Helios23
Helios/MegaDrop
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32
Posts :
44
Posted : Dec 19, 2008 21:26
Wow Just 9 Days till the festival starts and already all the people from California are super excited! My 3rd time at U.P. and Looking forward to sharing such a positive experince with everyone. CU on the dance floor.
jds
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8
Posts :
384
Posted : Dec 22, 2008 21:31
Have any non Portuguese speaking travelers successfully booked airport transfer from Salvador?
I have not gotten any replies to my emails to br-oriente, and neither have other people I've spoken with. Is it common to just get on the shuttle at the airport without pre-reservation?
Any tips or suggestions from anyone appreciated.
Thanks! So excited to come to Brasil. See you soon!
Alok
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5
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56
Posted : Dec 23, 2008 16:02
hello... I just call to BR-Oriente and ask the guys about this... please insist and send a e-mail again.
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8
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384
Posted : Dec 23, 2008 19:52
Thank you for the response!
I will try again at that address and tell the other people that I know to try that one also.
Thanks again! See you soon!
patric99
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0
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16
Posted : Dec 25, 2008 13:32
Had same problem, but now manged to get a reservation, but it took some weeks.
@Alok Realy impresiv work that you do , you have such a big party to organiz and still have the time to be here and help/talk to people.
Divinori
Started Topics :
9
Posts :
93
Posted : Jan 5, 2009 15:06
a golden seed was planted in this festival... this seed isn't about the past, don't even the future... this is right now!
GOA trance, music from the stars.
special thanks to Filteria, Marcelo Dih (Goa), Green Nuns of the Revolution, Total Eclipse and all the crew for scheduled me to djing on the best day of the GOA STAGE.divinori
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384
Posted : Jan 14, 2009 21:26
I posted a full festival montage of my general experience here:
UP was quite the experience. While on the surface it's a huge, commercial festival of the type I usually avoid just based on size... however the pure physical reality of it all is just too outrageously awesome to not enjoy. There's so much going on everywhere all the time that it would be pretty much impossible for anyone to go and not have a good time. Let alone the fact that you're on a killer beach under a palm glade the whole time. People jokingly refer to it as trance club met and it's true but in a good way. There's literally something for everyone and I loved every minute of it.
On the whole, the organization of everything was so spot on it puts so many other festivals that are a fraction of its size to shame. How the UP crew pulls this off amazes and baffles me. Mad props. Yes, the front gate was a total fiasco. We had a total of 8 hours wait time from arriving at the gate to finally getting on the last transport truck. It sucked. The gate area was set up to handle maybe tops 200 people showing up at once with only 3 ticket windows and what seemed like only a few trucks running. Totally pathetic. When we got there we were among about 5 THOUSAND other people who'd showed up at the same time trying to get in so you can imagine the chaos. But whatever, I got over it quickly by the time I'd gotten in, set up camp, got some sleep, and had my first dip in the ocean. After that nothing else mattered. Even the stupid food / water / soda / beer tickets which were segregated and had to be purchased and used separately at confusingly different places leading to crazy long ticket lines for the first few days. But both of those issues were eclipsed by the amazing organization of everything else from the punctual stage openings and set times, to the almost always super clean showers and toilets, to the well stocked food and drinks, and the spectacularly maintained cleanliness of the entire festival site (I was blown away by that, possibly the cleanest festival I've ever been to, and considering the size that's a monumental achievement). My only lasting gripe was the water situation. A nine day festival with upwards of 25K+ attendees that purports to be 'conscious' loses a lot of karma points in my book for only serving 500ml plastic bottles of water for a buck a pop. That's uber lame and not PLURful in any way.
Anyway, hugely positive experience overall. This was the first time I've been able to get my man out to a festival with me so my experience really focused on just being there with him and enjoying the moment together. So my perspective on the festival was probably different than a lot of other people as I didn't have the usual full power agenda to party my ass off. We flowed around and enjoyed what came to us instead of seeking anything out and everything gelled perfectly. While I usually enjoy throwing myself into these things solo, this was a unique experience of its own. We hooked up with most of the LA crew and encountered several SF crews as well. For a fleeting moment I lamented being surrounded by Californians (I can party with them any day) but I got over it quickly, instead seizing it as an opportunity to get to know them all better. It was a great experience to share time and space with people that I usually only see for an evening here and there at parties in CA. Forming those deeper connections is what it's all about. We still met and hooked up with lots of international travelers and awesome Brazilians anyway so I had nothing to worry about. The Brazilian people around our tent area were all super friendly and we became close friends over the week forming some deep and lasting relationships. We had a steady supply of new international friends that we ran into constantly from the moment we arrived in line to when we left from France, Japan, England, South Africa, Greece, and elsewhere.
