Exquisitely dressed dames from the Victorian era, or straight out of an Anne Rice novel. Horned, winged, mythical creatures. Maleficent. Anime characters. Characters from the Dark Ages. Dudes and dudettes from the punk ages. Skulls. Apparitions. And simply people wearing black shirts and bottoms like my friend and I were – the two mesmerized by the gothic wave thickening across town. Hundreds of them descended on Leipzig for Wave-Gotik-Treffen 2015, many from Germany but some from other countries, too. It’s the world’s biggest gothic fest, and it happens every year right here.
In this gallery, you can see 69 pictures from our treffen trek.
Besides their diverse, often elaborate makeup and costumes underlining their style of choice within the gothic palette (of also diverse music styles), festival participants came in every possible age and configuration (solo, groups of friends, couples, families), turning the streets of the city carnavalesque; but in a much more alternative, darker way than in Berlin, which was having Karneval der Kulturen simultaneously. There was even an extra bus, just for their festival – Number 31.
They were on their way to theme parties, engaging in cemetery tours, simply chilling out drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, shopping, standing in line for a currywurst, or waiting at the tram stop, when my friend and I approached them with our cameras like hungry paparazzi. We were feeling a bit creepy stalking them across streets, parks and even a graveyard, but they were graceful to us even when they didn’t want their pictures online or taken at all. Many of them actually welcomed our interest, and that they would get to see their pictures posted. So here’s to the very nice and impressively dedicated Gotik Treffen attendants who made our weekend so worth it, and my friend’s first visit to Leipzig from Berlin so unforgettable.
