Solidarnost na djelu
Solidarity in action // ENGLISH TRANSLATION underneath
SAWA Festival 2023 bio je primorano otkazan pola sata prije početka zbog jakog i po posjetitelje opasnog olujnog nevremena kakvog nitko živ u okolici ne pamti.
Nama je festival puno više od glazbe, vikend okupljanja ili tjedne DIY radne akcije. Mi ga živimo i pripremamo tijekom cijele godine, a dva mjeseca pred festival nekolicina nas mu se u potpunosti posvetila, ostavivši sve ostale obveze i poslove po strani. Dali smo se u ovo izdanje kao nikad do sada, zapeli iz petnih žila, no majka priroda nam je pokazala zube za sve što loše činimo ovoj planeti. Ovo je samo lekcija što nas čeka svakog sljedećeg ljeta.
Žao nam je što je sve propalo tik pred koncert, no isto tako smo sretni da su svi dobro i da nitko nije nastradao, što je ujedno i najbitnije. Materijalnu štetu ćemo sanirati tokom godine i ponovno stati na noge zahvaljujući mnogim samoinicijativnim solidarnim akcijama koje se organiziraju u regiji, osobnim investicijama i merchandiseu kog smo spremili za sve koji nas žele podržati. Ne žicamo, ne kukamo i ne tražimo ništa, ali smo izuzetno zahvalni nekolicini bendova, izdavača, organizatora koncerata i pojedinaca što su pokrenuli razne solidarne akcije dok smo mi čistili Poloje i festivalski prostor, te svima vama na donacijama koje ste nam poslali.
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SAWA Festival 2023 was forced to be canceled half an hour before the first band, due to a severe and dangerous storm that could have caused harm to the visitors. Nobody in our area remembers a (shit)storm of similar magnitude in recent history.
SAWA Festival means much more to us than just music, a weekend gathering, or a weekly DIY activity. We live and prepare it throughout the year. For two months a few of us dedicated ourselves entirely to it, leaving all obligations and jobs aside. For this edition of the festival, we went all in like never before. Unfortunately, mother earth has shown us her teeth for everything bad that we do to this planet every day. Let this be a wake-up call since we can expect more and more natural disasters every summer going forward.
We are truly sorry that everything fell apart just before the concert was supposed to start. We are also happy that everyone is fine and no one got hurt, which is the most important thing right now. We will fix the damage to our equipment and installations during the upcoming year and get back on our feet. This will be done with the help of many self-initiated punk solidarity actions organized in the region, our personal investments and merchandise that we prepared for all of you who want to support us. We don't whine, beg, or ask for anything. However, we are super grateful to the goodwill of bands, labels, organizers and individuals, for self-organizing and launching several solidarity actions, while we were cleaning up the festival area in shock of what happened. The same goes for all of you who donated through the website - thanks a ton!
U srijedu 19.07.2023., dan prije početka festivala, iznenadni vjetar od 180 km/h je poharao Županju i okolicu te uništio većinu festivalskih instalacija, struju, šator, uz stotinu popucalog drveća. Ta brzina vjetra je zabilježena prije nego je vjetar polomio i odnio i sam uređaj na meterološkoj stanici, što će reći da ni ne znamo koliko je jako nevrijeme zbilja i bilo.
S obzirom da su padala stabla, pucali betonski stupovi, polomljeni više tona teški šatori, ali i letjeli krovovi po gradu - svi volonteri i članovi SAWA Crewa su preživjeli traumu u srijedu od koje se teško oporavlja i o kojoj se inače ne priča puno, no to su naši heroji i heroine scene!
Iako je većina grada bila bez struje, uz par ljutih čašica hrabrosti te uz tada pogodnu prognozu za vikend, odlučili smo u tom cijelom ludilu sve počistiti i u 48 sati nanovo dići na noge dovoljno dobru infrastrukturu da održimo koncert u petak i subotu - jer balkanski slobodari i slobodarke to zaslužuju! U kamp pod ono što je preostalo od šumskog dijela bilo je zabranjeno ići zbog mogućnosti padanja drveća i grana, no mjesta za kampiranje bilo je na livadi. U četvrtak 20.07.2023. nultog dana festivala posjetitelji su krenili pristizati, vrijeme je bilo sunčano, kao da se prethodnog dana ništa nije dogodilo. Kupalo se, pjevalo se, družilo se. Sve je obećavalo da se sprema super fešta za vikend.
