Strange visitors roam the town Bolkow is a small town in Central Europe near the German-Czech border. At the end of July on its narrow streets, one can unexpectedly come across crowds of weirdly clothed androgynous types who differ strikingly from the kind of people we normally see in public. During this time of year, Bolkow natives abandon the town or simply refrain from going out in order to avoid this black mob. Is it a satanic gathering? Or gathering of witches? Are they part of a sect? At the very least we can say that they are anarchists with possibly even terrorist leanings! Whatever thoughts enter people's heads when they encounter these strange characters, not many would guess that they are gothics who come to Bolkow - one of the most aesthetic subcultures on the planet - to attend their yearly Castle Party, which is held in a beautiful castle on a nearby hill.
Storming the castle
It all began in 1994 on the initiative of a gothic from Poland named Krzysztof Rakovski. On 20 August, a small group of fans gathered at a castle in the Polish town of Grodziec to see a concert consisting of five bands. It was the beginning of a fairy-tale gothic holiday. Following the perfect atmosphere created during that first mini-gig, the organizers weren't allowed a moment's peace: the public wanted it to happen one more time.
Thus, each succeeding year the festival did not just take place; it increased in duration by a day or two. Each year also brought more and more bands. If in 1994 only five bands performed, in 2000 there were 20 of them, as the festival had grown to three days. In 2001, 26 bands played during the festival. In 1998, the festival was moved to Bolkow's Castle due to the growing number of guests, which the smaller Grodziec Castle just couldn't accommodate. This year, on July 26-27, the Castle Party celebrated its tenth anniversary. Currently, it is the biggest gothic festival in Eastern Europe.
Anglo-Saxon roots
Gothic is a subculture born in gloomy old England at the end of 70s and later sent to us. Early gothics were called "dark punks", as they represented a sort of dark branch of the punk subculture in England at that time. Now, the gothic way of life is widespread in Germany (German gothics are also called "gruftie"), the USA and England. To briefly summarize what the gothic subculture means is really hard. While not going into lengthy detail, a gothic approximately meets the following four criteria:
1. He/she dresses like a goth (clothing and hair is predominately black with silver jewelry, piercing and tattoos);
2. He/she likes listening to gothic music (this may be hard rock, heavy metal or electronic trans, as music is considered gothic on the basis of the mood it creates - pessimistic and moody as opposed to cheerful and life-asserting);
3. He/she has a "gothic" mind (which means introversion, reticence, individualism and a tendency toward depression and pessimism);
4. He/she visits places, where Goths usually gather (i.e., parties, festivals, concerts, where gothic music can be heard). All of the above criteria are not set rules, especially the third point about "the gothic" mind, but rather a set of observable norms or guidelines for the novice.
Details of the debauchery
Gothics here in Bolkow and other places where such festivals take place are the most important episode of the event. They turn an otherwise ordinary concert into an exciting and picturesque happening. A Gothic from Ukraine, Roman Naguliak, whose gothic nickname is "Torquemada", shared his thoughts with me about the Castle Party: "This festival is a genuine masquerade and I feel like a fish in water. Once a year you can be anything you want, whether it is a vampire, an angel or a ninja-turtle. Nobody will look at you strangely or point their finger as if to say: Hey look at that clown!"
The festival guests numbered approximately 6,000, which is about the size of Bolkow's population. Because of this double crowd, the city's earnings during the festival can be compared to profits earned during Christmas and New Year. Hard to believe, but imagine the economic impact of 6,000 guests on such a small town: all of them eating, drinking, lodging and partying! Frankly speaking, many were hard pressed to find breathing room in the city center. Sitting on each other in the central square, the Gothic resembled cockroaches.
It should be mentioned that most Gothics come here not so much to listen to music. Bolkow at the end of July is a hangout place, where one can make new friends, show off one's gothic outfit and socialize with other Gothics. That's why during my second visit to Castle Party I observed the following scene: more than half of the guests are scattered outside the Castle, where the concerts are held. Some hit the sales tents, where various gothic things like silver rings, crosses, chains, false nails, prickly collars, piercing jewelry and BDSM accessories (Bondage/Discipline/Sado-Masochism) can be bought. There are also clothes made of latex, leather or common black fabric of various designs. Some hang around tables covered with CDs. Others are constantly taking pictures (among the guests there were such interesting specimens that it would have been a sin not to take a picture of them). There were also a lot of lazy types who could be seen just lying around on the grass with a bottle of "poisonous" drink in their hands. One guy was sleeping with his legs propped up on along a tree trunk.
