Photo: Live4ever Media
A survey conducted by MSN has found less than half of those who attend festivals in the UK do so primarily for the music.
Around 2,000 people were questioned about their activities and reasons for visiting festivals – only 45% said they buy their tickets mainly for the music, with other reasons given for shelling out what was found to be an average of £423 over a weekend including the atmosphere, socialising with friends and escaping everyday life.
“Festivals are deeply rooted in the carnival tradition, which is to invert everyday expectations of normal behaviour,” George McKay, Professor of Cultural Studies at Salford University, remarks.
“Historically, carnivals would have a ‘lord of misrule’ who oversaw the revelries and subversion of the ordinary rules of life. Music festivals continue to be places where we can escape reality and subvert the rules – whatever age we happen to be.”
The survey also found 21% of those taking part had used drugs at a festival, while a fifth admitted to ‘drinking heavily’ and 13% said they had been in a fight. All in all, 47% confessed to doing something ‘they would never consider outside of the festival environment’.
The latest busy UK summer festival season, which has again been hit with financial problems and cancellations, will get underway in earnest this weekend when the Isle Of Wight event is headlined by The Stone Roses, The Killers and Bon Jovi.
