Jera On Air 2018 – Festival Review
Jera On Air is one of the best hardcore, punk and metalcore summer festivals in Europe, so of course we had to go there and check it out! The 3-day-festival is extremely popular in the scene, not only in the Netherlands, but also in Germany. The small village Ysselsteyn is located very close to the Dutch/German border and each year there’s a massive influx of German hardcore fans. In addition to the great location, the ticket prices are extremely fair considering the incredible lineup. Another huge plus point is the availability of day tickets for visitors who don’t want to spend the whole weekend at the festival.
This year, Jera On Air took place on June 28th, 29th and 30th and the line up was top notch! The amazing Billy Talent, NOFX, Stick To Your Guns, Sick Of It All and Enter Shikari were headliners. They were joined by other heavyweights such as Neck Deep, Emmure, Underoath, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Anti-Flag, Being As An Ocean and more.
Linda, Anouk and I decided to attend Jera On Air on Friday since our favorite bands Enter Shikari, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Touché Amoré were playing on that day. While I travelled to Ysselsteyn from Germany, Linda lives about an hour from the festival and Anouk had to travel from north-Holland to the idyllic city. We were joined by GID photographer Maxim Shesterikov and some of our friends from the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
As most festivals in the Netherlands, the Jera On Air is quite green with lots of space to sit down on the grass and have some snacks in between sets. The three stages “Eagle”, “Vulture” and “Buzzard” were located in tents which was quite good because it was very sunny and hot and it really helped to not have the sun shine onto you while you were standing in front of the stages.
In addition to the stages, the festival offered a merchandise section a chill out area and a signing tent where several signings took place during the day. Of course, there were many different food trucks which also offered a variety of Vegetarian and Vegan food. That was very important for us since I’m a Vegetarian while Linda is Vegan.
What we liked most about Jera On Air is that the whole day was very relaxing due to the size and location of the festival. Moving from stage to stage and getting a good spot at the different sets was quite easy.
I also attended Vainstream Rockfest in Muenster the day after and lets just say that the two festivals couldn’t be more different. While Jera On Air offered enough space and green spots to hang out, Vainstream was extremely overcrowded – a fact that many attendants later on criticized.
Both festivals offered a similar line-up, so if you have to choose next year, I strongly recommend attending Jera On Air.
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