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On Wednesday, July 19th, 2023, the day before the festival, a sudden wind of 180 km/h ravaged Županja and its surroundings, destroying most of the festival installations, tents, electricity poles, and hundreds of trees on the bank of the river Sava. This is just the recorded wind speed before the wind blew away and broke the device itself at the meteorological station, meaning that we don't know exactly how strong the storm really was.
Given that trees were torn down, concrete pillars cracked, tents weighing several tons were broken, and roofs flew around the city - all volunteers and members of the SAWA Crew suffered serious trauma. Trauma that is usually not discussed, and is difficult to recover from. They are our scenes heroes and we thank each one of the crew members for that.
Despite the city being without electricity, but still with a favorable weather forecast for the weekend, we decided to clean up everything. In 48 hours we (re)built a good enough infrastructure to hold a concert on Friday and Saturday - because Balkan punx deserve it. We also made a few last-minute changes to reduce the risk of anyone getting hurt (e.g. camping under the trees was forbidden). On Thursday, July 20th, 2023, Day Zero of the festival - visitors started arriving and the weather was sunny as if nothing had happened the day before. They swam in the river, sang and hung out preparing for the Friday concert night. Everything was promising that we would have an awesome party on the weekend.
Jedinstvo, buka, snaga i SAWOKALIPSA
Tek u petak 21.07.2023. popodne su ponovno počele najave novog nevremena u našim krajevima. Bili smo spremni na intenzivnu kišu, no nitko se nije nadao sličnom nepredvidivom kaosu koji će biti opasan za posjetitelje i izvođače.
Nakon tonske probe i netom prije početka koncerta oblaci su se počeli skupljati, pojavila se sparina bez i najmanjeg povjetarca, rijeka Sava je postala zrcalno mirna. Sve je potpuno stalo, kao da je netko zamrznuo kadar oko nas. Bilo nam je jasno da se ponavlja slična stvar od srijede, te smo poučeni iskustvom poduzeli sve mjere sigurnosti koje smo mogli i krenuli zatvarati šatore. Unatoč tome, vjetar je uspio podići preko 3 metra i odnijeti teški aluminijski šator od 160m2 pod kojim su bile distribucije. Nekolicina je auta nastradala od kojih je jedan nažalost pod totalnom štetom. Pod tim šatorom je bio i SAWA merchandise koji je letio na sve strane, pokisao i natopio se vodom. Većinu smo uspijeli spasiti, ostatak je stradao nepovratno.
Većina posjetitelja je pojurila u drugi šator od 240m2 gdje su bili bina i šank, te kao mala složna punk zajednica ga krenili zatvarati i postavljati se svatko na svoje pozicije. Tako smo proveli sljedećih 30tak minuta teške oluje, vjetra i kiše: držeći šator, upinjući se u svaki mogući otvor da ga ne digne, uz tu i tamo koju suzu i blijed pogled osobe pored. Svi koji su ovo proživjeli s nama znaju da je to bila borba za život, festival i prijatelje.
Unatoč svemu, atmosfera pod šatorom je bila nevjerojatna i HVALA svima što ste nam pomogli spasiti preostali dio opreme, ali i jedni druge. Pribranost, kolektivni trud i koordinacija ostaje zauvijek u sjećanju. Svi posjetitelji su živi i zdravi i nije bilo ozljeđenih, iako smo svi bili u ozbiljnoj opasnosti od naleta vjetra koji je rušio sve pred sobom.
Čim se vjetar primirio svi posjetitelji su odmah zamoljeni da napuste festivalsku lokaciju i pođu na suho i natkriveno u centar grada do CB OKAC, koji nam je ponudio sigurno utočište do zore s obzirom da je tada već bilo najavljivano ponovno nevrijeme tijekom večeri i cijelonoćno padanje kiše. Nažalost odličan klupski prostor, Multikulturni centar, kojeg smo njegovali 15ak godina i gdje smo radili stotine koncerata te koji može primiti do 500 ljudi smo izgubili i više nemamo, inače bismo koncert preselili u njega. Zvali smo sve opcije satima tokom petka u noći, no grad je bio u kolapsu i jednostavno nije bilo alternativne opcije. To nije spriječilo ljude da se na parkiralištu i po kiši podruže do ranih jutarnjih sati.
