There's nothing more frightening to me than flower crowns. I know, I know; seriously? Flower crowns? Yes. Flower crowns. But it's not the actual synthetic daisy chains that bring about terror, it's the time of the year they're associated with. Nope, not springtime, but festival season. Buckle in everyone, because I'm about to be one of "those" people.
Coachella, SxSW, Electric Forest and my personal favorite, Lollapalooza. The list of "music" festivals nowadays is endless. Why is music in quotations, you ask? Because newsflash, today's music festivals actually have very little to do with music. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure at least 50 percent of the people who attend said festivals are there to actually hear their favorite bands play live. However, the fact that this leaves the other half of festival goers' reasons for attending unknown is somewhat troubling. I'm not saying that you have to know every single band that's playing's setlist, album, and what their back-up drummer's stepdaughter's dog's name is, but you should be attending on the notion that you want to hear some live music. And in my opinion, if you're not attending for that reason, then you are simply taking up space. We (myself included) have destroyed the music festival.
Let's throw it back to 1969. 400,000 people have flocked to Woodstock, New York to spend three days listening to music and sleeping on the ground. Do you think those 400,000 people all had their outfits planned out months in advance? Did they upload their snapshots to Instagram with #Woodstock69? No, they didn't. The only thing they cared about was the music and, let's be honest, the drugs. Fast forward to 2016, and Coachella has their own clothing line with H&M. Lollapalooza has a Snapchat Geotag. SxSW is filled with bloggers being paid by companies to post pictures of their "festival style." 14-year-old girls are shopping for the shortest high-waisted shorts they can find, and high school boys are stocking up on their favorite hookah pen flavors, because that's just what we do nowadays.
What happened? These festivals were supposed to bring people from all kinds of backgrounds together in the name of music. They were events that were meant to make us appreciate the talent and art of singers and songwriters all of the world. We, however, have managed to take it, twist it, and make it about ourselves by making it known to everyone and their mother that you were at said music festival, and that makes you cool.
I don't hate music festivals and I'm not saying to never go to a music festival ever again. I myself will be going to Lollapalooza this summer. Will I go next year? I'm not sure. But, before you swipe your wristband at the entrance of whatever music festival you'll be attending this season, I implore you to think about the real reason you spent $120+ on this event. And if you're unsatisfied with the answer you receive, reevaluate attending in the future. Oh, and please, for the love of god, don't wear a flower crown.
