Music festivals established their place in pop culture 50 years ago, when the first Woodstock “Aquarian Exposition” in New York drew around 400,000 attendees. TV news coverage of these festivals have documented images and songs of how live concerts and their showstopping performers fulfilled the promise of life-defining experiences.
Although unfortunately, coverages of modern day music festivals had also documented how a huge mass of crowd can be a dangerous situation. Yet despite the dangers of getting trampled on when the people from behind start pushing forward, many still feel that experiencing (and perhaps surviving ) music festivals are the most unforgettable moments of their life. Especially if the event has been widely promoted across TV and social media channels.
It’s obvious that the factor that is currently driving attendance in recent music festivals is the more than a year of being deprived of this type of musical entertainment. To many music festival lovers, the gathering of fans and music icons seems like a haven for free-spiritedness. More so now that many have aggressively demonstrated their desire to break away from restrictions that they believe impose on their freedom.
Being amidst a sea of people creates a sense of purpose after more than a year of having to refrain from attending social activities. The experience of camping out with friends at festival grounds brings a sense of belonging; especially for those who had to stay content with socializing virtually via teleconferencing platforms and applications. Somehow it reduces the anxiety over spending the rest of one’s life in isolation.
However, it’s largely expected that the holding of music festivals in the year ahead will follow a different set of rules in light of the still ongoing health crisis.
Understanding the Psychology behind the Strong Desire to Attend Music Festivals
Actually, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health experts have analyzed why a huge number of people nurture strong desires to attend music festivals. Noah Little, a music psychologist summarized the psychological reasons into three aspects of human nature:
Natural Craving for Novelty
Humans have a natural desire to seek for novelty, a reason why many count down the days when a major event or celebration is about to take place. Music festivals give a promise of novel experiences that often bring a sense of fulfillment after spending a period of anticipation.
Natural Desire to Escape the Humdrum of Everyday Environment
Escapism is a well-known psychology motivation theory suggesting that humans have a natural desire to escape the humdrum of daily routines and everyday environment. While listening to music can help them relax, experiencing them by way of different festival themes allow them to escape into a world of music.
Even for a brief period, attending a music festival helps regular individuals forget the dullness or lack of excitement in what they perceive as a monotonous life.
Fulfilling the Natural Urge to Socialize
Music festivals provide an environment that promotes socialization, where attendees can sing along, dance, clap their hand and stomp their feet in unison. All of which suggests they belong to a special community of music lovers. The moments of bonding make people feel free to interact and make new friends. A well planned and properly organized music festival is designed to promote socialization in a safe and secure environment.
On that note, it’s important for music festival organizers to make certain that all safety protocols are observed before and during the holding of an event. Placing of ground protective mats not only makes the ground secure and safer for musical festivals held on grassy or bare earth surfaces. Each piece of mat is easy to install, in creating a ground protection system that offers not only a great festival experience, but also protection for the grass and soil.