Sadgoth's Guide to Wave gotik treffen / leipzig 

What is WGT going to cost you? that is the 64 million dollar question, luckily it's not going to cost you 64 million but it will cost you, there are many factors to think about here, although the chiefly the biggest one that will influence cost is where you live and the way you get to Germany

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Here are some of the factors you might need to figure into your plans...

• Transport costs, be it Plane, Train or Automobile

• Hotel costs

• Spending money whilst in Leipzig (food, drink, shopping

Obviously everything has gone up in price, so lets try and provide you with a few examples to help you plan your trip​

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Lets consider flying to Germany from the UK plus attending the festival

• So you first need to get yourself to the Airport and presumably pay for parking whilst you are away

• You then need to fly from the UK to Germany (most of us will fly into Berlin)

• You will then need to get from Berlin to Leipzig (most of us will take the train)

• Then you need to think about your Hotel for the period of the festival

• Expenditure whilst in Leipzig (food and drink)

• Other expenditure whilst at the festival (shopping)

• Tickets for the festival

• Return travel

So based on the assumptions above (and if like me you are about 50 years old so want a bit of comfort and not just eat festival food for the entire weekend), getting to the Airport and parking a car is going to vary, but last year it cost me approx £130 for parking at Gatwick Airport​. My flights cost another £230 (with additional luggage allowance, NewRock boots are not light!), then about £80 for a return Train ticket, Hotels in Leipzig are pretty expensive and unless you grab an early deal you can expect to pay approx £130 per night (If you are over 50 I would highly recommend that you go Wednesday to Wednesday, you need a day to recover from travel and day to recover from the festival before travelling home, this worked very well last year, previously I would do Thursday to Tuesday and be totally knackered for days afterwards). Food and Drink is no more expensive in Germany than it is back in the UK, but you want to factor in approx £50 per day as a minimum, shopping at the biggest Gothic Stall market is really dependant on each individual, but let's say £200 on average. A ticket for the festival is going to set you back £180 which is still cheaper than any other 4/5 day festival (esp. as you get free public transport around the city and free access to so many places around the city)...So in summary its going to cost you about £1500-£2000 (depending on all the factors above, of course you can camp, not go shopping, buy your food from supermarkets and have a much cheaper experience)

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Obviously if you flying in from North America, Australia or anywhere else the cost is going to be considerably higher, you normally do stuff before / after the festival too and see other parts of Germany / Europe. 

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To try and reduce your expenditure I would  recommend booking your hotel as early as possible  possibly buddy up with others to reduce accommodation cost, check all the hotel comparison sites for the best deal, check out apartments (although these tend to be a little further out of town). Track flight prices for a while, check in the facebook group when is the best time to purchase them (they often have sales).

 

The best peice of advice is to book what you can afford, if its looking tight, bank the cash and come next year. Book early if you can and book a room that can be handed back with a full refund, if you go for the cheaper price but no flexibility you have to gamble that you are 100% going.

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