The True Story of Kazantip (part I)
or: How I found myself married to a 25-year-old Ukrainian girl in Crimea’s ‘Republic of Love’
(this article came out originally in Italian for the travel magazine the Trip. You can find it here: http://www.thetripmag.com/europa/la-vera-storia-di-kazantip-music-festival/)
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1,2,3…Breath and fly…
After the huge European raves, trance parties in forests and deserts, techno gigs in the Middle East and China, Aussie and American rock concerts, I dreamed of reaching Crimea and Kazantip — the Love Republic — on the eastern border between Russia and the Black Sea.
Kazantip is one of the longest-running festivals on the planet, known as one of the biggest outdoor beach parties in the world for 22 years. Kazantip is a nomadic reality, a revolving, evolving entity that, thanks to its mutant DNA, is continually able to reshape and surprise itself. I had been hearing tales about this magical place for so long. It was surrounded by a halo of mystery and seduction. How accurate was all the bizarre internet reportage on “Vice” which made it legendary? It was way too easy to fall in this enticing trap called Kazantip.
But how could I actually join in this festival organized by unknown eastern folks? So many questions led to just one answer: I had to go.
In 2013, Crimea was a part of Ukraine, bestowed as a “gift” by Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev in 1954. In March of 2014 it was returned to (some say annexed by) Vladimir Putin’s Russia by popular (some say unpopular) referendum. There has been a delicate dance of identity in action, made of blood, borders, energy resources and political games of power. And enforced by Russian tanks.
Having said that, let’s set Crimean history aside and forget about those tanks for a while. How and where would I find Kazantip? I heard that it would take place on the Black Sea as always, but this time just a bit to the “right” than usual.
After 3 days of uninterrupted travelling, through Romania, Moldavia, Ukraine and Crimea, cosmic energy led me to meet my inside-man on the bus to Popovka. Alexei was a 35-year-old Ukrainian from Kiev. He found me a home, let me take a shower, offered me a snack, and then introduced me to the history of the event and its evolution.
Everything began in 1992, during a contest of windsurfers, near an abandoned nuclear plant. Five years later, in 1997, they came up with the idea to organize a party called “a night at the reactor.” It was here that the foundation was laid for the rise of the Russian rave movement. In a few years it grew to become “the festival of everything,” with a varied audience of surfers, DJ’s, ravers, journalists, freaks and weirdos who gathered to celebrate sex, sea and summer. (Article 11 underlines the importance of freaks as a national treasure, protected by Kazantip’s Ministry of Culture).
In 2000, it was decided to change location, and with it, the festival changed status and declared itself a Republic. Article 1 of its Constitution cites: “Kazantip Republic is a mobile state, with borders, but with an area that is not fixed and may occasionally change its position in space.”
This paradigmatic jump contributed to the myth of Kazantip.
The Republic of Kazantip is the fruit of Utopia and the story of its independence. The articles of its Constitution say that Kazantip is a “dream society,” and its policy is to raise the “state of dream” of its citizens. In dreams we can take on multiple identities, which do not need passports. Unfortunately, in this boring reality we do.
Due to visa restrictions placed on Eastern Europeans and Russians who could not reach Western European raves, Kazantip created a vent valve for those new generations born from the ashes of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, who were thirsty for the dancing, buzz, and new freedoms.
OK, now you’re asking: “Fresh, why are you boring us with all this? What about the babes? How did you find Kazantip and marry that girl? That’s the reason I’m reading this article in the first place.”
The true story of Kazantip (part II):
https://medium.com/@iamthefreshguy/the-true-story-of-kazantip-part-ii-4bdd9766e337#.pqu3r77ea
