German urbanist Hartmut Häussermann called the increasing presence of these events in cities Festivalization [Häußermann, p.1]. Häussermann created the term in the 90’s to define what is happening to areas that festivals call home. Festivalization is how festivals change the politics, economics, and the overall area of where they are taking place. When festivals go up they create a mini-city, or, a sub-city to the city that it is already hosting the festival. Almost every year Glastonbury Festival takes place in Pilton, Somerset, a small English city in the West Country that has a population of nine hundred and ninety eight people [Pilton Parish ,p.1]. When Glastonbury is taking place the area turns in the seventh largest city in the country. 200,000 people take over the rolling hills and green valleys for the festival [Pilton Parish, p.1]. You can probably guess that Pilton has had to go through huge amounts of change to allow for the festival, while trying to find a balance with the historical factors and culture of the Pilton itself. Festivalization has also taken another English city by storm, Edinburgh. The city plays host to a huge amount of different festivals every year. In 2006, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of at least 40 festivals that happen annually, put on 1867 different shows which were staged in 261 venues across the city [BBC]. The economy has changed substantially because of the amount of festivals and now without them, the city would not be what it is today [BBC].
A certain amount of change is unavoidable when festivals come into a city. Greg Richards, a professional in Cultural Tourism states in his chapter of Cultural Tourism: Global and local perspectives, states that cities are responding to how western cultures are moving away from united styles of consumption and production and the maintenance of social bonds, towards the individualization of experience and self-development [Richards, p.229]. This change is causing the replacement of collective forms of cultural provision. Festivalization is creating many opportunities that cities are excited about such as increasing image-building, employment creation, and economic explosions. The phenomenon has proved successful in cites like Portland, Manchester, and Austin in the United States and Rotterdam, Barcelona, and Pilton in Europe. It has caused other cities across the globe to try and use festivals to reposition themselves in the global economy. These events are pulling people from across the globe and other cities want that to boost their image too. They want people talking about who they are are, what their culture is, and how they had experienced the area. Bottom line, they want people spending money in their cities, and cultural events like festivals are proving to be extremely successful for some cities.
It is important to figure out where festivals work, because festivals definitely do not work everywhere. If you try to drop an Electronic music festival in the conservative south of the United States, it probably wouldn’t exist for very long. Not only because of the content of the festival, but also because it would be hard to market to the locals, and its geo-economic status. For festivals to survive into the future organizers must be very careful about where they are putting festivals. This is important because they need people to show up. Producers need to be weary of the city they are in to know what type of festival will be successful there. Producers have to focus on many different demographics that will be segmenting their audience. The easiest to track and be clear on are the people from the area the festival is taking place in. The locals are very important to the festival, and its organizers. The locals make up what “type” of person exists in these areas and help the producers sculpt what the content of the festival should be. They also are the easiest to get feedback from, because they literally live through it and see what the festival does to the area. The producers must also be prepared for who will show up from somewhere else.
Festivals have learned from the mistakes other festivals have made. Some festivals are attempted and just don’t seem to work. It could be location, economic reasons, the audience’s response, the weather during the events or several other reasons. One of the biggest examples of a festival just not working in almost every respect of the word is Woodstock ’99. Woodstock is a name that is synonymous with word music festival. Woodstock was a huge music and arts festival that was started out of the counter culture movement in 1969. The festival was a huge success, putting on artists like Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, Credence Clear Water Revival and many other pop, rock and folk artists. The festival was so successful that it had five namesake events that took place in 1979, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2009. It was the 1999 edition that took the name of “Woodstock” and drowned it in the literal mud and human waste that engulfed the festival. The Woodstock name was burned in the multiple fires that occurred at the festival until it reemerged in 2009 with mild success. Now, enjoy a case study on the 1999 edition of Woodstock to look at what exactly made them break.
Technology, Millennials, and Festivals
“Technology has grown to play one of the most important roles in the festival experience.”
