Just get lit on ya own and people will get lit w you and join you

When I go raves you got the road men, the crustys, the crust punks, the E-kids, they girls that dress like fairy’s, the gaffiti kids and of course the emos/ goths. I don’t think music influences sub cultures any more it’s more the way you like to dress and what make you feel comfortable and part of a community.

Potentially, I see this as an exciting time for youth subcultures, as it seems that a lot of kids don't have tribes and boundaries in the way my generation did in the 90s; there are still rivalries, but much less so, and a lot of kids (not all) are pretty open to one another's interests.

What I'm struggling to say is that there's a power, aura or some unexplainable force of happiness, unity, peace at some music festivals and being there makes 'losing yourself' easy to do. Whether it be feeling the bass guitar vibrating my bone marrow, sitting in the sun, under a blanket, on the water somewhere.

Everyone at the festival is your friend already. They're just waiting for you to say, "hi."

Hell if this kid is in Philly, I could take him to a illegal/warehouse party this Saturday if he wanted for some fieldwork.

I have constant dreams almost every single night that I am at music festivals or concerts, and I spend almost the whole time trying to get inside or find my group and by the time I find them, either I wake up or the concert is just about over.

This and space fruit are how i survive at fests

Imagine listening to RIOT or something, and there's a bunch of upperclass bourgeois like "fuck yeah, civil disorder is so baddass" On another note, I feel like there needs to be more of a left scene in edm, it's pretty hard to find in my experience.

I am 33 and my girlfriend is 42 and we still go to festivals every year. We have friends in their late 40's and 50's that still go. Never to old

The problem is that increasingly its the biggest / most expensive names that are the most fake / play the "safest", beatport-chart (sometimes pre-recorded) sets. These DJs are driving up the cost of festivals but don't bring anything unique to the table, it's just their name being used to sell tickets to people who are like "OMG I HOPE THIS BIG NAME DJ PLAYS MY FAVORITE SONGGGG."

Go to the artist's you want to see the most. When they are playing you will be surrounded by people who love the same artist as you. That alone is like 2 hours of conversation 🙂 Or bring with blow. People fucking love blow.

Going to an event on your own is a trip unto itself. The universe will reward your bravery. You will find you can do whatever you want, leave whenever you want, it's really freeing

As a parent of two teenagers and a janitor in a secondary school, I can tell you that subcultures do exist, but they are more nuanced and fragmented. And they don't really have precise names, on the whole.

I wish I had money for these kind of things.

I've never heard of a single one of these djs. I honestly just feel like a bot is making up performer names at this point. Quib Mos Hubbs Two Krang Jib Honk Curt Fuck Wayne Modean Horf Shrink Jam Nah 2x Hippocum Waterfall (DJ set)

But then something amazing happened... I stopped trying to be 20 and started being ok with being 40!! I found my niche. I hit my stride. I became the older and wiser OG Raver. Sure.. I take pills before every event, but, now it is 4 Advil, 3 Blood pressure meds, and 2 Cholesterol meds. The past year has been 10+ festivals and uncountable other events. I have seen 200+ DJs and experienced new music that I never thought I would like (and some that I still can't stand). I have met some of the nicest people and made some of my closest friends (even if some are young enough to be my child. I like to think that many of them look up to me and my wife and I respect them for carrying on what we started so many years ago.

Super small but a long bender with tons of wooks, crystals, and furries. Crazy there was also a huge swimming pool below and triangular cuddle puddle formations on top of a hill. I mostly slept in a tent, it was cold as shit at night but hot as hell by 8am.

I'm there for the music, not to navigate through a maze of corporate bullshit. Show me where to go with signs. Have maps to hand out to people detailing where all the stages/ stands are. And DONT make me worry about water. The best are the spray showers that are always on.

Finally falling asleep at 6am only to wake up one hour later melting in a pool of your own sweat because your tent has turned into an oven

There's definitely a difference between documenting for personal enjoyment and documenting for likes or other nefarious purposes. Personally, I record a lot of things but it never makes the internet it's mostly there for when I'm senile or have dementia or something and I'll be able to go back.

Spoiled Rich Kids

Are we too old for Big Dub fest? My husband loves dub step and love festivals. But, we’re in our 30’s and don’t want to look like weirdos.

Hopefully going to festivals and bringing some psychedelics with me will give me some opportunities to make some friends.

a bear broke into our neighbors tent and stole their pretzels before running back to the forest.

Music festivals really helped me to come out of my shell and be able to approach others much more easily. Just remember everyone there is gonna be on vacation trying to have a good time. It will be all positive vibes and energy.

See what they said when asked about the best music festival experience: It's hard to put in to words exactly what it is that makes this festival so radically different from all the other ones I've been to, it's just something inherently magical about the whole experience, a sort of air over the place. I don't think I've ever seen so many people so happy at once any other place.

Ppl seeing the stereotypical hippie types, or wooks, that live on the road and travel from fest to fest, and thinking/treating these people as if they are wise or worth looking up to. Theyre just normal everyday fucked up ppl like the rest of us. they arent shamans, they arent wizards. A lot of them have a dope problem. Too easy for kids to get sucked in to thinking that life is cool, when really, it can be a very tough road.

