Regular readers will be familiar with our annual festival pieces. We’re going to dip into the Spring edition of Strawberry in this article.
Strawberry once again took place at the Expo Park. It’s always a pleasure to spend a sunny day at this beautiful spot. Lineup highlights included Dinosaur Jr., The Hives, and The Big Wave, alongside a few surprises and the usual Chinese staples. The production was better than ever before – sound at each stage was pretty tight. Most importantly for some, there was an abundance of cold beer at a reasonable price, plus a number of local stalls to browse through.
Turning to the title of this article, there was a certain feeling that the site had become a battleground of sorts, with stages and brands dominating the action. A designated area next to the river was created for a very limited selection of F&B while brand activity was focused in the Strawberry (Main) stage area – this format divided opinions. Some felt it was more convenient and less messy to have all the food stalls together, while others felt having a brand bonanza in the centre of the action killed the festival’s soul a bit.
Other commentators said these brands themselves were actually getting disenfranchised, as it’s impossible to make any sort of impression with so many competing brands being crammed into such a focused space. But the most important question for fans is whether or not the festival is striking the right balance between fun and commercialization – to read more on this theme you might be interested in checking out this 2010 review.
Here are some pictures from the festival:
If you have any thoughts feel free to share them with us in the comments!