Festies Walk Among Us
The era of the festival came to an unexpected and supposedly temporary end this year. There were years when I jumped from festival to festival in a summer - Picker Parties, Bass Coast Project, Carrington Bay, Shambhala, Roots and Blues, this was a normal way of living for some of us.
The festival introduced me to a way of living - an openness at first and a loving connection to other people, that I was having trouble finding. I learned to listen, I learned that I can be an arrogant prick sometimes, and I learned that rocking solo is fun, and so is hanging out with friends, and I eventually found my favourite person to partner with as a result of wanting to give back to Shambles.
As with many aspects of our culture, the gluttony and excess of humanity is caricatured in the festivals. People not only become more open, entertainable, conversive, or outgoing, but they also consume constantly every type of substance, food, beverage, and sexual pleasure that they can find. Not everyone, surely. One doesn’t have to think to hard to recall someone being excessive at a music festival. Some would say they are ubiquitous.
It’s not too hard to imagine late stage Rome would have been not dissimilar. People binging on food, drink, or drug, until they made themselves sick, only to vomit, pass out, and do it again. I have done this at festivals. I feel incredibly privileged to have lived in a time and place that was able to support something so beautiful and terrible, and on such a scale.
Back to the heart of this. The truth is as follows: those events with all those people absolutely made me into a better person, though I imagine some of you might scoff at that, it could have been a lot worse. It saddens me to know that there may be years where young people who need a place to freak out won’t proper have one the way we did; however, I am warmed by the thought that everyone still living that was at those events is out there somewhere in the world doing whatever it is that they’re doing. Know that my heart is with you, light warriors, rainbow light workers, ravers, junglists, hippies, dancers, posers, costume wearers, act doers, joke bein’, laughing, roaring, throbbing, masses of sweaty human meat, moving to the same beat. Wherever you are, the earth has a heart beat, and we’re all still dancing together.
