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Festivalgoers without shoes
It is a dreary Saturday afternoon when Jet and I get into the taxi to Ruigoord, one of the most famous and notorious festival grounds in the Netherlands. We are on our way to Shoeless, a well-known festival where – you wouldn't expect it – you are not allowed to wear shoes. You understand, for a shoe girl like me, that's quite a thing. Armed with a maxi skirt (so you see as little of my feet as possible, you get it), an umbrella (which we had to hand in at the entrance, dammit) and the Samsung camera phone we enter the festival grounds.
Once inside, we immediately know, this is no ordinary festival. The organization had called on everyone to come dressed as creatively as possible and since the residents of Ruigoord are all artists and (former) hippies, you shouldn't expect any tight shirts or sexy mini skirts here. The idea is mainly to be as ‘yourself’ as possible, anything goes, nothing is required, that kind of thing. There are various stages but mainly there are an incredible number of small stalls, shops, corners, booths, activities and, thank god, places to shelter from the unrelenting rain.
Jet set her sights on a flower headband, two even. I look a bit questioning but then hear, “yes of course I'm really going to wear this man that's super fun!” The hippie vibe has completely grabbed her. But besides being a hippie, Jet is also a foodie so soon we were conducting an in-depth investigation into the offerings of Shoeless and the results are very positive. Everything organic, everything delicious.
As I said, we received a pretty cool camera phone from Samsung . The thing is, we really wanted to capture this festival but the photos you take with your iPhone are quite mediocre and carrying a big DSLR all day, no thanks. The Samsung Galaxy K Zoom is a camera that you can also make calls with. Actually. It is of course a phone, but the thing has such an incredibly good camera that that is the first reason why you want to have it. When we ask the colorfully dressed people if we can take their picture, the first reaction is “yes of course” but the second reaction is standard “wow what a cool thing that is.” And it really is.
Like two elderly people Jet and I have been amazed all day at how razor-sharp and beautiful the photos are. Of course, we took about 80,000 selfies because there is a function that makes your skin extra smooth and even and look, we like that. Really this camera is a huge blessing and I hope we can take it with us to New York, London and the rest of the world because dragging around a DSLR is not fun for anyone, especially not for my outfit.
May I now present to you, Shoeless. Look and admire and will we see you next time too?
