3+1: Eric Schönemeier (Monticule Festival)

Ahead of our collaboration with this years’ Monticule Festival we approached Eric Schönemeier, one of the Monticule founders, to share some information on the idea of the festival, things to bring, do, and more. Thanks Eric!

For someone who has never heard of Monticule: Why should he / she come? What to expect?

We’ve built Monticule after our personal ideal of a festival. It should be like a vacation with your family but without the stress. Great food & drinks, nice weather, stunning nature, a pool, activities like astronomy lessons or cave tours and to top things off: our wishlist of a broad range of electronic music artists from all over the world.

Let’s assume I’ve booked my tickets and travel there is planned. Please share your experiences from the last years and name 3 (or more) things that have proven valuable during the stay and that attendees might not think of bringing?

This is going to sound like a pathfinders list now:

• Water Pistol
• Hammock
• Flashlight
• A sweater for star sessions at night-time

The landscape and nature surrounding the festival at Domaine de Gayfié is beautiful. What are 3 (or more) things to do and check out nearby that one cannot experience anywhere else? We’re thinking local food, sightseeing etc

First there is the Gouffre de Lantouy, a spring with the most turquoise water we’ve seen. It’s also recommended to follow the watercourse as you will meet some dragonflies and other beautiful animals over there. Please leave no trace and take your trash back with you!

It is worth to check out the ancient little town Cajarc where you can visit the weekend market, get a chocolatine in the bakery (never say pain au chocolat) and have dinner at Jeu des Quilles.

Like mentioned before we offer a cave tour from this year on. Our friend Laurent is an experienced guide who shows you a beautiful cave with stalagtites and stalagmites reaching 5 meters and more.

It’s the third year for Monticule, and setting up a festival like this in a remote location makes it all more difficult. How many people are involved / Who is the team behind the festival and what keeps you going personally?

When we came up with the idea of building up a festival in the middle of nowhere, many of our friends declared us insane. And even if they are right, they totally support us. Together with the artists we have a team of 200 people. Some of us bring their parents and the first babys are coming (ok it was me).

So basically we want to fill Domaine de Gayfié with life to provide our personal environment a lovely refuge for the future years. It’s a sort of inner drive to embrace the locations opportunities and to improve the Monticule experience from year to year.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Gilb’R prepares us for the best time of the year!
https://soundcloud.com/…/gilbr-monticule-mix-2017