You love raves, but have you been feeling pressured when it comes to attending festivals? I know that I have. It kind of comes with the territory. Just the rush that you feel gets all of your friends and rave fam excited for the next event. And of course they want everyone else to go and that’s where the peer pressure can happen.
Personally, I know that I feel that pressure and I truly love festivals. But I also know that my bank account screams for me to stop all of this nonsense. It is fun and makes you feel alive, but financially and realistically going to every festival out there isn’t going to work for most people. This is why giving in to the pressure of attending all events isn’t going to do you any good.
How to not give in to the peer pressure of attending festivals
Whether you go alone or with others a festival is a home for a community of amazing people. You will meet many new people and experience things you may never have known about. That is the wonderful reality festival-goers have. But for some this feeling of being at festivals it all they want to know and they don’t know how to pace themselves. This actually causes them to sort of retire from raving and festivals at an early age. And it also causes them to go to every festival and peer pressure others to go to.
The biggest way to be peer pressured into going to every festival is actually found in what we call a rave fam. This is basically a group of people that come together and go to festivals and raves. Some of these groups have actually been together for a long time and some of them just meet at a different festival. There are many rave fams that actually are created online and finally meet each other at the festival too. Either way, rave fams can actually be very positive to be a part of and at the same time can have a few drawbacks like peer pressure.
How close together are festivals?
Festivals are actually really close together they’re basically is a festival every month. That is why sometimes it is easier to say no to a member of your group because going to a festival every month is pretty difficult to do. If you have a job then you really can’t take off that much time every single month. Don’t forget the fact that each festival is pretty expensive and can really dig into your paychecks.
There are also festivals that may be close to you or even across the country or even overseas. For this reason, you need to think about transportation as well. Whether you have to pay for a plane ticket, hotel rooms, or gas you need to also ask for extra time and days off to even make it to the festival and back. And employers won’t usually let you leave for 3 to 7 days every month in a row. Which could possibly put your job in jeopardy and then you really wouldn’t be able to pay for your tickets.
Set a festival limit per year
When it comes to not giving in to the pressure of attending every festival it is best to set a limited number of festivals you can afford and are able to go to each year. This way you have your limit and you don’t feel that you need to go to every one of the events.
If you don’t make a lot of extra money after paying off your bills then you really shouldn’t be planning to attend every event. I would say pick only a couple of events that year. That way you aren’t struggling to pay for each and every ticket and transportation there.
Now you can always choose your main festival for the year and not decide on the others right away. This way you have everything set for your main festival and then if your rave fam is mostly going to be at one festival you have that empty slot to go. You don’t end up going over your festival limit for the year and you still can go with to a festival with a bigger section of your rave family.
I would say that if you’re really are in to go to a lot of festivals each year and have enough money to go then I would choose maybe 3 or 4 a year. It does depend on how close you are to the festivals too. Say if you lived in Los Angeles then you are set with many festivals near you and this makes it easier to afford because you don’t have much cost in transportation.
Though the best way to space out festivals would probably be every 3 or 4 months as well because that gives you time to save up and prepare in advance.
Make it clear to the group what your limit is.
A huge thing to not be peer pressured into going to extra festivals that you can’t afford or make it to is by making sure your group knows your limit. Whether you have already planned out which festivals you are going to or not let them know you will only be going to X amount of festivals.
Since rave fams are made of amazing people they will respect that and sometimes they will try to still get you to go, but not as much. If they know you are only going to certain festivals then they may suggest trying one out instead of another, but they won’t pressure nearly as much. Don’t get me wrong there will still be a bit of pressure, but that is just common. People would love it to have you go with them and that should be a compliment.
Switch festivals up every year
Another good way to get rid of the peer pressure is to let your group know that you won’t be making it this year, but hey maybe next year will be the year. This takes the pressure off of this year and gives them hope that next year that festival will work out. And really rotating your festivals each year is a perfect way to experience all festivals out there.
If you want to experience as many festivals as possible then rotating them around will work well for you. Say this year you are doing EDC (The Electric Daisy Carnival) in Las Vegas, Nocturnal Wonderland, Escape: Psycho Circus, and Countdown. Then next year you change it up to Beyond Wonderland, Electric Forest, Hard Summer, and Lost Lands. The combinations are endless.
Plan festivals ahead of time with your rave fam
The best way to get most of the rave family together at the same festivals is to plan ahead. Plan for the next year and vote to see who wants to go to each festival. This way you end up having more of a set festival schedule in place for the group and there will be less peer pressure from the group into going to every single festival.
Now you don’t actually have to stick to your group’s schedule or even go to the ones they want to. Do you and pick what you want. But if you want to go with more of a group then this would be the best way.
There is a great thing with planning festivals as a group and that is that they tend to rotate every year. They will also push some people out of their comfort zone to attend events that they might not have been will to go alone. For example, Escape: Psycho Circus is an even that may seem scary to go alone because of how intense it may become since it is a Halloween festival. But when you know that say 5 or 10 members of your group will be going then you will feel less nervous to go alone.
Do remember to go to the festivals that you want to and not ones that you are going just because others are going. Like say you are not the headbanging type of person, but everyone is going to Lost Lands and that isn’t your forte. Just choose something else. You deserve to spend money on yourself that will make you have a wonderful experience and time.
Have a specific budget for festivals
By having a budget it also rules out last-minute pressure to go to a festival you can’t afford. The reason being that if you plan to make it to 4 festivals a year and you are only giving yourself enough in the budget for the tickets, accommodations, transportation, and what you will need at the festival then that is your set budget. And when someone wants you to go to a 5th festival then you can say sorry you can’t go because you don’t have it in the budget.
This makes sure that you don’t overspend on festivals and put yourself in a hard situation by not being able to pay your bills or gaining a ton of debt.
Don’t push yourself or stretch yourself too thin
Festivals and raving are meant to be a way to get away from the stressors of everyday life and be your true self among a wonderful community of people that will love you for being you. So you shouldn’t be making such a beautiful thing so stressful by stretching yourself too thin. Pick what you can handle and what you can have fun with. Don’t let the pressure you into something and make going so stressful.
Something so true is that if you feel stressed going then you will only remember the stress and no longer want to go to festivals. Don’t ruin your experience okay?
Festivals are meant to be fun not forced.
