Travelettes » Mud Summer at Wacken Open Air – Win a pair of Havaianas Wellies!

Mud Summer at Wacken Open Air – Win a pair of Havaianas Wellies!

Written by nina 14 August 2012 16 Comments

I don’t think there has ever been a time in my life I needed a decent pair of wellies more than I did this past weekend at Wacken Open Air in Germany (this coming from a girl who grew up on the countryside surrounded by cows and horses). Wacken is a very small town, north of Hamburg, that once a year experiences a run of long haired men from all over Europe to attend the biggest open air event for heavy metal music. Not a metal-head myself, I have always wanted to go there to see if all the rumors about braided beards, kilts, mead and hog’s heads were true, so it was a no brainer when my dear friend Christine, who is attending 40 festivals this year, asked if I would join her for those 2 days of extraordinary metal madness.

Even though my friends warned me, the festival would be really dirty and smelly, I actually couldn’t imagine it to be that bad. But then, right after picking up our tent and taking our initial walk to the festival grounds, we were caught by a thunderstorm that turned the whole area into mud wrestling heaven.

We didn’t have to wait long until we spotted the first group of people, all covered in mud. We followed their path to one of the stages where the German Punk Rock band “Broilers” started to play their second song and a group of people enjoyed themselves in a huge puddle. Watching the scene, I was glad that nobody decided to spontaneously show me some love with a big muddy hug but to my great amusement Christine wasn’t so lucky…

…someone grabbed her to just throw her right into the mixture of soil, beer, water and grass. We didn’t expect to blend in that quickly…

Throughout the whole weekend, rain only stoped for a minutes of sun every once and so often, not a lot of fun I tell you. But the people at Wacken really made me enjoy my time there. Everyone was friendly and very open so I got to know more people here than at any of the other festivals I’ve attended in the past. They told us about their lives, their passion, about festival wristbands older than us, asked about our taste in music, other festivals we’ve been to and even invited us to a Burlesque show.

It did not take long for me to forget all about my role of being the underdog with my purple raincoat and my rainbow wellies. All that didn’t really matter anymore and at some point I even liked some of the music… kind of. We drank mead and “Wackenblood”, watched Highland Games, tried to buy a metal shirt (no festival shirts smaller than XXXL available after the the first day…), head-banged, saw the Scorpions in a thunderstorm and I even wore my shirt for two days in a row. Cultural assimilation complete.

As I said, I couldn’t have survived this weekend, having the time of my life, without my beautiful wellies. Although they aren’t necessarily heavy metal style, rain boots really were the only means of transportation on the whole ground. So this is the time to thank Havaianas for giving me this beautiful boots and to even GIVE AWAY an all new nice and shiny pair (in your size) to you!

How to win?

Simply leave a comment (with your email address in the required field) with one or two sentences on why you need those beauties in your life!

This post was written by Nina Hüpen-Bestendonk, who has a funny name even for Germans; she is a wicked go-getter and creative freelance designer, photographer and blogger.

She has an eye for beauty and even finds it in ugly apartment blogs. Her weekly photo chronicle “My week in pictures” has already become a classic among urban Berliners. Find out more at smaracuja.de.

Tags: festival, festivals, Wacken

16 Comments »

Franzi said:

I reeeeally need them because with them the sun also shines when it’s raining in the coming fall. Additionally, they will satisfy my wanderlust for summer, Asia and the jungle at least a bit

# 14 August 2012 at 5:01 am

Katti said:

I really need those wellies to make sure my feet stay dry during the next festivals. My classic cheap turquoise wellies are about to fall apart after a heap of festivals full of mud, rain and mess.

# 14 August 2012 at 5:29 am

Lara said:

I need need need them, cause my next holiday-trip in Sept will take me to the island Sylt where I want to do a mudflat hiking tour and these havaiannas would be just perfect for keeping my feet dry! .. happy boots for happy lara!

# 14 August 2012 at 5:41 am

Teresa said:

I need some sunshine in my life, especially on cold and rainy days. Oh and still looking for some great boots for my trip to Japan and they are just perfect!

# 14 August 2012 at 5:41 am

Steph said:

I really need these, because I will spend the next semester in Lille, France. And according to the movie “Welcome to the Schti’s” it’s always cold and rainy over there moreover, it would be more than sweet to have them for the next festival summer!

# 14 August 2012 at 5:47 am

Siha said:

I love going to Festivals (been at Wacken as well) and already had a few more muddy experiences, but never the right footwear because no rain boot could convince me until now – but when I saw these, I fell on love- these would be totally perfect to cheer up my mood and every festival! Some happy, colourful Rainboots in between the forest of grey, blue and black ones can’t be wrong !

# 14 August 2012 at 5:50 am

kaja said:

i just moved to hamburg! i think thats reason enough, i really need a pair of those wellies now

# 14 August 2012 at 6:05 am

Julia said:

Dear Travelettes,
I need those lovely wellies as I am planning to move to Hamburg, where it rains a lot. They would be perfect to brighten up my day on one of those many rainy days and get me to and from work with dry feet. Also I think they would remind me of holidays everytime I see them and therefore put me in a very happy mood.

# 14 August 2012 at 6:24 am

Katrin said:

I really need those wellies to survive the next camping trip, last year the site looked like wacken and i lacked appropriate shoes… and besides that i just love the design!

# 14 August 2012 at 6:42 am

Ariana {And Here We Are...} said:

I NEED those wellies in my life because I recently moved to England, and need the gear for this endlessly rainy place! Even in summertime, apparently!

# 14 August 2012 at 9:03 am

sabri said:

i really really really need them, because with those wellies on my feet i will spread sunshine even on the rainiest and grayest day….furthermore i would love to jump in puddles with them!

# 14 August 2012 at 9:25 am

malena said:

Rubber boots can save your life

# 14 August 2012 at 10:50 am

Julie said:

Rain, rain, rain…those wellies are more than a good protection against rain. I really really need them for beeing the next frog-queen at the muddy lagoon in our garden plot!!

# 14 August 2012 at 1:33 pm

Sos said:

I HAVE to win these gumboots to go with my crazy colourful wardrobe! They are perfect (even better than my current bright gummies) … http://instagram.com/p/NFMGVjA-ew/

# 14 August 2012 at 11:33 pm