Svim bendovima koji su došli unatoč nevremenu kapa dolje i veliko hvala od SAWA crewa. Najmanje što smo mogli učiniti je pokriti putne troškove i pobrinuti se za klopu i cugu. Za koncerte će biti prilike drugi put, a vaše razumijevanje za nastalu situaciju izuzetno cijenimo.
Uz ljudske živote što je naravno najbitnije, osim djela naše opreme srećom većina unajmljene opreme nije nastradala. No i dalje smo ostali s velikom štetom i minusom - jer svaki se najam mora platiti, kao i svako naručeno pecivo, svaka majica, kabl, paleta, sprej, plakat i svaka sitnica i detalj u koje smo ulagali i pripremali nekoliko mjeseci prije festa. Toga ima zbilja hrpa na nivou na kojem smo odlučili raditi festival, te sada, mjesec dana nakon sawakolipse, već polako uspješno vraćamo dugove.
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Unity, noise, power and SAWACALYPSE
On Friday afternoon, July 27th, 2023, new storm announcements started. We were prepared for heavy rain, but no one expected a similar chaos that could be dangerous for the lives of visitors and bands, as we experienced on Wednesday.
Immediately after the sound check and just before the concert was supposed to start, clouds began to gather. It was extremely hot and without the slightest breeze. The river Sava was unusually calm. Everything stopped completely, as if someone had frozen the scene around us and put it in slow motion. It was clear to those of us who experienced the chaos on Wednesday that something similar was about to happen. We took all the safety measures we could, based on the experience from a few days before and immediately started closing the big tents. The storm started and the wind threw the heavy aluminum 160m2 tent over 3 meters high in the air. The tent was sturdy and otherwise stable in any conditions that we prepared for. Inside were band distributions & SAWA merchandise, which later got soaked, wet and some of it even destroyed. As the tent flew around the festival area, it damaged a few cars and vans, causing total damage to a vehicle from one of our crew members.
Most visitors & SAWA crew volunteers rushed to the second 240m2 tent, where the stage & bar were. Our small punk community tried to defend whatever remained by closing the tent and holding it down for the next 30 minutes of heavy storm, clinging to every possible opening. We wanted to reduce the risk of it being lifted by the wind and doing serious harm to people on the festival grounds. Everyone who experienced this knows it was a fight for our lives, the festival, and our friends.
Despite everything that was happening at that moment, the atmosphere under the tent was amazing. THANK YOU to everyone who helped in saving each other and the remaining equipment. Calmness, collective effort and coordination left a huge mark and will stay forever remembered. Thankfully, all of the visitors are alive and well without any injuries, although we were facing serious danger from wind gusts that knocked down everything on their way.
As soon as the wind calmed down, all visitors were asked to leave the festival location and go to the city center to a dry location - CB OKAC, which offered us a safe haven until dawn. At that time it had already been announced that there would be another storm during the evening and rain all night. Unfortunately, the club "Multicultural Centre" we took care of for about 15 years and held hundreds of concerts, and which can accommodate up to 500 people, was lost and is not ours anymore. If that wasn't the case, we would have moved the concert there. We called and tried every option we knew for hours on Friday night, but the city was in total collapse and there was simply no alternative option. That being said, the weather still did not prevent people from gathering in the parking lot and in the rain until the early hours of the morning.
To every band that came despite the storm - hats off, and a big THANK YOU from the SAWA crew. The least we could do was cover the travel expenses and provide food and drinks while everything else fell apart. There will be opportunities for concerts another time in the future, and we greatly appreciate your understanding of the situation.
With human lives being the most important thing, luckily most of the rented equipment was not damaged, besides some pieces of our own equipment. However, we are still left with a lot of damage and financial loss. Everything rented has to be paid for, as well as all the food that we ordered, every t-shirt, pallet, cable, spray, poster and every detail we invested in and prepared several months before the festival. Now, a month after the sawacalypse, we are slowly being able to pay back our debts.
