The experience gained at music festivals reflects in myriad forms once a festival is over, going as far as changing your lifestyle.
There is no denying that music festivals make for overwhelming journeys. From the music to the communities to the brilliantly curated art, each and every facet leaves you a changed person. And then there are the people – each of a kind, united by their love for the art and the experience yet different, unique and distinctive. The engagement you have with each of these factors does influence your life and its ways. So much so, that the change can be witnessed in how you process your life’s functioning.
Today, we look at the many ways music festivals can cause a significant change in a person’s lifestyle, for the better.
They make you a lot less materialistic
Living in a camp with barely any luxuries to boot, sharing whatever resources you have left with other, friendly festival friends, using the very same bathrooms as the other campers as well as sleeping on a mat under the stars, listening to music, the experience at a festival brings you as close to your natural habitat as possible. You know that a good run at the festival was a good run even if you had to walk for several minutes afterwards waiting for a ride. Without the unnecessary luxuries that render daily life too complacent, you realise how very little is needed to enjoy. That you don’t need the luxuries of a high-end hotel or a bathtub for you gain a much more enriched outlook by spending your time with the ones whose inherent spirit matches yours. This perception is borne to life in your real world as well, where you let go of all the hangups that pull you back, making you more considerate and less anal.
(Source:Β Jim Urquhart/Reuters)
You have a reformed appreciation for the arts
A lot of effort goes into making a music festival happen. But if you want to witness the true mark of the arts and the struggle that goes into becoming an artist, look no further than the young indie musicians who are allowed to play the opening sets of a music festival. These afternoon slots barely witness any attendance, as festival goers ruthlessly choose to give these unknown performers a miss, choosing to instead conserve their energy for the headlining sets. But these musicians keep performing, giving their barely existing audience their all. You then comprehend how these musicians do it for the love of the arts, not for the adulation it receives but the joy of performing. Your appreciation for the art and the performers increases as you realise how, in their own little way, they’re influencing culture for the better.
(Source: Zipporah Lomax/ Lightning in a Bottle Facebook)
Your priorities change
With an increased appreciation for the arts, your priorities change for the better. You do not want to indulge in mindless commodities, but you cannot wait to purchase the music of the new band you just discovered at the festival. You would rather purchase the cheapest liquor there is and keep your choices at the minimum so you can afford to purchase the next music festival ticket. You can be found spending more time on Bandcamp rather than deciding what your next haunt will be. You gain a more nuanced and profound idea of living than one concerned with banalities.
(Source: Brendan Jaffer Thom | Symbiosis Gathering)
You’re rid of the wild, human race
Nothing describes it better. The tepid need to succeed, to beat the other to the finish line. Each and every nameless face trying with all their might to survive this great race. Make more money than the next person, buy the bigger house, get the better job even if it leaves you exhausted and unhappy. One cannot deny that we live greatly monopolised lives distinctly laid out for us till the day we die. A getaway at the music festival greatly changes this perception for the better. You come out taking all this a lot less seriously, like they should be. You chase happiness and satisfaction over wealth and supposed prosperity. The biggest music festival aficionados are free thinkers, people who opt for creative pursuits over calculated givings.
(Source: Dom Moore | Green Man Facebook)
You become a lot more accepting
A music festival proves to be the meeting point, the confluence that is equally welcoming of all kinds of people. It is through close interaction with them all that you become a lot more empathetic to your environment and its people, therefore becoming a lot more accepting. A music festival experience is driven by liberal thought and action, one that harbours no prejudices or biases, and one that bears no bigoted thought. Even your personal prejudices take a beating when you interact with the warm folk you’ll most certainly meet at a music festival, making you more understanding in real life of people and their circumstances.
(Source: Festival No. 6)
Truly, the goodness that can be gained from Β music festival cannot be ignored. So pay close attention, for you too can come out becoming more enlivened as they come. Think about it!