The road to Fusion was hard: three storms, one rain jacket forgotten in Hamburg, two flat tyres, plus an old puncture in the spare tyre. Preparations for the journey could have been indeed better. I arrived on Sunday 8am, two hours late from the schedule due a huge storm in the wee hours of the morning. Sparkling wine for breakfast and I was ready for festivities. This year I had only one day worth of Fusion, so the time was to be used wisely. An important lesson was made this time: 24 hours are not enough to experience something as massive as Fusion. I kept hearing about amazing things discovered at the festival, but was never in a right place at a right time to catch them. On the other hand this is a part of the Fusion experience – missing something magnificent and hoping to catch it the next year.

What could be said about Fusion this year that was not said last time? It is always the same each year, but totally fucking different. It is like Christmas – no revelations, same as the last year, but nonetheless you cannot wait to experience it. A theme park for grown-ups, a playground for all ages. Walking around, exploring, getting lost, dancing, seeing absurd things, enjoying veggie food, watching theatre and cabaret, having strange conversations and experiencing just plain weirdness. How about a remote controlled real-looking robotic homeless bum or a mobile bicycle piano (completed with a woman lying on top of it)? Or a giant human powered wheel, witch set in motion an animation of a rowing skeleton? In a true Fusion fashion 99% of the line-up did not ring a bell. I was glad to catch Afrika Hi-Tech, but either they had problems with PA (the sound check took way too much time) or their music is too avant-garde for me, but the end result did not work for me. I will give them another try at Flow Festival next month, though.

Anyway what is the point in talking about Fusion? It is to be experienced, not to be heard or read about. As a Fusion newbie realized that it was actually AMAZING and not just something people pretend to be fun. Or as a new acquaintance from the festival put it: the first rule of Fusion is you don’t talk about Fusion. Just like Fightclub, minus the violence.