Hellfest 2022: The journey to Clisson, the “rising excitement” before reaching the “holy ground” – 20 Minutes

“A slow and gradual rise in excitement before plunging body and soul into another world”. These are the words chosen by Lio to describe the 700 km of car he is about to swallow with a friend to reach Clisson (Loire-Atlantique) from his village of Haute-Loire. Like tens of thousands of people from the four corners of France and Europe, the 44-year-old real estate agent is already at full speed even if the 15th edition of Hellfest, the biggest festival of extreme music which takes place this year over two weekends, does not really start until Friday. And he is far from the only one: the many metal fans (deprived of the meeting for two years due to the pandemic) who responded to the call for witnesses from 20 Minutes confirm that the event is not starting. to the first guitar riffs but as soon as they sit down in the car, the plane or the train, in the direction of their “holy land”. once in the car and we hit the road, on a festival playlist”, says for example Alexandre, 25 years old. While many take the opportunity to re-listen to classics, introduce their carpoolers to “nuggets”, or fine-tune their running order, don’t forget to look through the window to slip into the atmosphere. “As the motorway service areas progress, the blue sky of the Côte d’Azur darkens, says “Clod”, who will leave Nice next Wednesday to attend the second weekend. The hair of travelers who take a break grows longer and their clothes become adorned with skeletons and other unpronounceable names of Norwegian black bands. A look, a smile and a little hand sign of recognition, the devil’s horns… Yes, we are on the right road! “Sometimes we meet incongruously, like one year when the members of the group Morbid Angel were doing their shopping,” recalls Arnaud, who is on the road for the 12th time. not just at gas stations where you can feel the Hellfest atmosphere rising. This Thursday, as for a few editions, an armada of some 3,000 hellbangers will take place in trains specially chartered by the SNCF, departing from Paris and Lyon. As in the additional TER scheduled to return to Nantes in the evening (costing 5 euros), the atmosphere promises to be rock’n’roll again. “In addition to the planned activities, some bring speakers, have a snack, are already starting to build relationships to settle together at the campsite, we tell the SNCF. They immerse themselves directly in the atmosphere even if some prefer to rest and enjoy the last moments of sleep! “This will surely be the case for Lionel, who will cross the Atlantic by plane. “I’ve been waiting for it for two years, two years that I have my place, he stamps his feet. In the meantime, my family life has evolved, I am in Quebec! But it was inconceivable that I would miss this party. “He too will still have a little taste since this year, a giant guitar has been installed on the forecourt of Nantes-Atlantique airport to welcome the some 10,000 festival-goers who will come by air. But the moment that these metalheads are all waiting, sometimes already with “some tinnitus before the hour”, it is obviously the arrival in the hell of Clisson. For some, it’s “the thrill that rises as you approach the roundabout of the guitar”. For others, it is also the prospect of “plenty of binouzes at Leclerc” or the aperitif offered by strangers “during the arrival traffic jam, 2 km in 30 minutes” or at the campsite, which occupies the thoughts . “And once the bracelet is put on, this feeling: ‘Finally back home!’ », continues Arnaud. “Here we are at the most important weekend of the whole year”, summarizes Alexandre.