We spent a lot of time at the alternative stage where we randomly lucked out with 3 amazing full daytime sessions of tech house, minimal techno, and progressive trance (my kind of daytime music for when the sun is blazing, and trust me the sun was blazing, I burned through 3 layers of skin, ouch!). Our night time visits to the alternative area weren't so lucky and usually timed with music we weren't interested in. We didn't really do much night time partying at all. Early in the week we had an amazing night at the Goa stage with several sets in a row of true old school epically melodic pounding trance. We also spent a couple of afternoons there as the vibe was consistently very good. The main stage was always good to drop by during the day with upbeat full on stomping going down and a very high energy crowd. More 'party party' than my headspace was interested in but a great people watching spot and a good place to flake out on the beach. We spent a lot of time in the chill dome and I still can't get over what a cool structure it was. I've never been inside anything man made that was so integrated into the environment. An amazing space that always held a special vibe.
Music wise, January 2nd was 'the day'. It was going off HUGE EVERYWHERE. It seemed all the international artists doing live sets were scheduled for that day and night. While all the Brazilian talent was top notch, this day kicked it up a few levels. We had a perfect time at the alternative area and I had to force myself to leave because I knew it had to be going off at the other areas also, and it was!! The main stage area was blazing, there was so much energy and smiles everywhere. Then the Goa field, w o w. The first day the Goa area opened there had been a great buzz about the place cause everyone was excited but this day was even more electric. Apparently there had been some technical sound issues earlier in the afternoon but we got there right in time (before sunset) when it had all been sorted out and everyone was getting down into the deep groove. The music rocked, the crowd was blissing, the sun was setting, and suddenly a troupe of jugglers and dancers came out of nowhere including people in giant Ganesha outfits. Total mindfuck, it was so awesome. The colors at the Goa area were just perfect also (the decorations everywhere were beautiful, a lot of obvious effort went into the design and installation). The whole Goa stage area was super special, including the weird short cut path through the swampy reeds. Reminded me of going to some old school party where you had to hike into some weird nature spot navigating by the sound of the music alone. I didn't spend as much time there as elsewhere cause the music was hit and miss for me, but the 3 solid sessions I did hang out there were awesome.
I don't really know what else to say. UP is a cool place. I do think people need to get over appearances more though. There was a general sentiment with many of the more 'fashionable' international trancers that the swathes of Brazilian partiers in bikinis and speedos were somehow beneath them as fluffy club partiers or something. It's sad to see that sort of closed minded mentality from people who try so hard to appear like they're steeped in psychedelic culture. The psychedelic experience at its root (literally even) is to open ones mind. Quite the opposite of the attitude expressed by many of the 'trendy' trancers I encountered who would rather cling to their fashionista trappings than embrace and explore the culture they traveled so far to be within. I think this prejudice prevents many people from checking out Universo Paralello, and it limits the experience of many that do. The most interesting, kind hearted, open minded people I met were always the random Brazilian partiers that most people wouldn't dare associate with at a psy festival based on appearance alone. I had to chuckle when catching negative vibes from the 'properly dressed psy types' for even mentioning the alternative area which they seemed to write off as the fluffy area. Kinda lame attitude IMO. But whatever, that sounds harsh but it's just a personal observation. I'm a geek for pop sociology. Do NOT take anything I write too seriously.
In the end, I had an amazing experience everywhere at the festival with everyone I encountered. It was nothing but smiles and happiness from most everyone, especially the Brazilians and the locals working hard to keep the place running smoothly.
Totally awesome people.
Totally wild place.
pwe
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Posted : Jan 14, 2009 22:39
Beautiful pics! Thanks for posting. I think you were camped right by us and we never had a chance to hang out. So many distractions!
hkghost
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
150
Posted : Jan 15, 2009 14:54
nice to see someone enjoyed the festie
jds
Started Topics :
8
Posts :
384
Posted : Jan 15, 2009 18:06
Quote:
On 2009-01-15 14:54, hkghost wrote:
nice to see someone enjoyed the festie
It was epic, I still can't get over how good of a time I had!
Hope nothing in my post came off too negative sounding (I write too much).
hkghost
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
150
Posted : Jan 15, 2009 19:56
Compared to what has been said on other forums you have said nothing negative what`s so ever.
Personally this time round i will restrain from giving my personal opinon with fear of a reprisal.
jds
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Posts :
384
Posted : Jan 15, 2009 22:53
Haha, come on how bad could the reprisal be?
Did you get any video? I'd love to see anything if you've posted it.
hkghost
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
150
Posted : Jan 15, 2009 23:22
Last time I opened my mouth there was drama that seemed like it had come out of a soap opera.
Personally, i`m not posting anything universo related here this year.
