Grade A Strawberry? How the Music Festival Measured Up

So where did you spend the opening weekend of Beijing's music festival season? Just like last year, we dispatched two intrepid revelers to check out the opening exchanges and report back on their findings. We attempted to score the various festivals report-card-style, on everything from ticket prices and sound quality to beer availability and toilet standards. The festivals were evaluated in nine different categories and were awarded a final grade after consideration.

Note: These grades reflect the experiences of just a few people at the Beijinger and friends. If you had an altogether different experience, do let us know in the comments section at the bottom of the page. We're always delighted to hear from you.

STRAWBERRY MUSIC FESTIVAL

Tongzhou Canal Park
April 29–May 1

Lineup: C
There wasn't much to hoot and holler about at this festival, and from the looks of the stagnant crowds, the consensus was pretty much the same all around. Local DJ Shackup spun some trap tunes while Migas' Funk Fever legend Bite-Size Buddha helped liven up the third day at the Alienware. Guava Electro Stage before headliner act Deerhoof closed out the night with a nice lights spectacle. A few of the local rock acts gave some memorable performances, but nothing to mosh over. Travis was, well, Travis.

Ticket price: C
RMB 150 per day, RMB 400 for three days. The price skyrocketed since last year (RMB 100 per day, RMB 240 for three days), but that didn't seem to deter the crowds.

Crowd atmosphere: C
Despite the lack of well-distributed food tents and long bathroom lines, everyone seemed to be in a fairly cheerful mood. More enthusiasm and dancing would have been ideal, but the music I heard didn't work too well for this. By the third day, the lines were slim and people were handing out cheap beer, so cheer was understandable.

Sound quality: B Compared to other festivals I've been to, the stages were spread out far enough that there wasn't much overlap in sound. Overall, the sound quality was good.

Alcohol availability: D
Alcohol wasn't allowed on the festival grounds again this year, but by the third day it seemed readily available as security relaxed a bit. On that note, no outside food or drink was allowed in the site, which made for a miserable afternoon if you tend to easily become dehydrated in the hot sun. You were given a cup with your ticket for what we thought might be discounted water and coke, but we didn't even manage to find out because the lines were too long. Read on for more on queuing.

Queuing time: F
Although the third day was supposed to be better, the crowds on the first day made it almost impossible to get any basic needs at the festival. I fell asleep (probably from dehydration), while my friend waited in line for the bathroom for nearly an hour. We completely gave up on the water line and instead modeled clothes for an online shop in exchange for two bottles of water (yes, we were that desperate). Food lines were much more reasonable, but most of the food was concentrated in one location, making the trek for nutrition just as harrowing as standing in line.

Refreshments: C
Taiwanese restaurant Xiaowei Yansuji was among the food stalls, selling its scrumptious fried chicken and fish in brown paper bags. There was a decent selection of chuanr and other rice and noodle staples, but drink was limited to a bare minimum. Food and drink tents were at separate locations in the park, and the lines for drinks were much longer than those for food (understandably so, given the heat).

Bathrooms: D
They were disgusting and the lines were too long. After a hundred or so people use the bathroom without it getting cleaned, you're bound to encounter something nasty.

Site security: B
Non-intrusive. They didn't do much to tame the pushing and shoving within the huge crowd of people attempting to get into the park on the first day, but that's hardly surprising.

OVERALL GRADE: C

Unlike last year, I didn't feel like anything at the festival was worth an A, except for the one thing we didn't grade: the bazaar. Digging through vintage clothes, jewelry, fake tattoos, handmade chick hair clips, and knitted cacti was the highlight of my Strawberry Festival experience. As the Style Editor, maybe I'm biased, but it is admittedly rather ridiculous that there were more people selling clothes or promoting their organizations than people selling refreshments.

That said, from my experience in Beijing, the Strawberry Festival is one of the few opportunities to find out about lesser-known online shops, new venues in the city, and good community causes, so you have to give it some credit for that. Strawberry could use some better grades in various areas to make it feel more like a music festival than a school fair, but it made for an enjoyable afternoon in the sunshine.

Check out our report card of the Midi Festival here.

For more photos of Strawberry Festival, check out our gallery.