Festi-full Summer

As it's turned out, I've kinda ended up festival-hopping a bit this summer. I'll have another post mapping out where all I've been this summer, but I wanted to talk a little about each of the festivals I went to separate from that, so here it is:

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, TN, USA; June 4-[8-11]:

This was my 3rd year of Roo, and my second time being a pre-show volunteer. There were some weird logistical things happening that made the atmosphere seem different than in the past, but I still had a good time with my fest fam. Highlight performances include Haywyre, Illenium, Bad Suns, Jacob Collier, and the Weeknd. Our group managed to snag some free lockers, which was super helpful, and we had 3 inflatable couches between the 8 of us, so we could sent up base near a stage and then have the option of dancing or sitting and it was just a cozy little group to be with that I spent most of the festival with my group, which is fairly rare for me as I usually wander off on my own for the majority of the time.

Nowhere Festival, near Saragoza, Spain; July 3-[4-9]-11:

Nowhere really is out in the middle of nowhere. It's nearish to Barcelona, so that's where I was before and after, but I was in Nowhere for longer because I helped with Strike. Nowhere is a burn (heard of Burning Man?) so it's completely non-commercial and everything is brought and built by the festival goers and then taken away once it's over. I did painting, decorating, stapling, digging, drilling... it can be hard work, but it's really fulfilling to be living and partying in a place of your own creation, especially when it looks amazing.

Additionally, there isn't a regular "line-up" like you get with most festivals. There's way more workshops than like you get with Roo & Okeechobee, way more people are going to the workshops, and it's more casual because it's being created by anybody and everybody. And they're about all kinds of things. Massage, lucid dreaming, laughter yoga, eye gazing, miracle berry taste testing, beer appreciation, ribbon spinning, along with all kinds of discussions of sex and relationships and connections and partying and drinking and truly whatever you want to do. One of the tenets of burns is giving, and so everyone gives whatever they can to others. There's also no money, so you aren't buying or paying for anything, nor is anyone paying you for whatever it is that you're giving.

But of course there's music and DJs and performances. The only difference is that when you're wandering around the playa, the DJ is some random stranger and the stage is a dome that the camp put up, or the musician is your friend that you're been hanging out with all week and the stage is one that you actually helped build. And people are so talented! It's really an incredible experience, and so of my favorite times were when my friends were DJing or performing and I was able to get to know them in a new way.

It's not uncommon for someone to say that burns are life-changing. I don't disagree. I feel like I learned an incredible amount about other perspectives and my own, the workshops I did were really interesting, and I know that the connections I made with people that I can now call friends or even family has made a huge impact on my summer. I went with Ida, my Danish sister, but if you look at how much time I was with people I met at the burn, I was either at the festival, living with, or traveling with Nowhere friends from July 3-August 1. And I am so absolutely grateful for the friendship and compassion and help and support and love that I received from these people. I couldn't imagine not seeing some of them again, but I know we'll all be visiting each other whenever possible.

Kranzel Art Sessions, Merano, Italy; July 29:

I love little 1-day festivals, and so I'm glad to have ended up in one in beautiful northern Italy. As I went with a friend who was performing on the lineup, I ended up hanging out and getting to know probably at least half of the lineup personally, along with the organizers. It was really cool because the organizers were mostly in their early 20s, but were successfully making this little day festival happen. And they even sold out! Max capacity was somewhere around 700 in the park where it was being held. There was just one stage, but there was also an art installation and some vendors. Also the festival was raising money for charity, so it was nice to know that everything was going to a good cause. Italy was wonderful.

Woodstock Festival, Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland; August 3-5:

I was told that I should go to Woodstock, so I went to Woodstock. It's based on the obvious, and from the people I talked to, it's definitely a favorite for a lot. It was also free, which was cool! And Poland is super cheap, so everything that you did spend money on, you weren't spending a lot. I ended up in a random group of the people I'd gotten a ride with, so the core was mostly Italian and Polish, but it still ended up being pretty international, which was the case for all of my European festivals. I didn't know any of the lineup (until I found out a few days after that a band I really like had performed there), so I just went with the flow of everyone. Despite the enormous amount of people, we nearly always managed to find each other again, even at times when I was wondering around by myself and without my phone.

I'd love to hype Woodstock as much as everyone else, but at this point in the summer, I was feeling a little burned out on festivals and introverted and the music wasn't close enough to my normal tastes for me to get really into it. It was super punk, with lots of heavy metal/screamo/electro/hard rock. As someone who loves thinking about and analyzing and getting to know music, it was fascinating to watch and dance to, but I had no deeper connection to any of it. It was also weird to be at a festival like Woodstock after being at Nowhere, and so it put me in a slightly weird mood. After so long of traveling, as an introvert, I just needed some time not feeling like I needed to be social, but I also wasn't in a super party mood either, and so I just continued on. If I had the opportunity to return to Woodstock at a time where I wasn't feeling so burned out, and was with a group of people I knew better, I would totally go, and I'm sure I would enjoy it a lot more. But yeah, woodstock was weird for me, but still a fun experience and I met quite a few lovely people there as well.

And that's it! Those were the festivals. If you happened to be able to go to any of them, I would recommend them all. I had very diverse experiences between the different places, but I don't regret going to any of them. However, I am glad to be heading on to a home and semester of school with a regular rhythm so that I can recharge and probably find myself at another festival or something.

On to the Netherlands!

~See ya