Music Festivals for us as ravers are our safe haven, our time to let loose and be ourselves. Of course, as always things have room for improvement. Here at FRW we have been brainstorming some things that would make festivals even more glorious than they already are. Things such as More water stations, cheaper food options, the medical tent offering sanitation wipes and more interactive activities offered at the festivals are some of the ideas that we think would improve the overall festival experience.
Water is quintessential to survival, this is an obvious fact of life. When dancing hard at a festival you need lots of water to stay hydrated all night. We often hold off on getting water due to the long lines at every water station in the venue. This problem could be easily solved by simply adding an additional water station or by adding a few more spouts to each tent. Lines will happen at these sorts of gathering no matter what, because of the sheer amount of attendance. If we could shorten the line for the water line, I think that would make the waiting in like for other things much more doable. At the peak of the night, when everyone has run out of water and needing to refill, the lines tend to be crazy. Simply adding a few extra waterspouts would make all the difference.
When you are dancing the night away and headbanging to the bass, you are working up a pretty big appetite. However, most of the food options offered at the venue are for the most part outrageously expensive. I can remember getting to a point at a festival when I was so hungry I ended up leaving a few hours early because I couldn’t afford even the cheapest thing there. Having some simple options that were only around $5-$8 would be revolutionary. The food would be sold easier and no one would have to deal with hangry ravers. It’s a win-win!
The medical tent can be a godsend for many reasons. I personally have been to the medical tent on two separate occasions. Once for when I cut my finger open and needed a bandaid and ointment to clean it, and the other time when I threw out my back. The staff is always so kind and attentive. But what would really bring the medical tent to the next level is giving out sanitation wipes. We all know how gross the portal potties get day two or even a few hours into night one for whatever reason. Along with the toilet debauchery goes the hand sanitizer and water in the hand washing stations. By giving out sanitation wipes, not only would people have a piece of mind after using the gross bathrooms, but I think it would help to combat post-event sickness that tends to happen after most major raves.
One of the most fun things about attending festivals is creating experiences and meeting new people. But wouldn’t it be so much fun if more festivals included interactive activities like camping festivals? For example, Groove Cruise offers classes you can take with some of the DJs and Lightning in a Bottle offers cooking classes and yoga. At FRW we were talking about how fun it would be for more events hosting things such as dodgeball or black light laser tag. I mean think about it! Throwing balls at your friends and strangers you haven’t met yet? Sign me up! As for laser tag….I personally never experienced playing that as a child and sometimes going back to childhood roots can be such a blast. There are so many cool black light activated rave clothes out there and it would be such fun to see them under the black light but also go all combat mode and try and shoot your friends with FREAKING LASERS. I'm honestly getting excited just thinking about it.
Just some food for thought to all those epic festivals already in existence as well as future events to come. You guys are already killing it, just figured we would give a few friendly suggestions to further the experience.
By: Ricky Barnett