A Nachtiville Adventure

Text by Koen van Bommel

We went to a magical place, surrounded by beautiful nature. Vikings called it Valhalla, Buddhists call it Nirvana: I’m talking of course about Center Parcs. An amazing treat on its own, but even more because the Parcs had been taken over by Nachtiville.

Upon arriving at our bungalow, we enjoyed a complimentary six-pack of Red Bull before heading to the luxuriously decorated Grand Café, where the spirit of colonialism is still very much alive. Beautiful paintings Indonesian villages and trinkets brought from far-off places hung everywhere.

After enjoying a nice meal (French fries), we retired to our cottage to watch some television and rest a bit before going out to dance. Each of the different areas where one would go to hear music had their pros and cons. The Business Center had nice carpet, but had issues with humidity and heat. The Cycle Center was cozy, but a bit too loud. The Chill-Out area had a full- sized sailing boat, which was kind of scary because earlier we had seen a movie on TV about people who drowned because they forgot to extend the ladder of their boat. The last venue was impossible to find.

We walked around for a while, desperately trying to meet up with Jan, who we think was one of the organizers. He had been texting us all day trying to arrange a meeting, but every time we arrived somewhere, he had just left. When all seemed hopeless, we went back to the bungalow, reclined on the couch with a cozy fire burning in the open hearth, and ordered pizza.

The next day we woke up early, and after a nice hot bath, we went to check out the tropical pool. It was hot and very tropical. There was another boat (scary), this one resembling Noah’s ark. The water in the pool was amazing; it was so clear! Also, the amount of chlorine was just about right. Job Jobse was playing songs, people danced in the water, some dude was reading a book, all in the relaxed pace that’s unique to Center Parcs.

That night we cooked ourselves a nice meal and watched some more TV before heading out once more to have a good time. We saw Dollkraut, which was one of the highlights of the festival. The music was trance-inducing and fitted right in with the exotic vibe of Center Parcs. We looked around to see if we could find Jan but, to no avail. We had also heard of a Mexican chef named Paco, but he too was nowhere to be found. After some more dancing, it was time to get some well-deserved sleep.

Dollkraut is among an extensive lineup of local artists taking over OT301, Amsterdam in our L.A.N. Party on December 12th. Support Your Local Network Area.