How did we end up here?
On Thursday 2 March 2006, I went to my very first “proper” gig. I was 16, had bought tickets, and dragged two mates along with me. We were all young and daft enough to sit outside Mejeriet in Lund for far too many hours, wearing far too few clothes, waiting for Edguy, Sabaton and DragonForce. As some of you might know, a Scanian “spring” in March isn’t exactly famous for its warmth – but nobody wanted to wear a jacket, because then you risked not getting right up at the front. (Something I sadly still do to this day.)
It was my first gig, but far from my last.
Somewhere in there, I found something. If I remember rightly, it turned into five hours of music, noise, crowds and … love. I’d found a sense of belonging, a place where everything felt right, where I felt at home.
In the twenty years since, I’ve got through more festivals, gigs and concerts than I can count. I’ve got far too drunk on vodka courtesy of a couple of Norwegians at the campsite in Norje during Sweden Rock, and fifteen years later I made the exact same mistake on a field in Austria during Nova Rock. In Austria, though, I couldn’t blame any Norwegians – that one was mostly my own fault. I’ve met so many people and experienced so much ridiculous stuff, all thanks to music.
I’ve found friends for life through Reddit threads after Nova Rock. I made even more friends after lending out a hammer on an old airfield during Rock for People. And I found yet another lifelong friend in Austria, who turned out to live a fifteen-minute walk from my own home. The world can be such a dark place sometimes, but it can also be absolutely brilliant.
I’ve been so happy after an Avantasia gig at Sweden Rock that I jumped straight into the arms of a complete stranger on the way out. I’ve marched along in a line with thousands of Austrians, all singing something in German I’ll never understand. I’ve stood on a bridge in Gothenburg and felt the whole thing sway under Rammstein at Metaltown. I’ve woken up in the wrong tent and found people in my own tent who definitely shouldn’t have been there. I’ve argued, cried and laughed so hard I didn’t know which way was up. I’ve walked around holding signs and hugged hundreds of people in a single day. I’ve made friends by wandering around dressed as a dinosaur.
Somehow, everything becomes possible.
Thanks to festivals and music, I’ve got to experience countries, cities and hotels I never would have otherwise. I’ve seen bands split up and reunite, and I’ve got to be there for my own kids’ first gigs.
And then there’s FestivalMate
My name’s Linus, and I’m the one who founded this site and app, together with my partner in absolutely everything in life, Dea.
We’ve both been to loads of festivals, gigs and trips, and worked quite a bit within the industry. When we were planning our latest festival trip, Rock for People 2026, we found something missing. So we built our own solutions for ourselves and our friends, to keep track of packing lists, times and stage schedules, who was going to see what, what clashed with what, and everything else that comes with a festival hundreds of miles from home. That’s how FestivalMate came about.
This blog, the app, and the whole project is our way of sharing all this with you. So it might be a bit all over the place to begin with. There are so many gigs, festivals and trips we want to tell you about, and we will. It’ll just take you a while to catch up.
See you at the festivals!
/Linus