Did you ever hear something about kazantip? Nothing? Ok, let me give you a short heads-up. There are plenty of electronic music festivals in Europe, but kazantip is supposed to be the craziest one. It is located in Ukraine. No kidding. In a small village, called Popovka, which is directly at the Black Sea. A few years ago, the festival lasted around 4 weeks. But they shortened it to 2 ½ weeks. Maybe they realized how insane a 4 weeks festival really is. This year 2013 it starts from 31st of July to 14th of August, but the main festival time is from 4th – 10th. Before is the warm up and after it the cooling down period. So if you want to go, you should ensure to hit main opening or closing day. The most famous DJs will be performing on this dates.
The festival ground is on the beach and partly on the water. There is music 24/7 and you can spend the whole day on the festival ground. During the day you can just enjoy swimming and relaxing or you prefer going crazy already in the open-air bars and on the dance floors. In kazantip “freedom” is the flavor of the time. The official rules are pointing out, that everyone should do whatever he or she wants, as long anyone gets disturb. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? I am very curious to go. And I think it is a recommendable alternative to those, who didn’t get tickets for Tomorrowland.
But how to get to kazantip, which is located anywhere in nowhere. The easiest way is to go by airplane to Simferopol, the nearest big city. From there you can get transfers to Popovka. A transfer costs $80 for a van with 4 seats. The ride to Popovka will take around 2 hours.
As Popovka is normally not a tourism place, there are almost no hotel rooms available. Therefore the most common accommodations are rooms rented by Ukrainians. These standard rooms are likely very simple and don’t provide a lot of comfort. Ukraine is one of poorest country of Europe, so adapt your expectations. The rates are around $200 – $350/week/person. Not that cheap, but the demand is high and the offer limited. For that reason, try to book as early as possible. March- April should be ok. I booked my rooms on the following site and the service was excellent until now: thecrimea.org.ua
Furthermore you need a viza for kazantip. The viza is representing the festival ticket and is personalized with your data and a picture. You can register for the viza and pay for it on: http://kazantipa.net/viza
It is around $200 and gives you access to the festival ground for entire time.
So far all information you need. Keep you updated!
