 22, 2013 by TobySoprano

[Operator]

first off, it's "first off"

IC and ICE are like the english Intercity's or the virgin high speed trains.

Be sure as the person above me wrote to use nothing higher than RE (i think some of them are called RB as well) trains.

if you're looking for trains here: www.db.de enter your search details on the homepage and then on th enext page you can click the box in the "Angaben zur Verbindung bit" titled "nur Nahverkehr" which means "only regional trains". this option rules out all IC and ICE trains and you will get exactly what you want.

the rest of the website is quite straight forward, you cannot reserve seats on regional/local trains so you won't have to deal with that and don't worry, those trains aren't too busy in general (when there isn't a festival going on), of course you'll have to bear in mind that a few people will be going by train so...they will be full

[fireztorm]

Several questions about logistics coming to the festival:

1. We land in Frankfurt on Wed 19th June. We will need to buy stuff for the festival, e.g. beers, alcohol, food. Should we buy everything in Tuttlingen? Is this place civilized enough?^^ Or should we buy stuff beforehand in Stuttgart / Frankfurt?

2. Another question: the camping site opens Thursday. Do a lot of people come in Thursday? Is it worth it? in general, what is the best time to arrive?

3. Trains: the regional (free) trains from Frankfurt take about 6 hours to Stuttgart / Tuttlingen. Are they sleep-able?

Thanks!

[Operator]

1. Tuttlingen will be more than fine to buy stuff, it's a town and not a small village and has a few supermarkets. The later you buy it, the less you'll have to carry it. but remember: you won't be the only person buying stuff...

buy this beer: "5,0 original" in cans. cheapest beer but tastes super. and everybody drinks it.

2. i would def. recommend going on thursday if you can. 2 years ago more than half of the whole festival arrived on thursday. why wait 'til friday if you can do it all a bit more relaxed and sit in the sun from thursday early evening on the campsite.

3. nope imagine pennine express style trains. simple but still enough room.

[Operator]

Kasabian just announced along with Deep Vally and a few others. Lineup's complete now.

Bring on the timetable I say.

[Shane2013]

Hello All,

Glad to see a forum for this festival as it is my first time!I planned on going to Benicassim but this festival is a lot cheaper wit just as gud a lineup!I dont have many questions!

1.When are the final acts announced?

2.When do the timetables for bands come out?

3.Is the disco tent(after hours) the only thing available for amusement besides the actual stages for bands?

Thank You

Cant wait for Chase and Status epic live amongst others

Edited May 11, 2013 by Shane2013

[Operator]

1. The lineup's complete, the last bands were announced last week, Kasabian amongst others.

2. Might take another two weeks or so, maybe even beginning of June.

3. Yes, don't think you'll be getting an English style amusement park. Germans tend to drink the same amounts but do not need constant entertainment.

There's a bungee jump crane as well but that's on the festival site, so it closes of course after the last band has finished at the latest.

But seriously...why bother with bulls*** like that? It's a festival, walk around and get to know people. The camping site is alive at night and everybody's out and about and having a good time.

Generally: A great choice for a German festival. Some people think Rock am Ring is the place to go to. It isn't. You don't go to Rock am Ring, it's not good at all.

[Operator]

here you are...timetables for hurricane and southside:

http://www.festivalisten.de/52745-hurricane-und-southside-veroeffentlichen-ablaufzeitplaene

websites are currently being overdone and app is available.

Southside Blue stage Saturday evening is amazing.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Operator

[fireztorm]

Damn! a clash like The Smashing Pumpkins <> Queens of the Stone Age <> Modest Mouse is cruel!

Also The Maccabees clash <> BSP, Alt-J <> Archive, Tame Impala <> Gogol Bordello <> Macklemore, The Vaccines <> Bloc Party and Editors <> Of Monsters and Men... but I guess it could be worse.

[muffins]

Going to Southside from Scotland this year with a bunch of friends, super excited.

However I just realised that the campsite opens on Thursday, we probably would have just went then but we have already planned to go on the Friday. If we arrive then we aren't going to struggle to get a space together for our tents are we?

[Operator]

puh...you might be looking for a while before finding the right spot. in 2011 around 75% of the people arrived on thursday.

Just see to be there as early as possible, that should get your odds up a little.

if you need any other info or whatever, and this actually goes for anybody, feel free to write me a message, I would be more than happy to help you, on site at the festival as well.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Operator