Trailerpark 2011

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  • Last year, Todd L. Burns pondered the necessity of attending a festival Trailerpark's (relatively tiny) size. This year, with its three petite stages—one more than last year's edition—you'd be forgiven for thinking the same thing. The event plays host to no "super headliners," international promotion is kept light and, once you're inside, the only things Trailerpark has in common with a typical festival is the food stand and plastic cups dispensed from the bar. Held throughout a cluster of buildings containing and surrounding the well-known Copenhagen Skatepark, the event, at times, felt less like a festival than it did a well-maintained, multi-roomed warehouse party. Graffiti stretched across a three-metre-high partition provided the backdrop to a mis-matched collection of picnic tables, while hanging swings and an asymmetrical stack of plywood seating provided some of the weekend's most popular areas. Photo credit: Johanne Fick What stood out most clearly, though, is Trailerpark's colour. Like Copenhagen's streets, sharply angled hairstyles and bright bomber jackets dotted the landscape, while cartoon-ish artwork decorated each of the stages. A mock fire truck, built to scale, served as an outdoor bar and the main stage was built into a room housing an extensive skatepark. This kind of vibrance—to an outsider, at least—is something that seems distinctly Scandinavian, even Danish. And perhaps this is one of the secrets to Trailerpark's success. Born in the current EasyJet clubbing economy, it's remained local. Hearing English being spoken amongst the crowd was an absolute rarity—surely one of the greatest indicators of any event's "internationality," or lack thereof—while local artists enjoyed a strong presence on the bill, many given primetime slots. Photo credit: Anders Skovshoved Furthermore, intimacy is not a characteristic usually associated with electronic music festivals, though, at Trailerpark, it's present in bucket loads. Artists on the outdoor stage were raised less than one metre from the ground, meaning that, at any point, any person could have easily reached out and touched any one of the performers that stepped up. With a lineup skewed towards live sets, the stage played host to numerous highlights—the retro warmth that materialised when Hyetal dropped "Beach Scene," Shed's Wax-centric live set and Motor City Drum Ensemble's Sunday evening disco session each count among them. Suggesting that the music itself was a mere backdrop to any "party" is somewhat defeatist—but perhaps, in a way, it's the ultimate accolade. After all, isn't it a goal of any festival to create a unique and encompassing space? In the case of Trailerpark, the organisers have achieved this like few others. Limiting the crowd to a few thousand is obviously a major factor in crafting this unique environment, but, perhaps, it's, quite simply, the refined Scandinavian approach and aesthetic that shines through.
RA