In the last decade, music festival culture has grown astronomically throughout the United States and around the world. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people shell out hundreds of dollars, for a three-day ticket and car camping passes. They pack their vans and SUVs from floor to ceiling with tents, canopies, tapestries, food and art installations; sometimes driving for thousands of miles to reach remote festival locations, where they set up camp and meticulously plan their next few days around a plethora of incredible musicians playing from noon until sunrise everyday - but why? What is the allure of these festivals? What brings millennials out by the thousands, to remote locations in the desert or in the mountains?
Think for a moment, if you will, about a place where anything in your wildest dreams has the possibility of coming true. Where people from infinitely different walks of life meet, for just a few short days, bringing with them the same ideals of love, progressiveness and individuality; the same fierce adoration of music, art and self-expression. This is, for many, the allure of attending music festivals. The desire to be completely and entirely you. People brave high heat, cold nights, scalding sun and a limit of resources to unplug from the world and tap into the center of self and self-discovery.
Festival veteran and bass music producer Sean Chavez, who often goes by his DJ alias Lydian Gray (music page here) says “these [visionary] festivals are important because [they] lend everybody who attends the chance to open up a creative persona that would otherwise be unknown or suppressed,” going on to say that, “at these gatherings, your wildest artistic self-expression is accepted and often commended. Most first-time attendees will leave with a rejuvenated sense of confidence and acceptance of others, and the veteran goers are some of the most altruistic and courteous folk one will ever meet.”
I too am a long-time festival veteran. I have been attending music festivals big and small for almost eight years, and each and every one of my experiences, at every festival I've attended, has been full of nothing but respect, love and awe. Each time I pack my bags and hit the dusty desert road for another festival, I am struck with an overwhelming sense of rebirth and renewal of self. I know that wherever I am going I am going to be welcomed with open arms.
I leave each incredible event with a new respect for myself and my fellow human beings. The music brings us together for a short weekend but the friends and discoveries we make are forever life-changing. Visionary festivals give you a chance to explore within your deepest self and dance away the darkness that builds up in a stagnant and difficult existence which many of us face. I suggest starting with a quick google search for a local festival near you. For one weekend, let go of the monotony of life and find yourself, I promise you won't be disappointed you did.