- Hardwell
Technology
Tupac's Hologram from the 2012 Edition of Coachella
Technology, from light shows to live streams, has added an entirely new dimension to live performances. It’s taking the festival scene by storm. Arguably the most notable use of new-age tech in recent years was in 2012 when Coachella had a hologram of the deceased hip-hop artist Tu Pac perform on stage next to Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre [Ngak, p.1]. This performance stirred up so many emotions in the live music scene. People were asking questions like “Is this right?” Some were offended and outraged that his likeness was simulated, and others were incredibly impressed, even if the performance was mediocre and slightly awkward. People were put off by the simulation because by now people have adjusted to the rapper being deceased. The use of the hologram proved to be not the best way for money to be spent on festival technology. The hologram cost somewhere near $400,000 to create [Ngak, p.1]. For obvious reasons It has not been attempted at another festival since. This is an example of how forward thinking along the lines of festival technology did not work out, maybe because it was awkward, or maybe because the attendees had no connection to what was going on. Money does need to go into technology for festivals, but maybe in a different way. TomorrowWorld, an EDM festival that takes place in Georgia, USA seems to have figured out how.
Tomorrowworld Pass Bracelets are high quality, durable, and fashionable
TomorrowWorld is a completely cashless festival [Wilson, p.1]. How does a festival accomplish this task? Though bracelets that attendees must wear though the duration of the weekend long festival. The bracelets serve as their festival pass, and the way the attendees make their payments [Wilson, p.1]. Anytime someone wants to buy something they have their wristband scanned. It’s just further proof that we are moving towards a post-physical-money world. TomorrowWorld is probably the leading example of show how “experiential technology” will be the next hoop modern pop festivals will have to jump through.
YouVisit in action
YouVisit is a leading example of experiential-technology that many festivals, like TomorrowWorld use [Wilson, p.1]. The service they offer to festival organizers is a way for people at home to have a virtual 360-degree, real time, live stream of the festival as it happens [Wilson, p.1]. From the camp grounds to the music performances, people at home have a way to feel as if they were there. P.J. Morreale from YouVisit says “It’s not just recreating the experience; it’s taking them places where no one gets to go.” And you may think “Wouldn’t this way of experiencing the festival from the comfort of my couch bring down sales?” No. It actually did the complete opposite. TomorrowWorld reported that it helped build excitement for the release of 2015 tickets, of which 360,000 were sold in under an hour of them being relased [Wilson, p.1]!
Another way festivals are starting to make the next step into the future is though Virtual Reality. With headsets created by Google, Apple, Samsung and Oculus people can finally be in two places at once. TomorrowWorld, the festival of the future, have decided to bring their festival into the future with this technology. Anyone with a VR headset or a VR ready phone can jump into the crowd right from their living room. When you move your head to look to the right, you’ll see people who are actually in the crowd at the festival. Now, in 2016 there is even a festival that is all about virtual reality, that you only experience through virtual reality. Yup, things are getting that meta.
What can be called the big brother to virtual reality is the live stream. To quote Hardwell again “Live streams have provided a new way for people to have the second best thing…” Live streams allow you to watch the festival as it happens in real time, usually from angles that would normally be inaccessible to people at the festival in the crowd. It’s also a good way for the festival to show off what it offers. People watching the stream think to themselves “I want to be there!” “I want to be having the fun all of those people in the crowd are having” and “I want to go next year!” While other people are thinking “You mean I can stay in the comfort of my house all while still experiencing what is happening hundreds of miles away from me?” The live streams boost brand awareness for the festivals and generate larger amounts of word of mouth too. VR and live streams are also fantastic advertising for the artists on the lineups. It opens so many doors, such as being able to give people at home a way to experience the festival that people at the festival wouldn’t even get. Imagine being able to hang out with the artists before they go out on stage to do their sets. You can ask them questions, have a discussion, all while getting a glimpse behind the curtain. Obviously you can never compare the live stream, or virtual reality experience to actually being there, but, through these technologies you get the next best thing, and you are left wanting more. Festival organizers like leaving people at home with that feeling, because this will generate more people actually showing up in person to get the first hand experience that they desired so much after watching from home.
The disco and rave culture started a trend from the 60’s to the 90’s of people wanting to stay up, party, and dance all night. Festivals want to give people that option, but the obvious hurdle that many festivals face is that there are sound ordinances they have to apply themselves to, which usually give the festivals a clear time of when the loud music has to be turned off by as to not disturb the public living nearby. Well, not with the creation of what is called the “silent disco.” A silent disco is almost no different from any other show you would see at a festival other than the fact that you have to wear a pair of wireless headphones to hear the music that is being played. Without the headphones, the experience is just you standing in the middle of a crowd of people yelling senselessly, dancing, and flailing around aimlessly. The silent disco is a fantastic way to keep the party moving without sacrificing the music. They are a futuristic solution that many top billed DJ’s are getting into. While the performer usually has a slot during the regularly scheduled festival slots, the festival can use the gimmick to give the performer more time to perform.
