{"id":98893917,"date":"2018-05-30T14:09:16","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T18:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/?p=98893917"},"modified":"2023-04-18T12:25:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T16:25:02","slug":"am-i-not-cool-enough-to-attend-a-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/am-i-not-cool-enough-to-attend-a-music-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"First Person: Am I Cool Enough to Attend a Music Festival?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year around Coachella time, I start to feel it. That creeping insecurity that tells me I\u2019m just not cool enough to go. Let\u2019s face it. I\u2019m not 23, famous on Instagram, or rich. I have no \u201cBoho chic\u201d clothes, my belly button isn\u2019t pierced, and the one time I had to wear a floral headband in a friend\u2019s bridal party it was so itchy I ditched it before pictures and she just barely forgave me.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the last 10 years, destination music festivals have become a <\/span>thing<\/span><\/i> in the tourism world. They used to be primarily European, but now Palm Springs<\/a> hosts <\/span>Coachella<\/span>, Chicago<\/a> hosts <\/span>Lollapalooza,<\/span> and Manchester, Tennessee (an hour south of Nashville<\/a>) hosts Bonnaroo<\/span>, just to name a few. Inevitably, a barrage of social media footage appears, with impossibly beautiful people dancing with equally impossibly beautiful people, often with teeth so white it hurts to look at them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

And the <\/span>celebs<\/span><\/i>. Every major online publication comes out with its own roundup of the celebrities at these festivals. I usually troll them with my free hand stuffed in a Cheetos bag while wearing my, \u201cIf you can read this my invisibility cloak isn\u2019t working\u201d T-shirt.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to terms with the fact that I\u2019m just not cool enough for Coachella, b<\/span>ut I really <\/span>love music<\/span><\/i>. And I love the idea of going to a festival for a few reasons:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A festival is a commitment. Most of the festivals are set far enough away from a big city that you can\u2019t just pop in to see your favorite band. You either have to camp or stay at a hotel nearby. <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. I like the idea of seeing multiple bands play in one night. It\u2019s hard for me to get a night out sometimes between my job and my kids. Being able to see multiple bands play over the course of a weekend would be a dream.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But still, I\u2019m hesitant to attend. And I think I know why. <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/a> calls these destination festivals as opposed to reproducible tours, \u201cthe ultimate ‘I was there’ event.\u201d I think the social media aspect of music festivals like Coachella have turned ordinary people like me off to the idea of them. Even though, truth be told, most of us would probably love them.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So I did some research on alternatives to Coachella and Bonnaroo. It turns out, there are some really cool music festivals out there for people who love music <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>have a private Instagram account. <\/span>Here are five music festivals to look out for this year that aren\u2019t Coachella:<\/span><\/p>\n

    Stagecoach<\/h1>\n

    \"Girl<\/p>\n

    Stagecoach<\/a> is like Coachella for country music, minus a lot of the hype. You probably won\u2019t spot any celebrities in the crowd, but you might feel more at ease. Plus, it\u2019s set in California\u2019s desert too so you\u2019ll get Coachella vibes without actually attending.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Sasquatch Festival<\/h1>\n

    Sasquatch has gotten some negative publicity in recent years – mostly from people who say that the event ran low on supplies. So bring your own toilet paper! Besides that, though, it\u2019s set in the beautiful Gorge Amphitheatre in central Washington, it\u2019s picturesque, much smaller than other major festivals (giving it a communal vibe) and the line-up is always top-notch.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Teenagers,<\/p>\n

    The Governors Ball<\/h1>\n

    Okay, okay, The Governors Ball<\/a> is kind of like Coachella in New York City, but the lineup is unreal. Not to mention the <\/span>food lineup<\/span><\/a>. There will probably be the Insta-famous crowd, but you can also expect loads of screaming teens, classic rockers, and even middle-aged parents who just want to see Jack White play, dammit.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Outside Lands<\/h1>\n

    Set in Golden Gate state park, the foggy atmosphere mixed with northern California\u2019s effortless coolness, this festival<\/a> is one to hit. You won\u2019t see any major rappers and Beyonc\u00e9 won\u2019t headline, but your favorite indie bands, as well as several pop acts, will be there.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Group<\/p>\n

    Shaky Knees<\/h1>\n

    Shaky Knees<\/a> in Atlanta is for all you southerners and the southern-curious. See classic groups like Cake and Jimmy Eat World, plus discover new favorites like The Frights and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. <\/span><\/p>\n

    And if you just really want to go to Coachella? Make it happen. There\u2019s no rule that you have to be a certain type to attend. Just get your friends, buy your ticket, and head out.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Did we miss your favorite musical festival? Tell us about it in the comments below!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Every year around Coachella time, I start to feel it. That creeping insecurity that tells me I\u2019m just not cool enough to go. Let\u2019s face it. I\u2019m not 23, famous on Instagram, or rich. I have no \u201cBoho chic\u201d clothes, my belly button isn\u2019t pierced, and the one time I had to wear a floral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":98893921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[141],"tags":[456],"class_list":["post-98893917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-inspiration","tag-music-festival"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98893917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98893917"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98893917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98912905,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98893917\/revisions\/98912905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98893921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98893917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98893917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98893917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}