The Sherp looks at the eleven instances of generous behaviour you’re most likely to witness at a music festival.
A music festival is where art and culture breeds generosity and good values. The city life, replete with urgencies and pressures often hardens a soft mind, leaving it insensitive and tough. But at a music festival, in association with others of your kind and without the survival ruthlessness, you’re most likely to find the sweetest gestures extended toward you.
Today, we list the most common virtues of kindness. Bear in mind, always pay it forward.
1. People who let you hitch a ride for free
While carpooling to a music festival is a veritable social phenomenon, for festivals that don’t have a legitimate carpooling network, you won’t find it too hard to meet someone willing to ride you to the festival. Not that one should ever mind splitting the cost of the ride, it does feel like nothing less than a reward when someone offers to ride you to and from the festival for free. This especially feels like a save if you’re a stranded traveler and someone bails you out for they’re on the same way.
(Source: Coachella Facebook)
2. People who share their tent with you in return for good vibes
Some festival attendees make it an effort to go to a festival despite their broke status. One can only hope that someone allows them to couchsurf. Sometimes, if you’re a lone traveler, you find all manners of accommodation too expensive to afford. Generous campers often let you camp with them for free. In return all they expect off you is good company. Should they let you camp with them, do be sure to share with the food you have or anything you can offer.
(Source:Β Festival Survival Guide)
3. A free hug
Free huggers at a festival are aplenty. They do so to foster a feeling of positivity and friendship throughout the festival ground. Think about it – you enter a music festival knowing no one, an alien to the festival environment. When you meet someone nice enough to give you a warm hug telling you that you’re meant to have a beautiful experience. That kickstarts your journey to such a wonderful start, doesn’t it? You know an immediate level of intimacy and closeness is established with a hug.
(Source: Richard Isaac | LNP)
4. All those who are always ready to part with a cigarette if you ask for one
This might seem frivolous. After all, it’s just a cigarette. But it reflects the very spirit of a festival. One that doesn’t function on a ‘dog eat dog world’ sentiment. Yes, it might be just a cigarette but not only do they come expensive, but no stranger has any reason to give it you. Any reason but generosity, that is. Even if you don’t buy a pack the next time, you could survive an entire music festival by the niceness of the others. Make sure to say a lovely ‘thank you’ in retort. Or a free hug!
5. When someone buys you a drink out of no ulterior motive
At a music festival, you’re bound to have several friendly exchanges with people. Sometimes, one person out of them might want to buy you a drink, for no ulterior motive but kindness. You will also meet people nice enough to offer you a sip out of whatever it is you’re drinking, and some willing to spare you a glass. Buying someone a drink might seem convoluted in modern conversation, but it inherently is a token of friendship. And when someone follows that, it feels incredibly special to be on the receiving end.
6. Every person keen to give you a smile and a hello
This might seem really random, and a cynic would be hard-pressed to find anything special about it. But in daily existence, how often are you smiled at, let alone greeted? At a music festival, almost every face you see wears a most approachable smile. People are most likely to greet you with a ‘Hello. How’re you doing’ and then walk on. Most often, nothing comes out of this except a feeling of belonging. An idea that you’re not alone.
(Source:Β Amanda Mchugh | Dirtybird Campout)
7. That person who genuinely makes effort to be your friend
There will be that one person who will invest time in knowing you, to befriend you, because something about you had made it essential that they be your friend. This gesture does not only earn you new friend, but also leaves you a lot more curious about all the people you should be a lot kinder to.
(Source: Amanda Mchugh | Dirtybird Campout)
8. Those groups who eagerly invite you to hang with them especially if you’re alone
If you’ve ever been to a music festival alone, you’ll have plenty of time to meet and speak with other people than you would as a group involved in yourselves. Often, you’ll meet groups of people keen to make you a part of them, but few go as far as integrating you to their unit, so much so that you find yourself spending every minute of the festival with them. Technically, by all means, they’re self-sufficient and don’t need you to be a part of them, but invite you in anyway out of goodwill. You’ll realise that you have then earned best friends for life.
(Source:Β JAY JANNER / AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
9. The random compliments that leave you flushed and happy
The Sherp’s favourite part of a music festival is how people let of their inhibitions and hangups to genuinely compliment a stranger. From ‘What a beautiful dress!’ to ‘You’re so stunning!’ to ‘Hey, I love the way you dance, let’s dance together!’, these compliments come out of a place of genuine appreciation and little else. These random compliments have the power to turn someone’s music festival experience the good and are also a great friendship starting point. Given how a music festival is the face of the best behaviour and art, compliments are rarely hard to come by.
10. Every stranger that helps a drunk person feel better
If you or a friend has ever fallen prey to the drink, you will attest for the number of strangers who offer help. From the random voice of assurance telling you everything will be okay to those hands offering to pick the fallen person up to the people rushing for food, water or medics, anything that will help, to those immediately taking the drunk person to their tent for some comfort. All these people are sacrificing their own time for the comfort of someone else, and their help should be thanked for as many times as one truly can. It’s genuinely selfless to want to look out for the well-being of someone else.
11. All those people eager to hoist up a fan
From short people picked up so they can have a good view of the stage to the person on a wheelchair carried atop generous people for a surfing experience, a music festival is full of people always ready to extend the best view of the stage to someone else. This means a lot to a fan and none but the true art lover can appreciate enough to extend this emotion.
(Source:Β Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty)