Yantai Yoma Music festival: Dragon Boat Festival 2025.

This was an impulsive 'why the hell not' trip that ended up being one of the most surprising and enjoyable weekends. 

Dragon boat festival rolled around, and given the logistically difficult nature of Qingdao, I had nothing planned. Pete and I were chatting on the way to sushi, and he mentioned a festival in a nearby city at which a new discovery favourite band of mine (and an old one of his) were playing. 

A quick look at tickets, both festival and train, and I decided to go. 

Yantai is often called Qingdao's smaller brother, and it is easy to see why. However, I think it is more of a 'the student has become the master' situation. I loved it! It's a much smaller city, but the people, the food, the weather and the atmosphere were just so much more enjoyable. A real "hidden gem" of Shandong. (More on that later). 

If I am to be honest, I was a little nervous about spending so much time on my own, but I needn't have worried; it was a fantastic set-up. Two stages opposite each other, connected by about 200 meters of food, drink and shopping. The acts were set so there was always something on, but at alternating stages, so if you wanted to see two consecutive acts, you would have to run between the two stages or miss the last/first few minutes of the acts.  I had managed to uncover a set list and was able to plan my day without too many issues. 

Arriving at the location, I was hustled off into a side tent while everyone else just used their ID cards to pass automatic doors. I met what had to be the most bored police officer in the whole arena, as his job was to wait for and greet the foreigners. There were two of us, which led to the most difficult game of Where's Wally. I was immediately a spectacle, a target and an oddity. Luckily, my basic Chinese charmed just about everyone, and I was adopted by dozens of different people over the course of the day. 

I had youtubed a few of the acts before getting there, so I felt a little prepared for which acts I wanted to see when, and which I could miss and get food/drink/a bathroom break. 

I was very fortunate to see two of my recent discoveries that I have fallen deeply in love with. A Mongolian band called 'Nine treasures' or 九宝, as well as a Swiss band called Eluveitie, who are both wonderful! (see below)

九宝

Eluveitie

 Both have a fantastic folky vibe that was so much fun to see on the stage and to be a part of in the crowd. 

At one point, I found myself being squashed up against the barrier and was getting a little uncomfortable. Two very tall and beefy guys noticed and put me next to one of their girlfriends in a "safe zone" created by a wall of people. Our agreement was that whoever was in the safe zone needed to take the pictures and videos. I felt a decent trade for a few minutes of calm in a sea of excited arms and legs. 

I had a fantastic time and met a lot of really lovely people. Would 100% recommend and do it again.