Disclaimer - the views and opinions found here are my own; I will not be held liable or accountable if you disagree with any of the written statements below!
And also a big thank you to Ca Ling and Samorie Bynum for following my blog :D You gals rock!
So to start with, Music Festival - when you hear the phrase you instantly think "Glastonbury", "Download" or "Woodstock" which are three of the UK's biggest and best known Music Festivals. But having googled "Music Festivals of 2011" I unearthed a website called "The Festival Calender" it gives you a line up of all upcoming festivals (naturally and perhaps a bit obvious) for the rest of the year.
It starts off with some smaller festivals with tickets anywhere from £7.50 per day or £30 for the weekend; right up to £108 for the weekend (That one is £125 on the gate) and from what I read about the festivals (Aside from Artists I've never actually heard of) they are pretty family oriented - The Alchemy Festival actually boasts its own childrens area with activities for the kids at no extra price. Alchemy states they hope to have a cider tent selling home made cider and mead; and herein lays (In my eyes) the true ethos of the music festival.
While people do go to the Festivals to enjoy the music and the company of like minded individuals (I cannot dispute this having never been to a music festival) the social stigma attached to the name "Music Festival" will forever be known as a place where you can drink/take drugs. Indeed the Isle of Wight festival lists the following phrase in its description:
"They packed onto the Isle of Wight ferry from the mainland for up to five days (although some stayed considerably longer) of live rock, communal living, free love and mind-bending substances"
The key phrase I feel it wise to note in this passage is "mind bending substances" - Hallucinogenic drugs are commonplace in music festivals; indeed I've known people go to Glastonbury purely to "Get wankered on skunk and E's" while the substances are illegal (Most of them being Class A controlled drugs within the UK) and most of the music festivals in their introductory packages do state that "The use of Class A controlled Drugs will result in your removal from the festival" and a police search is given on arrival, I have to ask the question of "Do we honestly believe that this will hinder people?" The answer I fear is clearly "No" People who go to these things to abuse the system and take these drugs will find ways of smuggling them in; no one police force has a fail safe way to find these substances.
Back to the Isle of Wight music festival then; it takes place at Seaclose Park, Newport on the Isle of Wight (Gotta love my ability to point out the obvious lol) and runs from 10th of June to the 12th of June - so far the listing hasn't added any bands yet; although the official website names bands such as "Kings of Leon", "Kasabian", "Foo Fighters" and "The Kaiser Chiefs" as headliners. So far to my "Festival-virgin" eyes this looks like a pretty good line up so far; Sunday has "Pixie Lott" lined up (Although apologies to Pixie Lott fans, but I had to giggle at the fact she is near the bottom of the line-up)
The same weekend as the Isle of Wight festival we have the infamous "Download" festival, which boasts:
"Rock and metal fest. 3 days of axe wielding mayhem. 2 outdoor stages and a chill out area in the woods! Has big names and plenty of sweat, beer and leather. Hear those Marshall amps turned up to 11"
Once again the line up on the festival planner isn't detailed, the website however has a massive! list of bands - Def Leppard, Linkin Park, The Darkness, Bullet For my Valentine, Disturbed, Korn, Pendulum, Black Veil Brides, Rob Zombie and many more lined up for the three day event - it even states day tickets are limited but available. The festival itself however costs over £200 for the weekend. Not surprising with the artists lined up. But once again looking at the description we have "plenty of sweat, beer and leather"
Now back to the original point of the topic (I fear I may have gone off on a tangent) While Music Festivals are supposedly one of the best experiences a person can have in their lifetime; I have to wonder what people think actually happens. Drug usage is common - especially at Glastonbury, the description of festivals includes blatant drug usage "Mind bending substances" and this - in my eyes - is the promotion of drug usage.
My final thought and question is this - Should the police be given new powers to search for concealed drugs at these festivals? I'm sure they aren't all as bad as I've probably made them look, but the reputation these things have for their drug-friendly atmospheres makes it hardly a place I would want to take a child.
Next Review - Movies.
Peace out!
