Festival: From Counterculture to Mainstream

Festival: FromCountercultureto Mainstream

“The modern festival has transcended the counterculture that birthed American music festivals in the 1960’s and become a part of the mainstream of American life.”

It’s festival season, which means the stress of curating your own idyllic festival experience, or, for the more introverted, hibernating until the fall when this festival business will finally pass until next summer. Regardless of whether you’re one of the 23% of Americans who went to a festival last year, a jaded former attendee who now thinks festivals are dead, or, one of the many Americans who have never attended a music festival, the steady rise of festival culture as a mainstay of summer and a discourse on youth and American cultural practice is

a fascinating one (McDermott). Just what about the here and now makes festivals such a thing? Is it generational, a symptom of rampant commercialism, or an indicator of an increasingly stratified social class in America? Either way, with social media and fashion/ beauty brands thrusting festival aesthetics in front of consumers, it’s hard to escape the festival scene, even if one has no interest. The modern festival has transcended the counterculture that birthed American music festivals in the 1960’s and become a part of the mainstream of American life.