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What makes summer music festivals so full of fun?

By Jacey Gibb

festivals into digestible words, while still doing

them justice. The people, the entertainment, the
atmosphere, the porta-potties... Some characteristics are
crappier than others but when you combine all of these
fine ingredients and bake them in thirty degree weather

I: hard to convey the experiences had at music

‘for 48-72 hours, the recipe yields one unforgettable

experience. So what is it exactly about music festivals
that make them such a global phenomenon?

For the most obvious reason, you need to only
look at the name of them: music. Shelling out a couple
hundred dollars for a few jam-packed days could almost
be argued as being financially smart (keep telling
yourself that champ). Festivals also act as beacons to
impressive and more globally known talents, so there’s
the extra star-power factor. Because the organizers
have to reach mass appeal, the line ups always combine
diverse acts that otherwise wouldn’t touch each other
with a ten foot pole. I remember seeing Death Cab for
Cutie at the Pemberton festival a few years back and
had to bypass an hour of Jay-Z performing directly after
in order to see the closing band Coldplay. The variety
isn’t always a welcome thing, but watching wiggers and

emotionally frustrated teens mingle in the same crowd
was priceless. The thing is though, I’ve gone on road
trips to music festivals with people who couldn’t tell
Lady Gaga from Ladyhawk, so there’s obviously more to
them than just the good grooves.

One of the reasons that people love to travel is
because of the change of setting. When you find yourself
in new environments, you’re also exposing yourself
to different stimuli, explaining why you feel like a
completely different person when you’re out on the road.
While lugging a tent out to Live At Squamish may not be
the same culture shock as jetting off to Taiwan, it is still
a change of pace. Camping is such a crucial part of the
music festival experience and I question the authenticity
of those who stay in hotels and commute an hour each
day. Going camping is like playing a secret game of
“see how long I can go without showering before people
notice’. And even after you lose (or win?) that game, it
changes into ‘see how long I can go without showering
before someone tells me to’. I have friends who avoided
the society suggested activity of showering for the entire
time they were at Coachella this year. Can you beat their
high score?

If you opt for sanitation over insanity by staying in
a hotel while at the festival, you’re also missing out on
the friendships that come with being in the trenches, er,

I mean campgrounds. Befriending your neighbours and
forming alliances to protect your camping spots against
those douche bags two rows over becomes a large
component of being at the festival. I still talk to several
folks I met at Pemberton over three-years ago and I
probably wouldn’t have made those connections if I had
been holed up in a Super 8 sixty kilometres away from
all the action.

And what would a vacation be without a bit, or a
lot, of bodily self-destruction? If you’re wondering why
everyone’s inquiring on whether or not you’ ve seen their
friends Lucy and Mary Jane, let’s just say they’re not
looking for comrades of the homo sapien variety. But
illegal substances don’t tickle everyone’s pickle, and
that’s where alcohol comes in. When you’re at a festival,
it’s as if the sunrise is a starting pistol signalling for you
to start drinking. There’s no beer like morning beer and
I even invented a beverage especially for this year’s
Sasquatch called the Sasquatch Spritzer. Here’s my super
sought-after signature recipe:

Step 1- Acquire a cup/bottle/bowl/spray bottle

Step 2- Fill the container half with beer and half with
Red Bull

Step 3- Serve chilled, at room temperature or grossly
warm

Recipe yields: One serving

In the normal world, walking around at ten in the
morning with a jug of wine will get you all kinds of
double takes and judgement, but when you’re at a music
festival, it’s socially acceptable and even met with
approval! Damn you social norms!

I know there are those of you reading this (though
the majority of them probably stopped reading around
the time I encouraged minimal bathing) that are thinking
“wow, none of this sounds appealing at all”. It’s true.

At festivals, you’re sunburnt, dehydrated, constantly
surrounded by crowds and sleep deprived. And chances
are it’s still the first day. But despite all of these awful
downsides, it seems their popularity is only increasing.
Coachella and Sasquatch both sold out in record time
this year and though some of that can be credited
towards a boom in the scummy scalper population,

the festivals themselves are getting bigger and more
elaborate. I, for one, couldn’t be happier about this.

As I write this article, I’m stuffed in the backseat
underneath an air mattress and a leftover case of beer,
currently homeward bound after a messy six day
Sasquatch adventure. My face is peeling in a manner
that makes it seem like I’m undergoing a transformation
into an otherworldly creature, I haven’t showered or
even brushed my teeth in almost forty eight hours and
the only fruit I consumed the entire trip was a bruised
banana (this ‘fresh produce’ craze is overrated anyways).
My body has basically rejected my lifestyle over the past
few days and the thought of sleeping in an actual bed
makes my soul tingle in anticipation. .

So why is it that there’s an excitement in the car
when someone mentions going back next year? Even
after attempting to dissect the reasoning and logic behind
why people love music festivals, I still don’t understand
it myself. Maybe I’m young and naive and yearn for
a civilization that revolves around music and people
coming together. Or maybe I just really love to party and
enjoy leaving responsibilities behind for several days at
a time. Either way, there’s always something magical
about seeing a fellow citizen clad in a festival tee and
then starting up an exchange of battle stories from that
fateful weekend you both shared together. You can have
your Vegas getaways and international plane rides,
but I’ll stick to my road trips in filled to max-capacity
vehicles and overflowing porta-potties.

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