Inner Peace And Summer Festivals

20th June 2019

Inner Peace And Summer Festivals

By Danielle Herman.

I’ve always had a problem with my thoughts and emotions. I identified with them, as 99% of us do, and that brought a lot of worries, frustration, desires and fears. It was practically my whole life. Through time I learned that what they said was wrong and then I learned to fight with them, which wasn’t much fun either, but in general it meant an improvement.

Now I believe I’m doing the next step: not fighting…

In theory we always understand what others are saying, but in practice we can’t be sure we understand until we totally feel the message. I heard people say many times “you are not your thoughts, they are your friends”. Officially I understood it, but in real life I would fight with them anyway: always demanding that they be positive, always fearing them and at the same time asking them to come with all the answers. This Inner Peace fight was true identification with thought and emotion … and the manifestation of my ego.

Then I took a step back, not asking so much from my brain, and that allowed for more inner space to appear. Thoughts come and go, some you use and most you don’t. The less demands I make to my thoughts, the less irrelevant ones it throws at me and the less problematic I feel when “wrong” ones come along. If you don’t expect anything from your brain, it can’t let you down.

Slowly I’m realising now that my thoughts are not my enemies, nor that my emotions are destroying me. They are in fact a mirror of my conscience. My state of awareness is reflected in the quality of my thinking and my fear/love equation. When I and more in the here and now the irrelevant and fearful thoughts may come, but I only look and that’s it. My brain simply registers that the thought isn’t relevant and it doesn’t show me another “bad” one. Suddenly it serves me, helping me with realizing practical things in this beautiful world … as long as I am aware of what is true, as long as I don’t demand and choose for love and trust instead of acting out of fear.

With this in mind I am remodelling my life, experiences, friends and Inner Peace surroundings. And as such I have decided that a music festival this Summer will be just the tonic for my meandering mind.

When it comes to attending, cheap simply isn’t on the table anymore. These days it’s a matter of limiting cost.

For example, a three-day general admission pass to this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival would of cost $429.

Anyone who wanted a few perks had to pay $899 for a VIP pass and remember, that only covered one of the festival’s two weekends. You’d have to spend twice that if you wanted to take in the entire spectacle in Indigo, California.

Beyond the tickets, here’s a breakdown of some other common expenses at Coachella, according to CNN Money:

$400 for round trip airline tickets.
$80 to get from the airport to the festival.
$60 to ride the festival shuttle around for the weekend.
$85 to camp out over the weekend and $500 per night to stay in a hotel.
$50 to $225 per meal.

If you go with the hotel option, you could easily spend around $2,500 at Coachella for one three-night weekend, not including meals.

Go with the camping option and you’ll spend somewhere around $1,000 without meals, $2,000 if you go both weekends.

That’s a lot of cash to spend, especially for Inner Peace concert goers such as myself. And we are, after all, the ones who plan to spend our summer traveling around to these raucous celebrations.

Now having worked full-time since my teens I have some savings stored up. I am not a big purchaser with my credit card but after I saw these costs it might be coming in useful soon! Either that or using a loan like simplepayday.co.uk/emergency-cash were my first thoughts, if I’m honest.

Of the 32 million music fans that attend at least one music festival per year about half are between 18 and 34, according to a recent Nielsen report.

So how can we frequent more music fests without breaking our personal banks? Here are some suggestions:

Go to a festival near you. There are hundreds of music festivals throughout the country. Finding one near your home means you won’t have to travel, eliminating flight and hotel costs.

Choose a smaller festival. The big fests are quite an experience, but chances are, the artists you want to see at the big festivals are playing at some small fests as well. And those smaller music festivals are much more affordable.

For instance, tickets for Forecastle Music Festival – held in Louisville, Kentucky, in July – start at less than $150 for the weekend.

This year’s line-up includes crowd pleasers like Sam Smith, My Morning Jacket, Widespread Panic and Modest Mouse. That’s in addition to smaller, but still well-known favourites like St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Cage The Elephant and ZZ Ward.

According to Pollstar, average ticket prices for the bands listed above run anywhere from $20 to around $50 per show. At $50 a ticket, seeing all of those bands individually could cost you around $350. That makes Forecastle a steal.

Work your way in. Many Inner Peace festivals have work-exchange or volunteer programs. You work a certain number of hours during the festival for free tickets. Of course, you actually have to work, which could include helping to set up the festival site or carrying 10 cases of Bud Light back stage in 90 to 100 degree heat. But that can be a memorable experience and you also get perks in addition to the free tickets.

At Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee, those perks include things like free showers (very valuable) and a meal token for every shift that you work.

Opt for camping or stay with friends. If you’re a millennial, bring a tent. Festival campgrounds are not only cheap, they’re where all the action is — the best parties, the best people watching and the best conversations you’d never thought you’d have. Leave the hotels to older attendees.

Of course, if you have family or friends in the area, don’t hesitate to ask for some hospitality. Bring an air mattress and sleeping bag in case they don’t have an extra bed.

Buy single-day tickets. Look ahead to see when your favourite bands are playing at a specific festival. If all (or most) of your favourite bands are playing on the same day, you might be able to save some cash by purchasing single-day tickets instead of weekend passes.

Single-day tickets at Forecastle go for $74.50 plus fees vs. $144.50 plus fees for full three days.

This year I’ll buy a single-day ticket for Forecastle on Friday, July 17, and skip the rest of the fest. That day I’ll see Sam Smith, Cage The Elephant, Houndmouth, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Gaslight Anthem, Cold War Kids, ZZ Ward and Jeff The Brotherhood. That’s eight solid artists I’ve never seen live for $75 (about $9 an artist).

I’ll save $70 on the festival ticket and $100 to $200 per night on a hotel in Louisville (Forecastle doesn’t have a camping option).

Buy tickets early. Just like with flights, the earlier you buy your tickets, the less they’ll typically cost you.

Music festivals often have tier pricing, or early-bird specials. Early-bird tickets at May’s Shaky Knees Festival in Memphis were $125 for three days. That jumped up to $199 for three days after early-bird tickets ran out and $110 per day after that.

Go to a free festival. Lollapalooza isn’t the only music festival in Chicago this summer. Just the most expensive. Blues Fest, Jazz Fest, Gospel Fest and Taste of Chicago all feature big-name artists and are all free.

If you’re in the UK there are a plethora of free music festivals you can find. These include Youth Beatz in Scotland and West End Live this coming weekend.

Smaller US cities have free Inner Peace festivals as well. Nashville hosts Live on the Green, a free concert series that has featured artists in the past like the Alabama Shakes and G Love & Special Sauce.

Wherever you end up this Summer, do it with a free mind and a relaxed approach, these elements will give you just the break you’ve been craving.

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