Have you ever been at a show where the crowd just wasn’t quite right?
The vibe of the crowd at an electronic dance music event can dictate your enjoyment of it in so many ways.
Below are 4 unwritten rules of music festival crowd etiquette.
Help Your Neighbor
Whether they need a lighter, help down from shoulders, or even a sip of water from your camelbak, sometimes people just need a hand with things. We have all had those moments where we need a second to gather ourselves after dancing through a hardstyle set, or someone to hold your stuff while you get your diffraction glasses from your bag.
This goes for camping festivals too. Even away from the stages you will still find yourself in a massive crowd when you go to sleep at night. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and help someone when they need it because the favor will be returned with pleasure more often than not.
Put Your Phone Away
We all love to take pictures. Who wouldn’t want to capture that beautiful moment when your favorite DJ drops a brand new single? Snapping a photo here and there is just fine, but don’t spend the entire night watching it through your phone.
Let yourself feel the music in the moment and engage what is going on around you. You wont forget it, so don’t worry about how many likes it may have gotten on Facebook.
Know Your Surroundings
Two things that have been known to irritate many are people who dance too wildly and those who don’t dance at all. Now of course this is not to say that people should pick one or the other and be done with it, but rather to say that there is a somewhat of a “place” for all variations of dancing in the crowd.
If you want to go absolutely crazy (which we love) and dance the night away wildly, you might not want to do it when you’re packed in the middle of a shoulder to shoulder crowd when there isn’t much room for it. There are plenty of pockets that you can slip your way into and go to town with your moves.
The same goes for not dancing. If you just want to relax and listen to the music, you might not want to stand in the middle of a bunch of people going harder than you are. You probably don’t want to get pushed around either so you might want to go deeper into the crowd where its more compact.
Make Friends
Don’t be a stranger! As many of us know, one of the biggest ideas associated with electronic dance music is PLUR – Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. In order to truly know and understand this, you must experience it for yourself.
Some of the people you meet in the crowd of an EDM festival or show can be your best friends for the rest of your life. Even if you just go ahead start dancing with the group next to you or offer up a shoulder to lean on for a more emotional set, you will conjure long-lasting connections with people that mean a lot more than you would think.
These connections will give you even more to look forward to at the next show and make your experience richer than anything you could have had by keeping to yourself.
So go ahead and be the jokester, the kind soul, or even just the friendly person that brings everyone together.
Is there anything we missed?
If we left anything out or you have some other ideas to elevate your EDM crowd experience, please let us know in the comments!
photo credit: IMG_3807 via photopin (license)
photo credit: electriczoo-37 via photopin (license)
photo credit: Tomorrowworld2013 – Rave crowd girl – fish eye photo snap via photopin (license)
