MUSIC FESTIVALS AS A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
MUSIC FESTIVALS AS A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Ritual in Music Festivals
Rituals are a part of all of our lives in one way or another. Whether it be waking up every morning at a specific time to enjoy a coffee or taking your dog for a walk, rituals are an integral part of our everyday lives. More specifically, rituals are an essential part of many organized religions. Religious rituals can come in many forms. For example, going to church on a Sunday is a common religious ritual for Christians. So, how does this relate to music festivals?
Music festivals are ritualistic events and it could even be argued that they have created an entirely new culture and community of music lovers. Live music performance for an audience is inherently ritualistic and thus can have religious overtones. In fact, there are a number of religious music festivals regularly held around the globe. Music is a key component to many religious experiences, such as liturgical music commonly performed in the Christian church. In the case of non-religious music festivals, there are many ritualistic elements present. From the festival experience as a whole to the clothing, food, and drink, there are many stark examples of ritual in most secular music festivals.
Clothing
The first ritualistic element I will discuss is one that I think stands out immediately: festival clothing. For many, when they think of music festivals, they imagine bright colours, funky outfit choices, and flower crowns. In my own experience of attending the music festival Osheaga held in Montreal Quebec, these assumptions are true. Many festival goers feel that the time spent at a festival is a time that one can dress any way that they want. It’s not uncommon for women to be walking around the festival grounds without a shirt on, and it’s assumed that you will probably return home with some form of glitter on your body. For many, attending music festivals is an escape from daily reality, which could be seen as similar to the experience of many traditional religions. Those who take part in organized religion may go to their place of worship such as a Temple, Mosque, or Church to escape from reality temporarily in order to achieve a reflective state, whereas music festival attendees spend this time usually in an outdoor location listening to live music performances that both take them away from the everyday and deepen their experience of the same everyday when they return to it.
Clothing is an essential part of the music festival experience and ritual. As I mentioned above, music festivals are an escape from daily reality. I think this may be why people choose to go all out with their outfit choices. The culture of music festivals is a culture of love, acceptance, and fun. There is obviously no dress code per se, but many people show up in colourful avant-garde pieces, loose baggy clothing that is easy to move/dance in, flower crowns, bejewelled bodies, and, as I mentioned above, a ridiculous amount of glitter. All in all, the clothing worn at music festivals is ritualistic because it is more than just a bold fashion statement: it is a part of the experience and community that music festivals provide so many people.
Food and drink
Food and drink are a common ritual in many traditional religions, as well as in music festivals. For example, in the Roman Catholic church bread and wine is consumed during communion. Similarly, in the case of music festivals, alcohol is the preferred beverage. Many music festivals have bars set up around the festival grounds and, in the case of Osheaga at least, mobile drink vendors, so getting your hands on alcohol is not a problem at all. In my own experience at Osheaga, there were dozens of employees walking around throughout the crowds selling beer and shots of vodka. Alcohol is a part of the festival ritual for many because of the carnival environment, and the idea that many go to “let loose” and escape daily reality for a short period of time. Food is definitely of less importance to the ritualistic aspects of music festivals, but many festivals, and specifically Osheaga, have food trucks and other quick ways to get a bite to eat throughout one’s time at the festival.
Dancing/moshing
The style of dance mostly described by the name moshing is an incredibly ritualistic element of many music festivals. What is moshing? Moshing is basically a type of dance where people slam or push their bodies against each other in a “pit” as most people call it. The infamous mosh pit is an aspect of music festivals that is often brought up when talking about the music festival experience. Moshing is a ritual experience in itself because it is a shared experience that festival goers have when enjoying a live music performance. The aggressive style of dance has been going on since the grunge era of the early 90's, and it is a communal experience that signifies excitement, release of emotions, and the celebration of music in all its raw physicality. There is even an unwritten code of conduct for moshers: it is shockingly aggressive for an outsider to see all the pushing and shoving, but the intent is not to harm anyone and moshers will help others get back to their feet if they appear to be in danger. So it is definitely ritualistic and the fast paced hard hitting music gives the whole atmosphere religious overtones of a distinctly pagan flavour.