The smart phone is the last, and probably the most important piece of technology that we will venture to discuss. Humanity has moved on to put their phones onto a pedestal. We have become androids, part human, part smart device. A smartphone is a small device that we pour every ounce of our lives into. It keeps track of where we are going, why we are going there, when we need to be there, and how bad the weather will be when we finally get to our destination. Smartphones help us create and catalogue our memories. Through virtual reality smart phones can even have us perceiving the world differently. Funnily enough, the duality of smart devices is that we put them in danger all the time.
We bring our smart devices with us everywhere so we can know what we can do when we get there, even if there is the danger of dropping it or breaking it and loosing that capability. In the great outdoors there are no outlets to charge the phone’s battery either. Many smart devices lack the battery power to last 2-4 days without a charge. Festivals are treacherous territory for smart devices. The outdoor elements can very easily destroy a phone and everything that is on it. People often lose or get their phones stolen. But this still doesn’t stop people from bringing them. Humanity, and more so Millennials are nothing without their cellphones. This is why festival organizers and third party developers have started to create festival apps.
Many festivals create their own app that people can download and use while at the festival. The app generally tells you where, and when artists are playing, the lineup, a map to navigate the festival grounds, and even a social tab to see what other people at the festival are up to. It’s great because it answers attendee’s questions before they can even formulate them. The other type of festival apps are created by third party developers, people who are not attached to any specific festival, that create an app that allows for communication between festival goers. A new that app that has recently hit app stores and taken the festival world by storm is Radiate. The app catalogs all festivals that are currently taking place and creates a page where people can post anything about the festival they want, text posts, pictures, questions, and so on. From there, other users can respond to those posts. You can probably already guess that the app isn’t exactly being used as the developers imagined. It’s like many pieces of fine art, the audience, or, users in this case, create the meaning. On most festival pages in Radiate you will find posts from people looking for, or selling illicit substances, company, fun, and so on. Although, there are a great deal of people using the app to discuss events that are happening at the festival. They are talking about what makes them happy, sad, angry and or any other emotion. People can link up with other like minded people. Attendees can try and find others who are looking for a group to camp or travel with. It’s really great what this app is doing for the festival community. Finally, people have a place they can go to to vent frustrations, find help, and discuss their experiences. What Radiate does differently than other social media platforms is that it gives festival goers one neat, and tidy place they can to go to where they can have a real time conversation about their experience with other people at the festival. All the while they can check out what’s going on at other festivals happening concurrently. People have been using Facebook and twitter to get this type of information in the past, but now with Radiate you don’t have to bogged down by all the discussions happening that have nothing to do with festivals. That’s not to say festivals do not have their place on social media, quite the opposite. Social media is far and away one of the most important tools for festival organizers, workers, and goers.
Millennials and Social Media
Data: Eventbrite - Harris Survey of 2,000+ U.S. consumers. July 2014
Millennials are the leading generation attending festivals by a large margin and if there is anything they care about; it’s how technology can hold the hand of their experiences [Eventbrite, p.2]. “Millennials are an experience generation; they want you to take them somewhere totally unique.” says Joe Silberzweig of SFX Entertainment, the organizers for TomorrowWorld. Millennials crave more experiences. Eventbrite, a platform that allows event organizers to plan, promote, and sell tickets to live events published a survey in the end of 2014 called “Millennials: Fueling the Experience Economy” which said More than 82% of Millennials attended or participated in a verity of live experiences in the past year, ranging from parties, concerts, and festivals, and more so than older generations, by 70% [Eventbrite, p.3]. From that 72% of Millennials say that they would like to be spending more time and money on these types of events [Eventbrite, p.3].
This has led to technology taking a leading role in shaping the new age of festivals. Technology lives in many realms of festivals. Probably the most obvious is seen on stage at the festival itself. The equipment on stage, the speakers, the light shows and everything else that lends itself to the production are all very apparent, but those types of technologies are non-tractable for the audience. The attendees are passively engaging with those technologies while they enjoy the show. Less so is the technology that lends itself to the audience’s active engagement. How the attendees use their cellphones, make payments, and chronicle their memories of these events.
