Certain facets of modern society assume that “music festivals” are nothing more than drug-fueled mayhem; a trippy-hippy experience where ragers and ravers indulge in debauchery through the motions of dance.
For me, it’s an expression of feeling.
What most forget to remember is that music festivals have been part of the entertainment industry for many generations. I know about this first hand because whenever I tell my parents I’m attending a music festival, their typical response is “don’t do drugs.”
I hear the statement flow from my mothers mouth as if I was watching Francis McDormand cry in ‘Almost Famous’ all over again. I always look at her in befuddlement.
I’ll be honest, I’m a college grad who’s been brought up in a very white-collar, suburban atmosphere. I possess all the knowledge of the affects that drugs can have. But that’s not why I’m going to music festivals. I sit her down and simply explain the following:
5 Reasons Music Festivals Can Change Your Life
1. Easy to make new friends
The community I was birthed into was a mold. A life I didn’t create for myself; but one that consisted of soccer moms, wine tastings and children driving around Dad’s Audi’s. That was whom you needed to associate yourself with. No thank you.
My music festival experiences gave me and everyone the equal chance to get to know each other, outside of the questioning of what they have or what they can do for them. You hear something you like, you react, you look over to the person next to you reacting the same way and boom, “this dude gets it”. From then on, you invite them into your circle as they reciprocate, and instantly you’ve created new friendships.
2. Connect with the ones you Love
Almost every festival I’ve attended has been with my sister.
And trust me when I say there is nothing better than being able to scream that one Beatles song your dad blasted every morning on the way to prep school when a DJ incorporates a classic throwback into their mix. Being able to relate to your friends through the nostalgia that music provides has brought me chills and nearly tears to my eyes.
3. Travel and the experience of new places with your friends
Get out of town. Experience new cities. Camp, glamp, and spend your nights sleeping on hotel floors.
It’s humbling and remember, you’re not the only one travelling from vast lands to be there. The amount of people I’ve met from different cities, let alone continents, has educated me so much more than any standard classroom education.
4. Learn about new music:
Music has been used to describe different generations as a whole. But that doesn’t mean it has changed all that much. Technically speaking, there are only 12 notes of music that you can use to produce a song. These twelve notes are all connected, aka connecting each and every generation to one another. This has then created the possibility of a spiritual transcendence in the modern world.
When ZHU dropped his Michael Jackson thriller remix during his set in Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago, people of all ages saw the universal confirmation that the association with one another was awesome. Momentarily, there are many different genres (Hip Hop, Rock, EDM) of music. And within each of those genres there are subgenres, then some and then something you’ve never imagined hearing.
If you’re the type of person that only appreciates “your” sound and don’t feel the need to find new music then please let me suggest you try to access your creative self by opening your mind and feeling a beat to a brand new sound.
5. Freedom to express yourself, and not anyone else
This is where it’s really worth it. When your level of self-realization kicks in and you finally feel present. The “system” in which we function has created expectations on how you should act. But when you go to a music festival, the words “should,” “would” and “could” are left at the gates. People so badly want to define themselves as different that they go to great lengths to try and decipher what the public accepts instead of just “being”. This then counteracts with all your efforts to stand out and puts you in the fabricated box of being basic.
When I hear “that jam” at a festival, I will dance. I will take up room and people will stare but I don’t care. And that’s the beauty of it. I’m human, I’m alive, and oh how wild it is to just let yourself be.
So that’s it Mom, I don’t go to music festivals to take drugs. I don’t go to dress scandalously. I don’t go to be accepted. No, I go to experience life.
Written by Amanda Jade Kuhn
Photos via Electric Daisy Carnival and Insomniac Events
