How good is mobile reception? What to do if lost (I am scared)?

[Albertos]

Hello,

first time becoming Fusionist...finally I am an -ist

How good is the internet? Two years ago someone wrote on the internet: if you lose your friends - you will have to find new ones

Still same issue I guess? Any strategies to find your tribe if you get lost?

What is the etiquette regarding adoption request? Can I just join a group and ask them to adopt me directly? Or should I introduce myself, have some smalltalk and then cut to the chase?

Can I bring walkie-talkie with me to the fusion?

Thank you

[laus_laser]

we always determine a meeting point for such cases, a landmark, a spot, a certain pillar or something clearly "re-find-able" for example every odd hour (23:00, 01:00, 03:00)

so if someone from the group is lost, they can go to the meeting point to meet up with everyone, or get picked up by one of their mates, if the others stay at a gig for example
for us it's a must to have a meeting point but it's no must to go there every 2 hours. just as it fits your festival schedule.

also works fine if you split up as a group on purpose throughout the day

[vereinigung]

Cell phone network got better in recent years. One trick that I do is to disable mobile data and just send oldschool SMS to your friends, those usually arrive eventually, maybe not within a few seconds though. Also your battery will last longer that way.

Another strategy we do is to agree on fixed, scheduled appointments in the camp or at the Shower Tower or so. That way, at least once a day in the evening, we collect the stray and reintegrate them back into our group.

Adoptions are tricky. Although Fusion, to a large extent, is an anarchist festival, it still is within German territory. That means you got to have your paper work ready at all times...

[DatRadKlappt]

Bring your festival rave stick and all is good. Instead of finding your friends within 60.000 people you just need to find your stick within 200 sticks

[holterdipolter]

Internet and phones are unreliable at best. You can usually get a message to someone else, but it might take a while.

We always added the time a message was send to make communications a bit easier


Exploring fusion with a small group is great, but it's really not fun in a larger one. So many opportunities to get lost

A lot of groups bring a totem that is being carried by one member. The simplest version is something like a broomstick with a few LEDs on top, but there are many alternatives. Some people really go crazy, it really adds to the atmosphere.

They look so very beautiful at night and you can easily find your people in the crowd.

It also really helps to have meeting spots at the individual stages. If you stay somewhere for an hour or so, find a spot where to meet when lost and then stick to it for the rest of the festival.

2025 is going to be my fifth, and I can find my fellow fusion veterans at many stages, just by looking in the usual spots.

[KosmischerStaub]

A lot of groups bring a totem that is being carried by one member. The simplest version is something like a broomstick with a few LEDs on top, but there are many alternatives. Some people really go crazy, it really adds to the atmosphere.

YES!!! Turmbühne last year became trully MAGICAL and these totems added a lot to that atmospehere... !

[Cece]

You can use Bridgefy. It‘s a messaging app that works without internet. It uses Bluetooth to let people send messages to each other when there’s no Wi-Fi or mobile data.

[envoj]

I'm bringing 4 Mesthastic nodes with me this year. These are devices that communicate on LoRa protocol which is basicly radio waves. They create a decentralized network which grows in reach the more devices/nodes take part in it. I use heltec v3 which is a microcontroller based on the esp32. You can connect it to your phone and then have a messenger on there to chat with other devices. It's just a backup system and i dont know how well it will work, but we'll see. Atleast the conditions seem good because everything is pretty flat
I already saw a post from last year where people said, that they used them successfully. I know it's a pretty nerdy topic, but feel free to ask questions! Maybe i can help and we can extend the grid

[oh_lissie]

And please, leave your phone in your pocket /tent/spaceship.
Fusion is about getting lost, finding ways and enjoying carefree. Don't be scared, go with flow.
Perfect time for phone detox.

[charno]

And just since nobody answered: you can take a walkie talkie, bit don't expect an unused channel. And please keep the channels used by official services clean.