Why Music Festivals Are More Important Now Than Ever:

Coachella is on Friday which means there is a 30 pack of beer and a handle of vodka in my living room, the musty sleeping bags in my garage have been washed, and I have stocked up on face paint, flash tats and flowy moo moo’s. Music festival season is upon us and Coachella is a music festival in Indio CA that my friends and I have attended annually for the last 6 years. It is our adult Christmas. It’s that one time each year where we carve out time for one another, don’t shower for four days, and just live like kids again…though be it, stinky kids.

As I was sitting there sorting out my glow sticks today, I began to question why exactly I love music festivals so much? I definitely love music, I love food, and I also really enjoy spending time with my friends. I feel like these are the obvious reasons millions of millennials flock to music festivals annually. The crazy thing is that festival attendance keeps growing exponentially every year, and there has got to be a reason more and more people keep flooding the festival gates. Sitting there in my pre-festival bliss, it occurred to me that maybe we are all searching for something...

CONNECTION.

In a time that we are more connected through technology than ever before, we are losing contact with what matters most, one another. We feel isolated. We no longer communicate face-to-face but hide behind screens and computers. Many of us have 1000’s of Facebook “friends” but feel terrified to sit across from someone and tell them how we are feeling. We have pushed our feelings so far deep down inside of us that we are all ticking time bombs waiting to burst from too much stress. We are so bombarded with images telling us who we should be, that we feel ashamed of who we are.

In 2016, we-as a human race, are searching for a connection not only with other people but with ourselves. This is why I think the festival scene is thriving. Going to a festival is a 24-7 sensory extravaganza that makes us forget about the stresses of city life, our shitty jobs, our student loans, etc. When we are stripped of all of our worries and we can quiet our minds, we are left with one thing…our hearts.

Whether it be traveling the world or through attending music festivals, I have come to realize that ALL PEOPLE just want to feel love and connection. That is true anywhere in the world. The beautiful thing about a music festival is that the ambiance alone sparks a light in anyone attending. Music reawakens sleepy souls. It creates an energy that pulses through the crowd that makes every single concert goer feel like they are in perfect harmony with every single person there. This feeling is an addictive adrenal rush, not because of the drugs often associated with the festival experience, but because we are communicating through love. We are connecting as a human race, even if only for a moment.

Music has been linked to so many health benefits, but I think it has this magical power to help enhance people’s moods and make them feel like they belong. I find that every music festival I have ever been to people are just generally happy. I feel many festival goers, along with traveler’s I have met abroad, have had a conscious shift and they realize there is so much more to life than money and success. Their souls are searching for connection and love because in the end, that’s what matter most.

I may be a hippie, but I look forward to those hot days in the desert every single year. I put my glow sticks and flash tats on with pride as I continue my journey to be a more conscious human being, be more vulnerable, and dance every day like no one is watching.