Arr, me dream has become reality! European apartment rental gurus, Go With Oh, sent La Carmina to Wave Gotik Treffen, the world’s largest Goth music, fashion and culture festival.

Day 1. We arrived at Arthotel Leipzig, and immediately got dolled up. I put on Sugarpill fake eyelashes, defined my eyes with Sugarpill black eyeshadow, and dotted my lips with glitter.

Pirate hat: gifted by Caribbean Rose (more photos and review)
Silver chain necklace: provided by Angelica Brigade
Pirate jacket: Alice and the Pirates, from Closet Child Tokyo
Ruffle pirate skirt: gifted by Wheels and Dollbaby (more photos and review)
Spiky boots: Tripp NYC, from Trash and Vaudeville NYC (see store photos)

In an ocean of black clothes, Yukiro stood out with his Hatsune Miku cosplay. Love the X-eyed contacts.

Wave Gotik Treffen takes place every year in Leipzig, for 3 days. The festival is overwhelming: at any moment, dozens of performances and events are happening.

To get to Agra (the main site of WGT festival), we took a train from Leipzig central station. The ride takes 30 minutes — be sure to budget the time — and was crammed with dark souls.

We met spooky new friends on the ride. Her neck ornament is made from liquid latex and gems, and took an hour to create!

Somehow, we managed to meet up with our friends from Japan.

Can you believe… 20,000 Goths came to WGT, from all over the world!

The festival buzzed with dark energy and inspiration. In the next posts, I’ll share professional photos of Wave Gotik Treffen fashion.

Lots of lengthy colorful dreads, steampunk couture, and glam deathrockers.

The main site has areas for shopping, food, concerts.

“Pall Mall” is a rest area, to take a break from the madness.

We missed Grendel’s performance, but saw Aesthetic Perfection and Combichrist (above) — brilliant shows, full of depth and drama. With a WGT wristband, you get access to all concerts and parties.

Then we headed to “When we were young,” an old school Gothic / deathrock party at Werk II.

Things got heated. Blood may or may not have been spilled…

Hungry for more Spooky Europe coverage? This is only the start — I have 3 videos and 200 photos to come! You can add Go With Oh on Facebook for updates on my journey.

PS: thanks to Giglio for the Meet the Fashion Bloggers: La Carmina interview and feature.

Have you been to Wave Gotik Treffen? What was the experience like for you? Got any travel tips for festival-goers? (I say… drink lots of water and absinthe.)