“It’s just a bunch of drug-induced harem pants wearing hippies trying to pretend they enjoy music that sounds like someone continuously banging a spoon on a marble wall to make themselves feel better about themselves” is basically how my friend summed it up when I told him I’m going to a music festival in Ras Shetan, Sinai. I’m sure many of us have heard such preconceived assumptions about these types of festivals from our friends, but are they actually true or just a bunch a rumors being passed on between people? That was exactly my aim – to try and debunk some of these misconceptions.
Keep in mind that – I don’t wanna say hate cause that’s a pretty strong term, but it is very close to hate – this type of khabt techno deep house music AND I did this completely sober and fully conscious of everything happening around me.
You’re probably expecting me to say that the stereotypes are just exaggerated misconceptions and people need to know the facts before they make assumptions about the type of people who go to these types of things, but that is unfortunately not the case. While there are some misconceptions which I will discuss later on, the vast majority of the stereotypes are true.
When I first got there, the first thing I saw on the table next to me was a bunch of 16 year old looking girls wearing harem pants and crop tops even though it was freezing, and they were exchanging pills which they then proceeded to cheers together before swallowing them with no hesitation. I gulped in shock but tried to keep calm and thought to myself this is just one tiny group of girls; they don’t represent everyone here.
At a later stage in the night when the place was starting to fill up, we moved closer to the stage to get a better look at the crowd there, and that’s when things went ballistic. There were girls grinding with the speakers even though the vibrations coming from them were strong enough to give any normal person a fully-fledged heart attack. There were guys in weird outfits and sunglasses doing weird chimp-like dance moves. There were people with parrot-colored Mohawks and rainbow colored outfits having a full on orgy right in the middle of the crowd with no shame whatsoever. And let’s keep in mind this is only what I saw in the stage/dance floor area. God knows what happens in the huts for the “after-parties”.
Now I have no problem with people who go for eccentric looks or have unusual preferences. In fact, I actually respect them for having the balls that I never had to just get up one day and dye my hair pink for example or rock a trend that makes makes me stand out. I never had this kind of confidence. However, some of the individuals that I saw in Sinai were just doing it to fit in rather than stand out. Their looks and actions were so over the top; it was so obvious they were trying too hard. They were doing it to stick to the “hippie” stereotype. Instead of doing it to feed their own creative soul, they were doing it to copy others around them.
I must say though that a big stereotype that proved to be wrong is the music. It wasn’t the-spoon-banging-against-a-wall that I had in mind after all. And you can actually enjoy it even if you’re sober. It’s the type of music helps you just let loose and dance like crazy. I hate to say it it but I enjoyed it a lot and it is clear that Egypt has a lot of young talented DJ’s that I know will make it big someday.
All in all, while the majority of the stereotypes were true, I believe that if you’re with the right company and you guys are genuinely there to have a good time together, that is exactly what you’ll get. Also, Sinai is beautiful and if you haven’t been there for, you’re missing out big time.
