I went into a festival thinking spending 4 days in the extreme heat with limited shower and bathroom access and no sleep due to the heat was going to destroy me but nothing ever felt so like myself.
No computers, no phones with signal, no technology.
No air conditioning, no big fans, no misters, no hoses. Just manual fans and a crowded ass water spigot for water bottle refills (good for showers if you’re brave and creative enough).
Just friends, music, sunshine, grassy fields, and the blankets or chairs you bring to sit on.
Just live music and dancing in a crowd, sharing cold water while it’s still cold and singing with everyone around you.
Just crawling into your tent at 5:30 AM, still drunk and maybe high with a little snack with your partner, passing out after getting naked.
Just make up wipes from the cooler and whatever deodorant and face wash you have for a “shower” to wipe all the dust off you (until it collects back on your skin and coats you completely again in an hour).
Just tiny personal mirrors to do your make up and trying to brush your hair or put in dry shampoo.
Just long lines at the trailer bathrooms, the only place with ac in the whole place.
Just waiting in the unbearable sun for a half hour to take a freezing cold shower, just to be sweaty within 20 minutes of being outside after.
Just giving up and walking around topless and not worrying about how you look or who sees you.
Waiting for the night for the temps to cool down to explore the forest and have a meal outside.
Sneaking into the VIP areas to enjoy cheaper drinks or up close views of the stage.
Setting up a whole area of chairs and blankets and maybe a canopy and being surrounded by the people you love most, dancing and singing and laughing and drinking and in my case, sometimes taking power naps.
Waking up at 8AM because the heat in your tent is too intense to sleep, so you grab a breakfast burrito and tea before the lines get too long.
Drifting in and out of sleep to the sounds of dj sets that seem to never end and crowds of people walking down the road right outside of your campsite.
Visiting your friends at their campsite across the field and making sandwiches and sitting in their chairs.
Strolling through all the vendors and buying homemade products from local artists like pashminas and fans and clothes.
Barely being conscious and hugging your friends, having heartfelt conversations you’d be lucky to remember.
Meeting a stranger, just for a couple of minutes and sharing a look or a laugh or just striking up casual conversation in passing, and smiling at them next time you see them.
Eating a special fungi and exploring the different music sets and the forest of lights and art and people who want to talk.
Standing around a crowded campfire, listening to people play their songs and dance around the fire. Slowly coming down and sobering up. Falling asleep on your friends shoulder.
Seeing the artist who means so much to you and your friend and being able to enjoy it together.
Seeing someone dressed in a Sasquatch suit play the best saxophone solos you’ve ever heard.
Feeling yourself coming up, gradually feeling less sober and laughing at everything, cuddling with everyone around you, hugging and rubbing each other and snuggling up on some blankets watching amazing visuals and people using flo toys and lights all around you.
The feeling of unity in a crowd when the artist is fantastic, feeling the electric in the air and transcending with the crowd to the best beat, the best vocals, solos, whatever it is.
Crouching under the faucet of the water spigot with a shampoo bar completely naked except for your crocs in the giant puddle of mud just trying to rinse your body and wash your hair. It doesn’t matter there’s twenty people around. When you need a shower you gotta make it work.
For as much as I thought I’d struggle, I was so immersed in my environment without any distractions. Just the different concerts and me and my boyfriends closest friends, beating the heat and sharing memories for four straight days. There’s no bonding like that anywhere else. I learned a lot about feeling comfortable in my own skin for the first time and living in the moment. I tried new things and I enjoyed familiar ones. I spent intimate one on one time with people I don’t get to see and I for just four days, I’m immersed in a world with no work stress, no household chores, no errands or responsibilities. Just figuring out the next set I want to see with my friends. I’ve never had a vacation like that and I can’t wait to do it every year from now on.
kaledo-art
izzy806
dailybridgerton