Music festivals aren't the meaning of life, it's just a theme park for young adults. It's an escape from reality, a worthy one, but still an escape. You have to go back. Eventually it gets to the point where the only reason you're still doing it is because of your friends, the people you've shared all these experiences with, grown close with, laughed with.

Nitrous Mafia Posting up right next to your campsite

Why is every other lineup this year a weird-ass mix of Gen Z hip-hop and 2000s pop-punk/emo? I miss pre-COVID festivals lmao

Obviously if you're going to a warehouse Techno show, you're gonna hear some dark, scummy, nasty minimal bass at 120-130BPM and that's that. But a really great show varies in feel and tempo, from swampy 70BPM dubstep to funky 105BPM Glitch-Hop to... I dunno, maybe some 90BPM downtempo or something. You wanna get people's blood moving at more than one speed. It makes things more engaging.

Now its all EDM and paid venues

I think you missed out the activists. I don't think they fit in the 'politics ones' category. The activists are usually bothered to go out. The ones that are strongly into politics spend 90% of their time on Twitter.

It's made easy at a festival. It's a little microcosm of what life could be like without judgements and pretense. Bring the energy you want to see and you'll attract the right people.

Michigan native. Went to a few raves downtown in middle school. Went to my first DEMF back in high school when it was free. Moved to Detroit and lived the lifestyle ever since. I’ve done more drugs, huffed thousands of tanks and have danced my ass off for 20 years straight. My parents thought it was just a phase. Doctors said this lifestyle would kill me. Now they ask “how do you do it? How have you aged so well?”When you find your passion it will keep you young and alive because you will miss it too much if you’re dead. That’s the true fountain of youth.

Festivals provide a social experience which apparently people love more than anything else. You're not merely listening to music (in fact, music can even become secondary), you're now part of an larger event and you will be able to remind everybody that "you were there" by tweeting about the event and posting pictures of you etc.

Twunks, omega-girls, barnies, TheGentlemans, phaze punks, ostrogoths, LiltCru and Jeremiah foundationalists are the most popular in my ends.

All the good parties have waivers

You can wear absolutely anything you want, and you can dance, or not, exactly how you want to. In my experience, festivals are some of the least judgey public events. My best advice on navigating is when you aren't sure where you want to go, close your eyes and listen in 360 degrees, then go in the direction that sounds the most interesting. Festivals are the rare opportunity to do exactly what makes you happy. If you can breathe through any rising waves of anxiety (in through your nose, out slowly through your mouth) I'm sure you can find a good time.

For me the purely creative do it yourself energy was one of the main things that attracted me to free party culture. The idea that you can make something fun and wonderful and share it with people and that brings people together to have a great time. It creates new friends and makes good times with old friends.

I usually bring my jewelry and crystals and that sparks conversation with a lot of people.

One of the highlights of festivals for me is that I'm pretty much guaranteed to come away as a fan of at least one band that I'd never heard of before.

Almost all of my dreams are now set at a festival setting. Mostly I remember a summer camp scene mixed with EF installations but I almost always am running late or trying to get everything ready or trying to find someone. Ever since my first fest, this had been the case. Even more fun, they usually morph into apocalypse dreams...

There are no social expectations; you can do what you want (wanna be in the pit? Go for it. Wanna sit on the grass all the way in the back? go for it.) , eat whatever and whenever you want, you don't have to waste 30 minutes trying to find your friends before a set.

However, it is a festival, and if you aren't worried about someone seeing your dingaling, no one is going to give a shit if you clean up naked. You're gonna be surrounded by hippies, the group of people least concerned with casual nudity.

K is the new coke

They dress like a prehistoric tribe, furs, sticks and move as a group around the whole site. Usually you dont notice them until they have surrounded you and are staring at you oddly. People try to take photos on their phones and they act all confused by the technology.

I’m watching this and crying. I miss this place so fuckin much, my soul is yearning for it. I really hope next year we can make it happen

have friends all over the US and beyond from festival meetings! I also love running in to someone I have met at a show/festival who I didn't know would be there, its the ultimate festival present!

There is a growing absence of monoculture, the safe artists that you like, and your nan likes, and your coworker likes. Festivals are the answer for people who no longer know what to like because there is no trusted source to tell them what to like. It's the MC Hammer Please Hammer Don't Hurt Them of show going experiences: broad enough to appeal to people who don't want to think about it too hard.

we prefer acid and ketamine

However, it is a festival, and if you aren't worried about someone seeing your dingaling, no one is going to give a shit if you clean up naked. You're gonna be surrounded by hippies, the group of people least concerned with casual nudity.

If there’s camping involved it’s so easy to say hi to your neighbors. Bringing over food, drinks, or party favors to share always breaks the ice. Maybe you need help setting something up, or someone else does and you can help.

I met these really chill guys from austin, and we all just sat around and stared at this tree stump for, like, hours and hours. It was the most amazing experience.

I usually stick to the underground 'leave no trace' festivals and usually everyone handles their shit but you still get the occasional leeches and people who overdue it on the drugs. Knowing your limit is so important.

Really find it interesting how Americans put so much effort into festival preparation while everyone in the uk has a £20 tent and camping chair and calls it a day

I think you shouldn't question any "strange" or unexpected move from anyone when you're at a psychedelic gathering 😀 I'm also new to the scene, but what i've learned almost instantly, that you just have to accept and embrace everything from anybody.

You're going to look like weirdos regardless bro literally everyone is on acid