In terms of nationality, Castle Party guests are mostly Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, German and Czech. There were also a few English, and this year I even saw a couple of Japanese Goths who came to Castle Party to pay tribute to the Japanese gothic rock band EVE OF DESTINY. With regard to the average age of the guests, more than half are between 20 and 30 years old, not less than a third are in their 40s or 50s.
When in Bolkow, do as the Gothics
Year by year, I notice that gothic fashion continues its divergence from original style of the black-metalists or punks. Gothics are mostly raven-haired, although there are natural blondes and fair-haired gothics as well. Very seldom will you run into a red-headed gothic. This year, the women decorated their heads with red, white, violet and black ribbons, diadems, black veils, dread locks, plaits, motley knots, chignons, punk Iroqueses or common bald spots. The men had long hair gathered in a ponytail in combination with shaved temples, double and triple Iroqueses, horns, shaved patterns on the head and a variety of other hairy machinations, for Goths can hold their own as hairdressers.
An area of heightened interest for us is clothes. Here we can estimate the ability of a gothic to fantasize. Gothic clothing is not available in common shops, which is why many guests, including us, had to brainstorm to decide what to put on. It's not a big secret and no source of shame that gothicss buy a lot of things in second-hand shops: first, it is cheap and, second, one can come across genuine gothic clothes from specialized manufacturers like Tiger, X-tra and Black Rose.
A lot of things are made by hand.
The women dressed approximately in the following way: black latex, leather or velvet T-shirts, massive metal belts, plenty of silver decorations, long skirts or extra-small shorts, medieval princess-like dresses or gowns or provocative BDSM gear within reasonable limits of sexual provocation. Many men were attired in skirts, grid T-shirts, white shirts with long cuffs and collars, top hats or long black cloaks with sharp hoods a la Benedictine-monk. Women as well as men made use of panty hose, mostly torn, and thick-soled and high-heeled shoes, skirts, chains, collars with spikes and handcuffs as accessories. Faces were made up with white powder and eyes were penciled in black. Sometimes patterns were drawn on foreheads and cheeks. There were also a lot of those who came to the festival in jeans and a T-shirt with the name of a favorite band printed on it.
Castle Party - Gigs
Each year a lot of stars visit Poland, which play gothic music. Last year headliners were German DAS ICH, Dutch CLAN OF XYMOX and English NEW MODEL ARMY. This year the organizers surprised us even more, for on a scene one could see such famous stars of the "schwarze scene"* (German for "black stage") as German band DIARY OF DREAMS, GARDEN OF DELIGHT and UMBRA ET IMAGO, Austrian L'AME IMMORTELLE, Polish CLOSTERKELLER and FADING COLOURS. Besides, as I remembered above, Castle Party visited guests from far Japan! Still I opt out discussing the music, which could be heard on the festival, for it is unknown to the average Ukrainian.
The pleasure to be in the Castle and listen to the concerts costs about 22 Euro. After the main concerts the AFTER SHOW PARTIES were going on, that means the club parties, which lasted from at 3.00 a.m. till morning.
For now, Castle Party is also only one relatively affordable festival for Ukrainian pockets. During my 5 days in Poland, I spent for instance, only 50 Euro. For that I've impressions and memories for the whole year.
How Ukraine took part in Castle Party 2003
In 2001 the Ukrainian band KOMU VNYZ played at the Castle Party. Unfortunately, this year and last, no Ukrainian bands attended: the "schwarze scene" in Ukraine is not so developed, and one can count on one hand the bands that play in a given genre.
Instead Ukraine was represented well enough during the after-show parties thanks to a gothic MC from the Ukrainian city of Lviv, Rostyslav Antymys - aka Khomius. His program included music by Ukrainian gothic bands AUDI SILE, VINKY and KOMU VNYZ.
Moreover, if last year the Ukrainian delegation consisted of only five people, this year there were 25 of us. I hope this article will entice more Ukrainians to attend the Castle Party next year!
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