Is festival culture a social movement?

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The sheer dissonance between festival culture and mainstream society registers it relevant in the sphere of social movements. The rhetoric and behavior considered acceptable at festivals so outwardly diverges from the norm that it quietly seems to criticize conventional formalities and social expectations. However, in my observations and those of other attendees, festivals are not necessarily used as a venue for protest, but as a temporary escape. Festivals provide a cathartic interruption from today’s fast-paced, digitally dependent, politically polarized society. People enjoy this escape, even if they lack the motive or means to incite change in the outside world.

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Among the defining aspects of camping festivals is brevity. Most last for 3-4 days, and those that last longer often offer weekend ticket packages, cognizant of the fact that people have work-week commitments. In fact, impermanence is a pillar of large festivals like Burning Man and Electric Forest who strive to leave the land exactly as it had been found before their arrival. This idea of impermanence is translated into peoples' perception of festivals as a purgative but fleeting experience.

 

However, the aesthetics and environment at jam-electronic festivals noticeably draw from both historical and contemporary social movements, rendering them a microcosm of larger movements for change. Understanding these relationships provides insight into the mainstream social expectations that people find particularly worthy of contest.

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The Movements that Inform Festival Culture

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Cultural anthropologist David F. Aberle broadly categorizes social movements into four distinct groups: alternative, redemptive, reformative, and revolutionary. Each of these categories represent a different reach and magnitude of change, ranging from personal lifestyle changes to those at the scale of society, and from slight modifications to complete cultural overhaul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Of the four social movement categories described, redemptive movements are least relevant in the context of North American jam-electronic festivals. Marked by a desire to drastically change one's self by converting religions or otherwise completely reshaping a personal value system, redemptive movements are not visibly influential in festival culture. However, contemporary alternative and reformative movements, in addition to the revolutionary counterculture movement of the 1960’s embody and embodied qualities engrained in festival ethos.

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Alternative

Alternative movements occur when individuals modify parts of themselves in ways that defy conventional behavior. One current alternative movement that has generated substantial buzz is that which shows changes in peoples' dietary decisions. Vegetarianism, veganism, and the gluten-free diet are examples of alternative action people take in response to phenomena like pollution, animal cruelty, and processed food.

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We also see alternative movements that represent a resurgence of material appreciation – Vinyl record sales are at a 28 year high (Morris). Physical book sales are increasing as e-book sales decline (Cain). Perhaps in response to widespread panic about digital omnipresence handicapping our attention spans and relationships, activities like yoga and meditation have somewhat assimilated into the mainstream. Although the items we buy and routines we embrace are individual decisions, their traction indicates wider agreement.

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A newfound consideration about diet, materiality, and mindfulness in the West may represent resistance against our treatment of the planet and the all-consuming digital world, all of which are present in camping festival culture. Shambhala and Bonnaroo, among other festivals, offer locally sourced food, some of which is grown right on the festival grounds that are acting farms during the year. All searchable jam-electronic festivals in North America offer yoga and/or meditation areas or workshops. Interviewees and regular festival attendees Alex, Grant, and Josh all named digital distance as part of the camping festival appeal. In these ways, festival culture mirrors contemporary alternative movements in its desire to return to our animalistic need for nature and things that have texture and flesh.

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Reformative

Ongoing reformative movements include contemporary feminism, LGBTQ activism, and environmental conservation, which seek to modify aspects to the scale of society. Like the alternative movements described above, many reformative movements relevant to the festival scene value the condition of the Earth. However, others connect to festival culture more strongly in their advocacy for inclusion and diversity. The polarizing political environment in the US and Europe has evoked hatred and anger. But just as the number of hate groups has grown (SPLC, 2017), so have marches that support immigration, Black Lives Matter, women's health, and LGBTQ equality.

 

Although festivals do not organize protests or associate with political parties, the tolerance promoted in festival culture is reminiscent of the inclusiveness particularly promoted in these progressive movements. Speaking about festival culture's response to widespread discrimination in mainstream society, Grant observes that discrimination at festivals is, "...not fully, but closer to dissolved." When describing camping festivals, people reiterate their identity as a space where people can be "fully themselves," which is rhetoric reminiscent of safe spaces.

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Revolutionary

The counterculture of the 1960's falls into the revolutionary social movement group as one that sought to tear down the existing fabric of society and create a new-norm. In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War, the American identity was challenged and malleable, and many young people wanted to redesign the image of their future. Characterized by bohemianism, hippy culture, and events like Woodstock, the 1960's was an era defined by its embracement of artistic and narcotic experimentation, sexual liberation, and criticism of censorship. The movement was also intellectually and politically engaged, supporting racial and gender equality, denouncing the Vietnam War, and protesting increasing consumerism and pollution. A movement toward cultural and political upheaval has not been met to this scale since, but the influence of 60’s counterculture remains - one area being camping festival culture.

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Despite its differences is politics, the styles and free-spirited energy ascribed to the 60's counterculture movement are important to the aesthetics and experiences of camping festivals. Psychedelia in drugs, music, and artistic style are pervasive in the festival scene, as is bohemian fashion. The carefree attitude of hippies and flower children also permeate camping festivals, which are viewed as an escape from the darker confines of reality. In one interview, Alex postulates that the reasons some people were drawn to the 1960's counterculture movement are the same they are drawn to the contemporary festival scene - to escape the constrictions of mainstream society, although restrictions morph and reshape over time.