Oi, people.
The Alternative Psychedelic
Dragon Festival is in Spain and will run from 21 to 23 of March.
History of the Dragon FestivalMarch 14th 1997 the almost mythical dragon banner was raised on Alex's field and this legendary event was born.In
those final years of the last millennium there was a real positive
anxiety and excitement about the coming of a new era.
Here in
Cigarrones we were buzzing on our own collective creativity and the
luck at living in such a paradise. It's no wonder those first few
Dragonfests created such a stir and its reputation as the most 'avin
it' party snowballed so quickly, everyone was on such a good tip.
The festival continued to grow, freaking out a few locals with its
anarchic unpredictability and increasing size, peaking in 2001 with
close on 7000 people reveling in the ambience. By the following year
the local authorities and a few panic stricken locals, forced a
prohibition order, mainly on public safety grounds. Sadly their
greatest fears were confirmed when two people died at the festival but
paradoxically it condemned the prohibition because every other year
adequate first aid had been provided and at least one of those deaths
may have been prevented.
In
2003 the cops came in force with full on paramilitary nasty boys and
two mounted divisions.
The dragon responded by fluffing them up in a
classic fashion. We formed a pink parade and daily danced our way up to
the police lines to offer them tea and cakes. It was utterly non
confrontational and helped by Spanish objections to the impending Iraq
war, our songs of peace made a mockery of their heavy handedness. Those
magic moments when the commandant parted his troops allowing the pink
parade to welcome the people through, will stay with us forever.
2006 celebrated the Dragon's first decade of anarchic frivolity. It
surely represented a milestone and hopefully a watershed in our fight
to invite a peaceful gathering in the place where we live. And it
seemed that the greater community, media and authorities included,
realized the positive and honest impact of people rather than profit
motivated fiestas.
Our aim has always been to share the beauty of the Alpujarran
springtime with our friends from everywhere, whilst doing our utmost to
minimize any negative impact a gathering might have, both
environmentally and otherwise.
We can safely say the dragon has stood the test of time and a few
other heavy tests besides. It's our festival, the peoples festival and
we deserve it.
Keep it real, keep it free.
Psychedelic Alternative Festival.
Freeeeeedom
Dragon Festival web