Millennials’ festival experiences usually start months before they even step foot on the festival grounds. The ticket buying experience is the first hurdle, which is why every modern pop festival has a website. Is the website easy to navigate? Is it simple? Is the pertinent information easy to find? These are the types of questions festival organizers have to think about when making their website. Millennials want all of their questions answered before they even ask them. If festival websites do not own the qualities the organizers risk loosing ticket sales on Millennials. Social media has also made its way into this end of the experience. Millennials need a way to interact with the festival.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have opened that door for them. Facebook and Twitter serve as an easy way for people to follow and hear what the festival is announcing. Facebook and Twitter stay relevant throughout the year, not just during the time of the festival. Facebook and Twitter work well for the festival organizers as well because they have a way to hear from the attendees and what they think about the announcements being made. Instagram gives the festival organizers another way to divulge information to their audience, but more importantly, attendees have a way to chronical their memories in the form of pictures and video clips they had taken at the festival. Snapchat is a new platform a few festivals are using to interact with their audience. People can post quick 1-10 second pictures and videos to the platform, which if posted can be reposted by the festival on their account. All of these social media platforms have proved to be extremely important to the young generation. Nearly 8 in 10, or 77% say some of their best memories are from an event or live experience that they attended. 69% believe live events make them more connected to other people, the community, and the world [Eventbrite, p.4].
With all of these platforms right in the pocket of festival goers it’s easier to talk and gab on about what the festival was like. People love to give their opinions about what they just experienced, and they want the festivals to know what they thought too. The leading discussions that generally takes place on Facebook, Twitter or Radiate actually has to do with one large term. Policy.
1. EventBrite. "Millennials Fueling the Experience Economy" Eventbrite. Harris Interactive Methodology, 1 July 2014. Web. 30 May 2016.
2. Ngak, Chenda. "Tupac Coachella Hologram: Behind the Technology." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 3 June 2016.
3. Wilson, Jeremy. "The Future of Music Festivals: How Technology Is Shaping a New Era of Experiences." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 3 June 2015. Web. 5 June 2016.
Festival Policy. The Good, The Bad & The Useless.
Policies having to do with festivals are a tricky subject. Festival attendees treat a festival as a community. We go as packs, linking up and spreading out to meet new and interesting people. Festival goers are generally going to have a smooth and pleasant time with one or two hiccups along the way. Let's take a look at the amount of money people drop to go. When most people spend a $200 - $500 on anything they want to be happy with what they get out of it. This type of demand calls for a structure to be put into place. A Structure that tries to keep 10,000+ people happy and healthy, but most of all safe. Structure calls for governance to be in place which comes in the form of policies. Policies are setup to keep some sort of control over the masses and most are written to ensure that the festival can continue while trying to maintain the best possible time for the festivals attendees. Some policies are common sense and almost don't have to be written down or mentioned because most people naturally follow them, but others are written and added along the way in reaction to new elements the festival otherwise did not see coming.
Let's break festival policies down into a few headings - Tickets and Price Gouging, The Environment and Trash, Health and Safety, and The Illegal. These may not be all the realms of festival policies but they certainly seem to be the ones that get discussed the most. How do we know this. The writer of this article, as well as many of his colleagues have been to several festivals and love to discuss what went down. Festi.World also took to reddit, /r/festivals to ask the opinions from other regular festival goers. He heard about the policies they like, hate, worry about, and think are completely outrageous and unnecessary. So let's get into it!
Tickets and Price Gouging
Buying tickets is where it all begins. These days all it takes to purchase festival passes is opening your favorite internet browser, loading up the festival's website and going to the purchase page. It's fast, convenient, and reliable way for people to nail down their passes. Although, the physical act of purchasing passes may be easy, the mental side of it all can be a little harder for some. The pass price just starts to get larger and larger from what the sticker price originally told the purchaser. That little asterisk next to the price tag starts to stand out a little bit more when you realize that it's there to tell you that you are about to get slammed by the unholy behemoth that is...fees.