SOLIDARNE AKCIJE I KONCERTI
Nakon otkazivanja festivala, odmah isti dan su se samoinicijativno od strane mnogih u regiji pokrenule razne solidarne akcije. Danas brojimo preko 20 akcija koje su organizirane ili se planiraju organizirati do kraja 2023. Ne možemo vjerovati i bez riječi smo. Scena dugo nije bila ovako proaktivno solidarna i nismo mogli ni sanjati koliko vam svima SAWA znači. HVALA SCENO i hvala svim pojedincima na pokretanju akcija u lokalnim sredinama!
Mi u drugu ruku pokušavamo podmiriti minus kroz prodaju mercha (majice, kape, duksevi, torbe, kuharica, itd.) kojeg smo najprije izložili na Monte Paradiso festivalu, a sada ga stavljamo dostupnim online i svima vama.
Za kraj - ne planiramo posustati! 15 godina truda je oštećeno i osakaćeno ali nije uništeno. Imamo pregršt posla da popravimo i napravimo nove instalacije festivala na otvorenom, podmirimo dugove i zatim organiziramo feštu za pamćenje 2024!
Solidarni koncerti i benefiti u najavi:
15.09.2023. @ CK13, Novi Sad // Smrt Razuma + Sukob + Pestarzt, hvala Kruno
16.09.2023. @ Skate park, Zabok // Caloris Impact + Killing Yield + Fonjatura + Dying East, hvala Veki, Dorijan i ZBxHC
07.10.2023. @ CK13, Novi Sad // Brazde + Shoplifters + Reflections + Izdanije, hvala Zaviša
21.10.2023. @ Podrum, Rijeka // Ponor + Kijamet + Dying East, hvala Nina
25.11.2023. @ Play, Kraljevo // Totalni Promašaj + Smrt Razuma + Sedativ + Smudos + Zenth, hvala KVxHC ekipa
09.12.2023. @ AKAB Okretnica, Beograd // Neven + Sedativ + Leptirica + Peripetija + Street Fight, hvala Dario
15.12.2023. @ OKAC, Županja // KDP + Jesus, Rashiid!?, hvala Bule
16.12.2023. @ Mochvara, Zagreb // Atheist Rap + Kriva Istina + Loš Primjer + Smrt Razuma, hvala Kriva Istina
Bendove i detalje najavljujemo ovdje kako ih organizatori budu objavljivali!
Uz gore najavljene koncerte do sada, zelimo se zahvaliti i ljudinama:
Monte Paradisu na donacijama od giga 07.08. u DC Rojcu i mladoj generaciji na upornosti!
Buletu na donaciji od prodanog pića 21.07. u CB Okac u Županji gdje se ekipa skupila nakon nevremena
Cefu i Ljubav i Bes ekipi, te Jasminu na bratskoj ispomoći tokom festivala
Ground Zero drugarima na donacijama od Live @ SKCNS kompilacije
Smoletu i ekipi iz Požege što su ugostili bendove sa festa na last minute gigu 22.07.
Iluzijama Slobode i Mikrofoniji na donaciji od njihovih festivala
Ivoru, Baraci i ekipi iz Kutine na velikodušnoj donaciji od upada na koncertima
DIY Discont, Pank salaš, Kalifat Dub i Sombor ekipi na donacijama
Dead Dog Summer na donaciji od prodanog merchandisea na RockLive festu u Koprivnici
Pank trepezariji i ISK Sarajevo ekipi na skupljenim donacijama u Sarajevu
Olegu i Pasmatersima na donaciji
Hardcorner Records & Distro iz Beograda na donaciji od okupljanja u dućanu 05.08.
Nasty Events ekipi na donaciji od prodanih karata u Zagrebu na I am Morbid koncertu
David & Golijat na donaciji craft piva
Liquid Supercharge ekipi na donaciji od prodanih majica na Monte Paradisu
Nigdjezemska on donations collected at Intermezzo Fest in Zadar
Ovo gore su najprije veliki prijatelji i nosioci scene koji imaju razumijevanja i prvi uskaču u pomoć kad je ona najpotrebnija. Bez njihovih djela pank bi bio samo izbljedjeli natpis na zidu.
