Large Festivals
What I consider to be large festivals are those which host more than 25,000 people on any one day(i.e. Bonnaroo [over 70,000 people], Coachella [over 75,000]) and as with anything there are positive and negative aspects associated with the size of a festival.
Positive Aspects
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| Trey and Mike of Phish with Bruce Springsteen @ Bonnaroo |
- Bigger Headlining Artists- Larger festivals have larger budgets and therefore are able to attract better known artists in the overall music community to play their shows. This is, I believe, is the biggest lure of large music festivals.
- More Money For Atmosphere- Once again the larger budget of large music festivals gives them the opportunity to build more involved massive artistic displays such as light shows, fire displays, large sculptures, etc.
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| Art Display @ Rothbury 2008 |
- More Variety- At larger music festivals you encounter more of a variety of art and genres of music as there is so much more to choose from. There is in fact such a variety at large shows that it is nearly impossible to see even half the shows that are put on.
- Cosmopolitan- Larger festivals attract people from all over the country and even from other countries so it can be a cool experience to meet people from all over the world.
Negative Aspects
- Discomfort- Larger festivals have limited space and in order to maximize profit they utilize as much space as possible which means YOU! are confined to camping and living in close quarters(at least for the weekend) and you may be camping a sizable distance from the venue main stages. Also you may expect long lines for vendors, entry and exit to the venue, a struggle to get a good spot anywhere near the stage at many popular shows, and long lines for less than desirable bathroom breaks. At Bonnaroo 2007 my campsite was one of the furthest possible and it was a 25 minute walk from my tent to centeroo(what Bonnaroo calls their main venue area) which took a lot of energy out of me in an already exhausting environment. All this can be a bit stressful especially if you have a long drive to and from the festival.
- D-Bags- On the other end of the 'Cosmopolitan' coin, The fact that large festivals are more known around the country and the world means that they attract a wider variety of people and often include a higher ratio of certain 'undesirable' people for a festival atmosphere which one might refer to as 'Douche-Bags'[which includes but is not limited to: jerk-offs, ass-holes, ass-hats, fucktards, etc.]. From personal experience I can say that I have seen a much higher rate of incidents of a 'sketchy' nature occur at larger festivals. I have witnessed first hand: Tent-slashing and overly drunken jerk-off-ed-ness such as when an exhausted guy in his underwear was sleeping on his yoga mat when three drunks ran up, ripped off his underwear, pulled the mat out from under him, and beat him with his own yoga mat in front of a few hundred people(the man was eventually taken away by security after a few minutes of confusion and disarray).
- $Expensive$- everything at a large festival seems to cost money. The tickets are more expensive, the venue is often a far drive which means more gas money, there are fees for parking, fees for ice, etc. (at bonnaroo one year me and my friends were even charged 10 dollars to leave at the end of the festival by use of a side exit because the regular line to get out was hours long).
- Commercial Aspect- Larger festivals allow for large companies such as Verizon wireless,
Nabisco, Johnson&Johnson, Philip Morris, etc. to advertise and set up stations around the festival which can be positive when you get to enjoy a few sample wheat-thins in an air conditioned environment for a few minutes but can be pretty annoying when you are being bombarded with products offers and fliers. Also the presence of large companies arguable ruins the appeal of getting away from the real world for a weekend and brings into an environment designed for a weekend escape part of the thing that was to be escaped from in the first place.
- Massive Size- The massive venues at large festivals means a lot of walking and if you separate from anyone in your group or you are planning to meet up with someone at the festival be prepared to go out of your way to meet up at landmarks. Simply saying to a friend "I will meet you at the main stage at 5" will leave you searching through a field for a needle in a haystack.
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| Credit: Drew @ www.toothpastefordinner.com |
Small festivals are those which host less than 10,000 people per day. Some small festivals I have gone to are Bear Creek, Aura, and Orange Blossom Jamboree (All in Florida).
Positive Aspects
- Close Community- Arguably the biggest advantage of small festivals is the opportunity to participate in a community with neighbors. At a small festival you can get to know your neighbors and meet all kinds of interesting people attending the festival who you are likely to often run into throughout your stay at the festival. The people at smaller festivals tend to all be at the festival for the purpose of having a good time and therefore many people are more than happy to lend their neighbors anything they may need (a few tent stakes, a hot dog, a beer or two, etc.) as well as to watch out for each other. Lots of people like to bring supplies for activities with neighbors whether it is a table and cups for beer-pong, 50 cans of paint and a giant canvas for everyone to paint on, or all the equipment to have a cool late night laser-light show(lights, fog machines, projector screens, etc) there is no end to the creativity people get into and it never ceases to amaze me. If you attend enough small festivals you will even begin to run into the same people at different festivals as there is an actual traveling community of vendors and festival goers who frequent small festivals.
- More Space For Everything!- the subheading explains itself.
- Lax Environment- Small festivals are much more relaxed about many aspects of their festival as the main purpose is for everyone to have a good time. I have personally met several of the main people in charge of putting together a few small festivals and they generally put on the festival for little to no overall profit and this is because their main goal is to host a great time for all included and they see people as worth more than the contents of their wallet. Examples of the lax environment include short lines for bathrooms, vending, etc. spaced out crowds at shows which allow anyone to get right up to the front row without feeling too overcrowded, less security and police hassling festival goers and searching vehicles and less restrictions on what you can and can not bring which contributes to really cool campsites that people set up for
everyone's enjoyment. At one festival I even saw a massive circus like tent set up with at least 15 couches inside, carpets on the floor, lighting, fans(powered by a generator), coffee tables etc. ALL SET UP BY A REGULAR FESTIVAL GOER WHO WANTED EVERYONE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME!(See my picture ^^) - Navigability- Easier to navigate. The smaller festivals have less artists and musicians but they are a good collection of local music which is presented in a organized and simple format as there are usually only 1-3 stages at a small festival as opposed to 7 or more stages which are widely spaced out at large festivals such as Coachella and Bonnaroo. One rule of thumb friends and I have established is simply to stay to the front left of the stage at any show and that way we are easily able find each, in fact i don't even bring my phone around with me at small festivals and have no problem finding people.
- Affordable- Small festivals sport cheep tickets and minimal fees. Also because the venues are small you can bring your own food and alcohol and take intermittent trips between shows back to your campsite to refuel.
- Less Known Bands- Because the festivals are so small and don't have a large budget you wont see headliners like Dave Matthews or Snoop Dogg, but in my personal experience my favorite bands as a festival have always been the ones I had never previously heard of our didn't plan on seeing deliberately (i.e. Zach Deputy @ Bear Creek 2010[Above ^^] when he got on top of a U-Haul truck in his campsite and began playing an unannounced set).
- ?????- I tried to come up with some more negatives of smaller festivals but there honestly just are not very many.
So as it may be apparent I largely prefer smaller festivals as well as medium festivals (between 10,000-25,000) as opposed to large festivals after all my festival experience. Do not let this completely dissuade you from attending a larger festival at least once because it is something though I would not so quickly jump on board to do again anytime soon, I wouldn't take back any of the experiences I have had at the larger festivals, or any festival I have attended for that matter, and sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze (i.e. Phish headlining Bonnaroo 2010). And what tends to be the most important factors are the friends you bring along with you and having an open mind and a positive attitude. HAPPY FESTING!
-C.J.
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