The internet makes the act of purchasing passes very convenient for every party involved, the festivals can reach as many people as possible and the attendee can purchase them from the laze of their couch. But, that convenience does not come without a price tied to that $200-$500 pass price tag. Ticket fees are not a new thing, but the price hikes that we are seeing year over year are making it a harder pill to swallow, especially for people who like to travel to their favorite festivals, or maybe do several festivals in a year. Sometimes those fees can get pretty large too, and often festival goers are left wondering why you need to pay them. It's a tactic that ticket sellers use to introduce extra costs while you are purchasing the passes, At the point of realizing the fees you are cornered and you either go through with the purchase because you made it that far and really want to go, or, you don't and you don’t go. More often than not, people who make it to see the fees getting introduced to the total price end up spending the money because they made it that far plus their fear of missing out on the show. From there people commonly think to themselves "Is it a printing cost?” “Is it a manufacturing cost?” “Am I paying for the convenience of buying online?" mostly because the sites are very vague about what exactly the fee is for. Take a look at the below snapshot of Governors Ball's ticket page.
![Governors Ball 2016 Ticket Prices [10]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56a2a9954bf1189ee013430f/1471630666633-1AXEZNK6IMHZ8RXBXG0P/image-asset.png)
Governors Ball 2016 Ticket Prices [10]
Gov Ball does not even begin to try to explain to you what that $40 fee is for why you have to pay it. This what makes a large group of festival lovers uncomfortable with this experience. Now, anyone who has been to more than one festival knows that they are going to have to pay more than the sticker price. At least Gov Ball has the decency to tell you about the fee before you start the process. Some festivals don't show you the fees until you are at the checkout page! Fees are a unique cost as well because it is the only thing you have to pay for that gets you nothing in return from. It's the degree of separation that is commonly found on purchase pages. You see the ticket price, then under that you see the fees and realize that it is just a related toll to gain access to the wonderland of the festival, and that's it.
Wanting to go to a festival has a lot of associated costs with that magical wristband. This is where price gouging on the festivals part comes into play. If you're driving, of course you need to pay for parking. If you are camping you need to pay for a camping spot, and of course you're going to want to eat and buy keepsakes. All the festival related costs really start to amount to a lot. The festival organizers need to make money, sure, but too many modern festival goers they feel like they are being taken advantage of. Some people get a feeling that festivals price gouge because their attendees absolutely need these things to access or enjoy the festival.
What could help alleviate some of the stress of purchasing your way into the festival is a neat and easy to understand price chart where you can see the total price, with or without camping and parking and other related costs. As well as an explanation of what the fee is. Transparency is something that is becoming a lot more popular in modern business practices and fees are often a policy that isn't lightly hushed. People are paying and not knowing what exactly they just threw their money at. It's an issue that a lot of people want cleared up. The fees are usually going towards an amount that the festival organizers have to pay to the ticket sellers - Livenation, Ticket Master, Eventbrite, so on and so forth. Sometimes they are printing fees, or manufacturing fees that come from getting the tickets printed or those lovely pass bracelets made. A good amount of the time though, part of that fee is going straight into the festival, right into the amount the festival makes from your ticket. Why? Because usually a ticket price looks more appealing rounded off. So it will be rounded up or down to the nearest zero and what left over gets factored into the fees.
The Environment and Trash
It should go without saying, but the unwritten rule of all festivals is to respect the area. Be it a farm, city, forest, or even the desert. A lot of time and planning went into building the festival you are enjoying so much. Months before you even step foot on the festival grounds the organizers are out there planning where everything will be placed, from stages to waste baskets. It's very tactical and strategic. The strategic placement of everything throughout the grounds helps with crowd control, waste management, emergency planning, and so many subtle things that an attendee probably wouldn't even notice unless they were looking. Policy starts getting written up in those planning stages in regards to the environment, and it's usually to give the organizers a bit of a safety net.
Some festival grounds are permanent, meaning the organizers own the land where the festival takes place at. Although, the majority of festivals take place on grounds that during the rest of the year are functioning cities, farms, camps, and so on. A lot of organizers rent the land, and have to buy insurance for the incredible amount of liability they (another change Woodstock ’99 helped charter is unsurprisingly, higher insurance rates). The organizers have to promise the land owner that their land will not be devastated by the festival. It's an agreement that works both ways. The land owners are usually making a hefty chunk of change from the festival renting the land, and the festival would like to hope that they can renew their agreement year-to-year. This means that more and more protocol has to be created to make sure the land isn't ruined.
