Metaldays in Tolmin, Slovenia is a small but growing metal festival that gains more and more supporters from all around the world for each year. It’s located in a valley in town Tolmin and is placed next to two wonderful mountain rivers, Tolminka and Soča, clear water and cold as ice. The days of the festival are Monday to Friday. This is both good and bad. It means one has to take a whole week of and some extra, which doesn’t always seems easy to do for everyone. But when travelling from far away that’s not such a big problem, since it’s then planned for a long time before arriving. The good things about it is, because the music is spread over 5 days of concerts and not the usual 3 days, it’s allowed to start the first concerts much later during the days. Usually it starts around 14 to 15 ó clock. That means, it is possible to take a trip in the surrounding area and explore the Tolmin area, but also to just relax and enjoy the wonderful river, if the temperature gets too hot. This year, was a very  very hot year.

 

You get in at first thing you do, well after sucking in the amazing view and taking a deep breath of happiness and great expectations, is to buy the Early days wristband and enter.

The days then passes with lots of partying, exploring the surroundings and cooling down in the river which is some of the best days. During the late evenings the day close to the camping area is a bar called Worm, translated directly, which then is referred to Worm Bar, where they have a small stage and there local and small bands play some few songs. All kind of metal is played and it’s usually a jolly good time. Here it is also possible to meet up with old friends from the year before.
One of the things I found funny is, that if you first found a bar you like, people doesn’t search for other bars even if there are a lot of options to do so. But for the same reason it is possible to find each other again after a long year waiting for this moment of reunion.

Sunday is then the big arrival day and you have to get your MetalDays wristband before leaving the area or else you are not allowed to get in.  Which I for one had to find out, since I has out all day from early morning and came home late in the evening.  Of course I had not brought my ticket with me and they won’t let me in. Lucky the security really stinks there and with small efforts I got in, found my ticket and got my wrist band. But remember, just because it sucks, the security, I don’t mean it’s bad. It’s perfect that way, because it feels freer and that’s somehow very comforting in my mind.
 

When you get your wrist band you also get the MetalDays pay card. It’s a card that you use inside the camp and festival area to pay with. It costs 10€ and you then have to put from 20-50€ on it. It’s really nice because you can then leave your credit cards back in the tent or lock it inside a box and then only use this and if you lose it, you then still have your credit card to buy a new one and you haven’t lost everything. Unless you lose both at the same time and some do and that is really just bad luck. Downside is, it runs out of credit then you have to refill it and that’s a bit annoying plus you have to pay with normal money in town, so you have to run back to your tent once in a while to get “real” money more often than good is. But honest, the plus side is way bigger than down side. Also at the stand you buy for 10€ a trash bag, which you then can return when full and get your 10€ back again.
For some weird reason the girl and the wrist band stand forgot the give me one and I don’t think I paid for it either. But I had my own trash bags with me anyway, so it wasn’t too bad. Like most metalheads on MetalDays, that’s a lot of “metal” writing by the way, we actually clean up after ourselves. Usually in the morning with hangovers because then you can focus on something else and when it’s clean again you also feel a bet better and deserve another beer to puke into.