Festivities

So last weekend I attended a three-day bender at the largest winter music festival Australia has - Splendour in the Grass. So the question I ask myself is why do I road-trip 6 hours, live "subhuman" (as my friend coins it) for three days not showering, eat processed canned food, dwell in our rubbish tip of a campsite, and just generally sleep in my own filth and sweat. I guess it's all for three days of discovering new music, good friends, and most importantly pure escapism.

That long weekend more than anything made me realise what I deemed fun. In my eyes, every day of our lives is filled with responsibility, and I think a holiday is getting away from all that. Something like showering I feel is a responsibility but indeed most people would rather say it's a luxury and would love to bathe themselves more so on a holiday in a spa, hot springs, pool or bathtub. However, for me, there's some immense satisfaction in being able to be grotty for three days in a row and for it to be socially acceptable. Of course on a realer level, to get away from all the stresses of work and study, where for three days your primary goal is simply to get real messed up and enjoy yourself is a nice change from the daily deadlines.

Another thought that crossed my mind as I was mindlessly dancing, barely in time, for the sixth hour straight in a sweaty, stuffy moshpit was that festivals have an atmosphere unlike anything else. You can feel the freedom of expression around in the outfits, the people, the unique variety of genres, and the lifestyles. In short, it feels like people are more free to do what they want and not be judged as much compared to daily life. It's refreshing when I think about all these people of different creeds, backgrounds, and social status, combining into one drug-infused (or sober) mass, dancing to the same rhythm. The image I have in my mind is one of a stereotypical camping scene with a fire, except the fire is a huge stage with massive strobe lights and a laser show, the singing guitar-carrier is a DJ or band with a trillion amp bass-heavy speakers, and the small group of child scouts is instead a large gathering of children-at-heart as we all dance and chant around the fire regardless of our usual social roles.

But at the end of the long day exploring the elaborately designed festival and uncovering weird and wonderful musical acts, the most beautiful thing was to come back to our campsite to eat instant noodles and tinned soup with the people I love and care about most.

Already keen for next year so bye.