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Trek to Czech Tek

By Jazmine Uloa

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Think Woodstock for Tekno lovers. And that’s tekno with a “K,” as the real partygoers spell it to demonstrate the true free spirit of Czech Tek, one of the biggest open-air teknivals in the Czech Republic. Think 30 huge raves going on simultaneously. Think a bombardment of hard, jungle, industrial, drum and base, and any other kind of electronic dance music imaginable. Think massive underground party all in the open, fresh air. And there’s no entrance fee.

Approximately 40,000 people from all over Europe gather each July for the weeklong celebration held at a location that tends to vary and used to remain undisclosed until only a day before the event. That was because the party was truly underground and illegal. But after the 2005 teknival ended in a bloody showdown between police (and their canines) and partygoers, party organizers have acquired permits for the events ever since. Despite the violence, the following year’s teknival was held at the same place as the last, Hradiste military fields. That summer, I was taking a documentary-filmmaking course in Prague and working on a short film about underground electronic music in the Czech Republic. I was completely unaware of the festival until Brian, a classmate helping me with the project, and I began interviewing partygoers at Cross Club, an independent underground club located in the cellar and floor of a house. Everyone we met there urged us: go!

Two days later, we found ourselves making the trek to Hradiste, a wide expanse of grasslands surrounded by woods bordering Germany. To get there, we took several trains (some in the wrong direction), bused, walked, hitchhiked (it’s actually considered safe in the Czech Republic) and even split a cab with strangers we met while stranded at a train station. Josh and Tomas, with whom we shared the cab, had trekked their own way from Holland for the festival and also let us stay in their tent when we arrived to the fields under pouring rain.

After the rain cleared, Brian and I began filming around the site and talking to people. It was an amalgamation of cars and tents and sound systems all parked and set up haphazardly, wherever they wished, wherever there was space. Cars wove their way through the muddy roads filled with crowds and crowds of people, many carrying backpacks and blankets. Giant black speakers, TVs and other video screens were piled up high and wide to form stages and dance areas throughout the grassy fields. People danced in front of them all day and into the night. And, of course, there was an abundance of pivo (Czech for beer). But the teknival was not about the alcohol or the drugs. As all the people we met said—it was about listening to good music, about being surrounded by good people. Standing on one of the faraway hills overlooking the area, I tried to capture with my small video camera the wide spread of fields buzzing with so many different beats.

Later at night, people were still arriving in droves and a stream of headlights wrapped around one of the hills. Brightly colored beams and rays flashed everywhere projected from the huge video screens, strobe lights and lasers set up on speakers and in tents all over the grounds. Many of the beer and food tent-stands had their own strobe lights and illuminated displays of art, such as scraps of metal formed into robotic bodies. Thin rays of white light cut across the night sky and across hundreds of bright, white stars. Check out the Czech Tek doc at the Abroadly Speaking website.