Trash cans need to be widely available to everybody at a festival. Everyone who has been to festival had probably not been surprised by seeing trashcans overflowing with trash. That is a problem. If people don't have a space to put trash, then people will default to just tossing it on the ground. Trash on the ground is very dangerous for many reasons, such as sharp objects that are thrown away, thus creating the defining reason for a no glass policy at festivals. If that sharp glass or plastic makes its way onto the ground more people have a chance to step on it and severely hurt themselves. The festival shouldn't have to answer someone else's irresponsibility like that. That is not fair. Trash also can get people very sick if they are around it long enough, and anyone can guess what being sick at a music festival is like.
A few festivals do a very smart thing; having staff or volunteers go around to campsites and hand trash bags to attendees. This not only helps them keep their camp ground clean, it also promotes the idea of getting trash to it's proper place, even when away from the campsite. Some festivals are adopting a something called a “leave-no-trace” policy. A policy that has been created in response to people just leaving their trash, or anything really, on the ground. The policy tries to make people leave the grounds exactly as they found them. The festival wants the attendees to pick up trash and help them out a little bit. Again, it’s one of those policies that work in multiple directions. The attendees can enjoy a clean festival, the festival has an easier time with clean up, and the land owner will allow the festival to keep its place. It’s really too bad that we as people have gotten to the point where we need to be asked to pick up our trash and clean up for ourselves. No one should feel above that principal. Some festival attendees have been doing this for a long time, even without the policy, but, let’s be frank for a second - try not leave trash on the ground. It’s dirty, unhealthy, and makes others have less of a good time. You do not have to be a tree-hugger to respect the land. It's the wrong rational if you leave trash on ground and say "It's someone else's job to pick up this trash. They hire people to do that." You made that trash, you take care of it. The 2015 edition of TomorrowLand, an offshoot of TomorrowWorld, was an immense example that kept coming up in the Reddit thread. Here is what Reddit user, and TomorrowLand attendee, charg0n had to say:
Health, Safety, and the Illegal
Here is a fact that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone: Festivals are not the safest places on earth. The vast amount of people that come to festivals have the potential to bring loads of trash, harmful substances, less-than-desirable characters, weapons, glass, and other unwanted things. With all of that also comes the unknown circumstances the weather controls, as well as people getting sick, hurt, lost or in some cases, dying. It’s not often that someone parishes at a festival, but every year it unfortunately does happen to a few people. Because of all of these potentialities medical policies have to be written so these events can be dealt with.
Festivals having medic tents, ambulances on-site, and places for people to go if they are having a “bad-trip” have become the industry standard at this point in 2016. Sadly, though, year-after-year, people are still getting hurt and dying. These medical emergencies are defining factors to if festivals are able to go on sometimes. In 2013, during the height of the United State’s MDMA era, a pair of deaths from the substance shut down Electric Daisy Carnival’s events. In recent years 6 more deaths have been tied to the festival [Domanick, p.1]. Estimates show that about forty to fifty people die every year at festivals [Gregoire, p.1]. You may think it’s for obvious reasons too. It’s hot, people are doing a ton of drugs, and they are not staying properly hydrated. While all that certainly is true, it’s usually only the top layer. Other, more in-depths reasons include the people may be doing these drugs alone, making it hard for anyone to tell how to help that person. Some people feel as though they would get the person in trouble, or sent to jail if they contact law enforcement for someone suffering from an overdose. Hydration is key at any festival and anyone not drinking enough has a much higher chance of passing out, so the amount of accessible water needs to be replenished often. If not, even people not on hard substances are in critical danger. Lastly, people are going to want to buy drugs at festivals, and a factor in that is buying from someone that tells you it’s one drug and ends up being another. In response to these drug caused deaths groups of people have been banding together to raise awareness. One of the most notable are a group of people known as the “Bunk Police”. Their primary mission is for people to have fun, and to be safe. Members of the group go out in to the masses of people selling cheap and reliable drug test kits so people can have a way to check the drugs for purity and check the dealers on their honesty. Drugs at music festivals will never stop, as much as people fight, they are going nowhere. So the bunk police are creating a much needed solution since law enforcement will not advocate for the use of drugs.