Pank je ono sto vrijedi!
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SOLIDARITY ACTIONS AND CONCERTS
On the same day when cancellation was announced various solidarity actions were initiated by all of you throughout the region. Today we count over 20 actions that have been organized or are planned to be organized by the end of 2023. This is unbelievable and we are beyond words. The scene has not been this proactive in solidarity for a long time. We never could have imagined how much SAWA means to all of you. THANK YOU PUNK SCENE and big thank you to all the people who started the actions!
On the other hand, we are trying to make up for the losses by selling our festival merch (t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, bags, cookbook, etc.), first by presenting it at the Monte Paradiso festival, and now by putting it for sale online for all of you.
Lastly, we do not plan to give up! 15 years of effort were damaged and crippled, but not destroyed. We have a lot of work to do, to fix and create new installations, pay off our debts, and in the end, organize a party to remember in 2024!
announced Solidarity concerts and benefits:
15.09.2023. @ CK13, Novi Sad // Smrt Razuma + Sukob + Pestarzt, tnx Kruno
16.09.2023. @ Skate park, Zabok // Caloris Impact + Killing Yield + Fonjatura + Dying East, tnx Veki, Dorijan & ZBxHC
07.10.2023. @ CK13, Novi Sad // Brazde + Shoplifters + Reflections + Izdanije, tnx Zaviša
21.10.2023. @ Podrum, Rijeka // Ponor + Kijamet + Dying East, tnx Nina
25.11.2023. @ Play, Kraljevo // Totalni Promašaj + Smrt Razuma + Sedativ + Smudos + Zenth, tnx KVxHC crew
09.12.2023. @ AKAB Okretnica, Beograd // Neven + Sedativ + Leptirica + Peripetija + Street Fight, tnx Dario
15.12.2023. @ OKAC, Županja // KDP + Jesus, Rashiid!?, tnx Bule
16.12.2023. @ Mochvara, Zagreb // Atheist Rap + Kriva Istina + Loš Primjer + Smrt Razuma, tnx Kriva Istina
We will add bands and all the show details once they are publicly announced here as well!
In addition to the above-announced concerts so far, we would also like to thank the following people:
Monte Paradiso for the donations from the gig 07.08. in DC Rojc and the young generation for their persistence!
Bule for the donation from drinks sold on 21.07. in CB Okac in Županja, where the community gathered after the storm
Cef, “Ljubav & Bes” crew and Jasmin for their brotherly support during the festival
Ground Zero friends for the donations from the Live @ SKCNS compilation
Smole and the crew from Požega for hosting the bands from the festival at the last-minute gig on 22.07.
Iluzije Slobode and Mikrofonija for a donation from their festivals
To Ivor, Baraka and the crew from Kutina for a generous donation from the event tickets
DIY Discont, Pank salaš, Kalifat Dub and Sombor crew for the donations
Dead Dog Summer for a donation from the sold merchandise at RockLive in Koprivnica
Punk trepezarija and ISK Sarajevo crew on all the collected donations in Sarajebo
Oleg and Pasmaters for the donation
Hardcorner Records & Distro from Belgrade for a donation from the gathering in the store on 05.08.
Nasty Events team for the donation from the tickets sold in Zagreb at the I am Morbid concert
David & Goliat for the donation of craft beer
Liquid Supercharge crew for the donation from the shirts sold at Monte Paradiso
Nigdjezemska on donations collected at Intermezzo Fest in Zadar
All mentioned above are first of all great friends and the supporters of our scene who are the first ones to jump in to help when help is needed. Without their work, punk would be just faded writing on the wall.
We are all we have until it’s all we had!
SAWA 2023 // MERCHANDISE
Možeš nas podržati kupovinom preostalog ovogodišnjeg mercha u našem online shopu. Ukoliko ne vidiš svoju veličinu za određeni dizajn, možeš isti naručiti ovdje.
You can support us by buying merchandise we prepared for this year in our online shop. In case you don’t see your size for a specific design, feel free to pre-order it here.
