Allow The Sherp to debunk some music festival stereotypes, and tell you what an ideal festival experience should be like!
Let’s just take a breather and look at what festivals have become these days – fashion line-ups, celebrity spotting, grand stages and photo-ops, and soaring ticket fares. But if we stripped festivals off of all these shenanigans, maybe, just maybe, we’d have festivals in all their natural glory. Here’s what we think festivals should be like sans any stereotype!
What VIP?
We understand why music festivals have VIP tickets. So some important, uber rich people, can be closer to the stage, and away from the alarming influx of the non-VIP crowd. But this sort of classism works against the very spirit of festivals, where people come together due to their mutual love of the music led forward by the chosen line-up. And separating them into demarcated sections is no fun. Instead the festival arena should just be an invitingly large open space, where anyone can wander off to any spot they think is fit!
Music Festivals are not about fashion.
Enough said. We understand how the documentation of festival garb makes for significant pop culture commentary, but seriously, since when did fashion at festivals overtake the music? Take our word, after all the festivals we’ve attended, looking good is far inferior to being comfortable. Long hours of standing and dancing are bound to leave you wishing you were in loose cotton overalls than tight, fancy attires. Of course, it’s great, when the two overlap, but if someone cares about how they look more than anything else, they’re probably not in it for the music.
Basically, you can be this
OR
It don’t matter.
Who’s that?
Festivals bring together people from varied backgrounds with similar interests. You can love Dave Grohl, and either be from a bank or be the lead star of a popular television sitcom! No one is supposed to make the festival about the latter, or the many popular celebrities floating around the festival space. Let’s just keep it to music?
Is that…Emma Stone? Don’t Care.
Candy-raving electronica-loving.
That, above, if you’re wondering, is a nicely concocted association. But no, wearing candy, or neon flashes doesn’t mean you automatically get inculcated into the electronic music fandom. You’re an electronic music fan, because you know and listen to your electronic music. Period. On similar vein, saying ‘namaste’ is no inclination of your psychedelic music knowledge. You don’t have to conform!
Feel free to drug?
Absolutely not. Different festivals have different policies when it comes to drugs. And the ones that allow permit do so usually keeping the state’s drug laws in mind, while monitoring the entry of adults. So no, buying a festival ticket isn’t your gateway to unbridled drug usage. So many drug related fallacies have taken away the attention from actual music. So, choose wisely. As a novice, remember, you need no drugs to enjoy the music!
Who needs to pander to hipsters?
Music festivals are a pool for unbridled criticism, constantly available. Everybody is an elitist music critic in the making. Some puke over the exponential increase of electronic music culture, while others claim, ‘indie isn’t quite rock’. Either way, can we not denigrate other’s choices? An ideal music festival is where fans stick to stages they like or want to explore. That way we create an assimilating culture of music exchange.
Basically
It’s all about the music. From the time a set begins till the time it ends. Everything before, and after remains but a fun accessory. Sure, indulge in the distractions, but let that not overtake what you’re there for, primarily!
(images source: giphy.com)