Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonaroo, oh my! In addition to overpriced food and underage drinking, these places all have something in common: the attendees.
This year, my one-day Lollapalooza ticket granted me a day of music, excitement and some of the best people-watching I have ever experienced.
Let’s start with who we’re familiar with — college students.
You’ve got your Timberland-stomping, Camelbak-wearing, Snapchat-posing, “Natty light”-drinking, Juul-smoking boys. “Chad,” “Brad,” “Thad…” you know who I’m talking about. No shade being thrown here, but it’s a uniform, and I am nothing but impressed by how many comply with the unspoken “dress code.”
Then we have the girls. The hair-braided, bralette-wearing, glittery scalp, fanny pack-over-your-high-waisted-shorts girls. Again, nothing wrong with any of this. In fact, my Lolla attire checked off a lot of those boxes this year.
Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?
There’s the girl who somehow gets into the festival with a hula hoop and makes sure everyone knows she is stellar at using it. She’s standing barefoot, wearing flowy drop-crotch pants in the shade, weaving the hoop between each arm and around her neck. There’s probably one or two dreadlocks in her hair and at least one toe ring on each foot. If you run into this girl, I encourage you to stay and chat a while; she probably has some killer stories to tell.
Then there’s the parents who somehow think a music festival is an okay place to bring a toddler. Nothing says “kid-friendly” like the sweet smell of secondhand smoke and the sea of mosh pits. The kid, confused out of their mind, is licking an ice cream cone that is melting much faster than it’s being eaten. The child is also wearing an enormous pair of headphones to block out as much chaos as possible, because, as stated above, music festivals are not for small children.
How could you forget about the “first-timers?” The 15- maybe 16-year-olds who are just happy their parents said ‘yes’ and granted access to what they imagine is adulthood. Much like cattle, these first-timers tend to move as a herd to ensure no one gets left behind, or separated and lost forever. Quickly buzzed off their first beers, these classic 2000s kids make sure to capture every moment on Snapchat so their not-so-lucky friends at home don’t miss a thing. Still hungover three days later, their wristbands remain as proof that they made it through their first “wild weekend.”
Festivals are a summer highlight, for sure, but concerts, movies and tailgates are the “music festivals” of the fall, and not to be missed.