Left: Bunk Police Chief Auctor with members of law enforcement at Electric Forest
Top: an example of the Bunk Police's test kit they sell
Something that is a little bit newer than the bunk police that is helping combat the health dangers of going to a music festival are the groups of people that make it their duty to help people independently from the festival. They are generally carrying garbage bags with them that they will hand out to campers, but, along with those bags they give you a message and a phone number. The message is that these people will anonymously get help if you, or someone you know is in immediate danger. They are also spreading the word and raising awareness for festival goers so they know that if person is hurt or suffering from drugs, they will not be in any trouble if law enforcement needs to get involved. This is helping the notion of people thinking they will be in any type of trouble when law enforcement needs to get involved. Sadly, it is hard to track the amount of good these groups of people are doing because they are just that, groups of people. But, it is clear that they are helping people in some shape and form.
Policies on what people can and cannot bring into festival grounds is another health and safety protocol that people are often discussing. Some say that the policies surrounding this topic have gone to far, while others say that having these types of orders in place are a necessity. The unwritten festival policy is “better safe, than sorry” and it shows when organizers tell you what you are not allowed to bring into their festival. The obvious items such as firearm and other weapons should be a given, and no one should be bringing in items that are meant to cause physical harm to someone else. But some people believe that the policies have gone too far when the festivals start taking away glass, cigarettes, cigars, medicines, fold-up chairs and other items people wouldn’t normally think they have to worry about bringin. Festivals with a no glass policy limit people bringing their preferential items that maybe packaged in glass jars or bottles. Sometimes items like jam or peanut butter spread comes in glass rather than plastic. The policy limits people’s ethical standards when they would rather use glass to help with recycling and the environment. A no glass policy makes a lot of sense so the festival can cut down on the amount of littered glass that can harm people, but taking away things like cigarettes and fold-up chairs sounds a little…obtuse. It’s hard to see the immediate dangers those items put people in.
Alcohol policies have started to become pretty standard. The mentioned glass policy stops most hard liquors from getting into the festival, which is good for health and safety protocols and, lessening the amount of drunk people getting hurt. But, these alcohol policies aren’t just looking out for the festival goers, they are also instated because legally festivals don’t have the proper licenses for these people to bring and drink their own hard liquors on their camp grounds. Festivals often have alcohol sponsors funding the events and they have restrictive contracts the festival organizers must sign that state attendees of the festival should be limited to buying their alcohol. The other alcohol policy that is not standard across the board is where people can go with the alcohol. Some festivals allow people to transfer their alcohol between the grounds and other do not. This policy is also built from the alcohol providers having a dominating presence over how people buy their alcohol.
Some policies are built out of uncertainty on the festivals part and one that has been seen doing more harm than good are policies surrounding how, and if people can bring water into festivals. By now festival goers have figured out they need to bring their own water, and a whole lot of it. But, when people bring their own water they want to be able to drink their water whenever, not just while they are at their campsite. Festival goers have begun to bring backpack water sacks, such as Camelbacks, so they can fill up at their camp ground and bring hydration with them where ever they go. But, some festival, such as Bonnaroo, in the very hot Manchester, Tennessee do not let people bring in filled Camelbacks. This is because they say they do not know what could be in them. They make people pour out their liquids, causing people to loose money on the water they bought, which obviously greatly frustrates people. The worst part is they tell those people they can fill them back up inside the festival grounds, but, often the water stations inside the festival grounds are very busy, unorganized, broken, malfunctioning, or empty. This leads to people leaving the unorganized mess of the water station to go to shows without any water. Many people suffer from dehydration at festivals every year at festivals, and this policy is certainly a cause of that. Another factor that isn't helping battle dehydration is the rising cost of water at festivals. Festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival and Firefly are selling 16oz water bottles for $4-5! That is just incredible, and greedy. People literally need water to live and they are going to sell it to you for an arm and a leg, after you already gave your limbs to the exorbitant ticket cost.
While all of these policies maybe a little annoying to deal with and to apply ourselves to, its good to know that after reviewing all of this that festivals are looking out for the audience’s health and wellbeing. If they didn’t there would be no one to come to the festivals, or worse, no one being able to put on a festival. While the policies are there for a reason, some do go too far with the amount of restrictions that are instated. Ticket policies should be more transparent and no one in the past has died at a festival from a rouge fold-up chair. The best thing to do to approach overly restrictive policies is to let the festivals know how you feel. That is where the miracle of social media comes back into play. In this new, budding era of festivals, organizers have to want to know what you think of the events, and if you tell them what you really think they have a chance to look back on if there is anything they can do about it for the next year’s edition. Granted, some polices will be a much harder boulder to move, but at least festivals can try to reevaluate and come up with something that will alleviate the stressor.
