5 REASONS WHY FESTIVALS ARE RAPIDLY GROWING IN POPULARITY

Ever wondered what the World Bog Snorkeling Championships in Wales, Burning Man in Nevada, and the Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea have in common? They, like all festivals and community gatherings, bring people together in ways nothing else can. Throughout human history people have come together over food, music, games, drink and traditions to celebrate the best their societies have to offer. We gather for so many reasons. We’ve put together our 5 favourite reasons we love festivals:

1) Break up our Daily Routine to Achieve Fulfillment

A daily routine can only satisfy us for so long, until we realize that the benefits of a routine aren’t coming to fruition as promised. Routines allow us to feel comfortable, organized and satisfied. We forget that “satisfied” is settling for less than fulfillment. Ways that we can achieve complete fulfillment are quite simple, and don’t require sacrificing our routines. This simply requires taking opportunities when presented to step outside of our comfort zone, learn with others, and most importantly, experience moments that are worth reminiscing.

Festivals can be the perfect way to step outside of our routines and feel fulfilled. Whether your goal is to meet new people, experience something new, or adventure into an unfamiliar lifestyle or joining a community, you are pushing yourself to achieve an under-appreciated goal.

2) Explore New Ideas

Amidst our stressful and consuming lives, our happiness can easily be overshadowed. The desire for something that could bring us enlightenment and fulfillment is more evident than ever. Festivals give us the opportunity to put all of our stress to rest and celebrate the positive aspects of our life; community, diversity, and new ideas. New ideas are catalysts for positive progress, change, and development in our lives. Simple interactions that explore or trigger new ideas can lead to personal growth, open-mindedness and new projects!

3) Make New Relationships and Connect with Others

Festivals provide an opportunity to meet like-minded people and create lasting friendships. Everyone knows how easy it is to meet someone at a bar, but the likelihood of staying in touch with these people is only 7%. Now, imagine meeting someone at a festival; being at the same place and time as someone because you both share more in common than being tipsy at the bar. You both came to celebrate something that you enjoy whether it’s a hobby, music, or food/drink. Now that is the perfect introduction to a long lasting relationship.

4) Share in a Sense of Community

Nothing brings like-minded people together like festivals do! The greatest part about being involved in a festival is the opportunity to not only be a part of a community, but to help build it. Festivals gather mass amounts of people with diverse backgrounds and personalities, but there is a fundamental sense of community that is rooted within the event. The shared values, goals and/or beliefs allows us to walk into a festival and immediately feel a part of a family. This creates an atmosphere of easy conversation and a strong sense of community and belonging.

REASON 5: Have Fun!

Most importantly, festivals are the perfect events to let loose and be yourself. Surrounded by people who we have yet to meet, creates the perfect setting to show off our best, and unique selves. On a typical day, we tend to subconsciously mold ourselves into a set of specific characteristics based on expectations of the people that we regularly surround ourselves with. These can include: how we interact, communicate, respond to situations, or conduct ourselves. This is where the self exploration of festivals can be endless. We’re in an unfamiliar space surrounded with strangers that have no expectations of us. We can use the immediate and prominent sense of community to feel comfortable being us, regardless of if this accurately represents the personality that we have grown into on our typical days. The authentic enjoyment that makes up festivals is notably memorable and will leave you discovering a new path to your ideal self.

Festivals are rapidly growing in popularity because of everything that they have to offer our personal growth, self identity, social fulfillment and community. Life is short not to take advantage of opportunities to create memorable experiences. The gathering of diverse yet like-minded people in one space creates the perfect atmosphere to step outside of our comfort zone, explore new ideas, meet new people, join a community and most importantly, have fun!

Sincerely,
Bill Robinson
President – ABF

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