This week, unfolding in California is one of the most massive music festivals in the United States: Coachella. On Friday, Mount Holyoke College of western Massachusetts will host one of its most beloved annual traditions: Pangy Day. Why compare these two events, which take place in not only opposite states, but on opposite coasts? Because one is markedly better, that’s why. Here are the reasons for Pangy Day seizing the title as the superior festival.
1. Diversity.
Due to its incredibly high ticket prices, Coachella is known to have a primarily upper-crust audience, with a combination of wealthy young people and celebrities who make millions of dollars a year. Along with this concentration of wealth, the festival also has a majority white demographic. Pangy Day, on the other hand, is accessible to anyone and everyone on the Mount Holyoke campus, which is known for its diversity across racial and class boundaries. Students and staff can also bring guests to enjoy the festivities, making Pangy Day an example of how an inclusive celebration always beats an exclusive, non-diverse one!
2. Appreciation for the (ideally) warmer weather.
Coachella happens in southern California, also known as one of the sunniest, warmest places in the United States. Sure, attendees have their Coachella looks that media outlets love to fawn over, but Mount Holyoke students plan their Pangy Day outfits weeks and even months in advance. Why? Because Pangy Day is the only spring celebration Mount Holyoke can enjoy as a college located in western Massachusetts! Hence the dedication in planning what will be for many students the first time in the semester where they can wear dresses, shorts, and tank tops. These sunshine-deprived Mount Holyoke students appreciate a spring festival more than a California native ever could at Coachella. Even when it rains or gets cloudy on Pangy Day, like it did last year, students still dress up and head out to the green to celebrate the metaphorical coming of spring.
3. The absence of cultural appropriation.
Coachella audiences are notorious for donning Native American headdresses, as well as South Asian bindis. In 2014, the festival even had tipis for rent as places where people could camp and spend the night. This wearing cultural accessories out of context is such a tradition, that just this month, the brand Free People opened an online “festival shop” just in time for Coachella. As predicted, the shop advertises headdresses and other pieces that imitate traditional Native American jewelry. Other festivals have banned headdresses, and Coachella has yet to follow suit. Luckily, a Pangy Day lacks this culturally appropriative tradition. Instead, the staples have remained consistent: a flower crown station and a Maypole. No appropriation here - just flowers, ribbons, and springtime vibes.
4. The empowering meaning behind “Pangy.”
Pangy Day is actually short for Pangynaskeia, a word made up of Greek stems that loosely translates to “cultivating the total world of women – physical, intellectual, and moral.” This celebration of unity distinguishes Pangy Day from festivals such as Coachella that seem to exist only the purposes of music, drinking, and posting pictures on Instagram. While those activities occur on Pangy Day as well, they fall under the larger mission of uniting the Mount Holyoke community behind the mission of cultivating its staff and student body to be greater members of the campus, and eventually the world.
In short, who needs a fancy California festival when there is an even more fun-loving and socially conscious one going on in the small village of South Hadley, Massachusetts?
