Roskilde Festival 2023: The Report

A couple of months ago an argument broke out on Twitter about volunteering at music festivals. Screenshots detailing a volunteer deposit system at a Scottish music festival divided the room – “how can you charge someone to volunteer?” was the initial cry, but slowly a more mixed picture emerged. People shared stories of working shifts at busy festivals only to find half of their colleagues had disappeared never to be seen again, lost in the sprawl of the festival site mere hours after securing a wristband. Oxfam volunteers at Glastonbury operate on a similar refundable deposit system. For large sold-out festivals, it's easy to see why the idea of a deposit might occur to organisers. After all, money has long been an effective way of motivating people to attend work, although it does usually take the form of earnings. If only there was some other way to motivate a large staff of volunteers?

Enter Roskilde. The legendary Danish festival is now in its 51st year and employs 30,000 volunteers during its eight-day run every summer. In exchange for four eight-hour shifts across its duration, volunteers are given a full festival pass with camping, as well as access to backstage areas across the site and a whole host of free stuff: meals, massages, refreshments, merch. 

It says something about the community Roskilde have created that they very rarely encounter volunteers shirking their duties. Roskilde is an entirely non-profit festival – the first of its scale in the world – each year raising millions of pounds for youth projects across Denmark. The festival has always been loud and proud about its faith in young people, and it appears they get the same generosity in return from their workforce.

After just a few hours at the festival, the success of the volunteering programme no longer seems so surprising. What is immediately striking is how well organised Roskilde is. From bike parking to signage, recycling facilities to actual flushing toilets and hot showers at the campsite – they’ve truly done all the boring stuff extremely well. And the fun stuff too – the music programming is varied and considered. Rather than having zoned stages (for, say, new music or acoustic programming) the lineup at each stage is as mixed as the festival lineup itself – which boasts acts from over 40 countries. It’s a detail which means most festivalgoers will see something on each stage over the course of the weekend and manage to cover the whole site.

Image: Lil Nas X @ Roskilde, Denmark, 2023 by Christian Hedel

A few days of arts events, talks and impromptu DJ sets at the Dream City campsite (an area where campers are invited to set up their own high-concept spaces, with lights, props and sound systems) precedes the main music programme which begins on Wednesday (28 Jun), headlined by Kendrick Lamar who performs a sedate but smooth set burning through his greatest hits. 

The following morning, before any live music has even started, long queues form in front of the festival’s iconic Orange stage. This is a 10am ritual on site, when early birds are rewarded with pit passes for some of the day’s more popular performers meaning fans can rock up minutes before their favourite takes to the stage and glide right to the front. On this day Lil Nas X and Tove Lo fans make up the bulk of those waiting. Later, both acts deliver such anthemic camp pop performances that nobody with a good view would regret the early start. The Thursday lineup is particularly stacked, with Rina Sawayama stealing the show in a theatrical mid-afternoon performance on the Arena stage, featuring something for everyone: a terrific live rock band, dancers, wind machines, latex, cowboy hats. The night closes with a feel good performance from Burna Boy, whose easy charm has the large crowd in the palm of his hand throughout.

A controversial Friday night clash between Rosalía and Blur dominates conversation around the site, with Rosalía winning a bigger chunk of the crowd on the night. Reunited afterwards, the crowd are treated to a strange and unsettling set from Christine and the Queens, drawing almost exclusively from his latest album, PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE. Following successful sets from Rosalía – her ambitious and charismatic show was perhaps the best attended at Roskilde 2023 – and an extremely accomplished Blur performance, the Christine and the Queens performance perhaps suffered by comparison. A sudden downpour also did not help proceedings, but it was hard to ascertain what the artistic aims of the bizarre, chaotic performance were, leaving the crowd disengaged and even at times disturbed. 

Image: Christine and the Queens @ Roskilde, Denmark, 2023 by Kristian Gade

Danish pop star Saint Clara kicks off the Saturday with a blistering set, capturing real nightclub energy despite the daylight outside. Following her set, a stroll through the festival is a captivating experience – each stage is so well equipped to cater to the lighting, sound and staging ambitions of even the smallest acts that you can find yourself drawn to shows you had no intention of seeing. The Apollo stage is a triumph – a four-sided open air space where walls are lined with mirrors, coloured glass and sequins which can be manipulated using lighting to create completely unique visuals every time. Large warehouses across the site are decorated by local artists and filled with thoughtful installations. The crowd’s artistic curiosity comes out in force on Saturday when the heavens open, and the warehouses double up as large shelters. Saturday highlights include a cinematic Caroline Polachek set and an energetic performance to a small crowd at the EOS stage from Manchester rapper Aitch. 

But this is Lizzo’s day, and it shows. Closing the festival headlining the Orange stage, Lizzo delivers a performance worthy of the large crowd she's generated, complete with colourful costume changes, flute breaks, a trippy tongue-in-cheek guided meditation and even a stripped back conversational section. Lizzo pauses to chat with the fans with the assured lightness of a performer double her age – catching and signing things thrown on stage by front row fans. “Oh, you were really wearing this huh?” she says, recoiling, and as she signs one fan’s T-shirt, “I’m kidding, I know this is a festival – I love you.” And the crowd loves her too, a truly feel-good and uplifting way to finish a festival that really is good vibes down to its core, and a blueprint for what a forward-thinking modern music festival should be.

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Roskilde Festival 2023 took place in Roskilde, Denmark, 24 Jun-1 Jul; 2024's edition will take place from 29 Jun-6 Jul

roskilde-festival.dk