Feature
The Five Things I’m Most Looking Forward To At Mystic Festival 2024
Band Photo: Megadeth (?)
1. Certain bands that hardly come stateside but are easier to see if you’re in Europe. The bands I’m specifically referring to for this article are Gutalax, Asphyx, Furia, Satyricon and Blasphemy. Gutalax are actually going to be playing a couple of dates in the U.S. come September, but I didn’t want to wait that long to see them live for the first time. Asphyx, well…it was 2017 when they were stateside and Furia, I bet never. Satyricon has played some scattered dates here and there but are definitely more active in Europe. Mystic Festival has all of them this summer!
2. The cooler temperatures! This is my third Mystic Festival in a row and because it kicks off the metal festival season in early June, you can still comfortably wear a jacket at night. In fact, in 2022, the temperatures at the end of the first night of the festival were in the 40’s Fahrenheit. The Polish attendees are used to these types of temperatures but for someone that splits their time between Phoenix, Arizona and Athens, Greece, that’s called winter! The days, however, are beautiful. No complaints there.
3. The festival foods. It’s Poland, but this festival offers more than just pierogi and kielbasa. In fact, they are both more difficult to find at Mystic Festival than everything else available. There’s really good pizzas, hamburgers, some Mexican, Portuguese (!!!), lángos (think frybread with sour cream) and plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. The prices are fair for festival food but the lines can be long at times. There’s an actual indoor food court with plenty of seating if you need to get away for a bit.
4. Gdansk, the city itself. Gdansk is located on the northern coast of Poland. It’s a port city and the Motlawa river flows through it. It’s a really scenic and clean city. Each year I’ve attended Mystic Festival, the city has plenty of tourists abound in contrast to the black shirt mafia there for the festival. There’s plenty of sights to see in the city before the festival gates open each day. If there’s one knock on the city is that it has become more expensive to rent rooms in town now. If you’re down to camp at the festival’s city campsite, that’s the way to go to save some Benjamins.
5. The organization and ease of the festival in general. If you are not well versed in the Polish language, don’t worry, the festival is super easy to navigate without it. The homepage for Mystic Festival has an English selection which makes buying tickets a breeze. There are also plenty of English-speaking festival volunteers to help you if you need something. The band set times are super accurate. The festival organizers do an excellent job keeping the bands true to their allotted time slots.
So, there you have it. If you’re not attending this year, or have never been to Mystic Festival, give it a thought for 2025. This festival is a hidden gem among all of the summer metal festivals and is highly underrated. I took a chance on it two years ago and haven’t looked back. Check out this summer’s lineup if you don’t believe me and then check out my Road Report from Day One of last year’s festival here!
Metal isn’t just a type of music, it’s a lifestyle for Nikos Mixas. In addition to playing guitar for the Phoenix’s own Mosara, he’s a contributing writer for V13 and The Sludgelord. And when he’s taking a break from it all and on vacation, you can almost be certain he’s banging his head at a metal festival somewhere interesting.
