21 replies to this topic

[indie-anna]

Hi Guys,

I am conducting some research into the role of music festivals, and want to hear your views about whether music festivals provide the right kind of environment to bring about social change i.e. are they educational? I am specifically interested in looking at the role of music festivals in educating people about climate change. There are no questions to answer, just wanted to start a discussion really, and love to hear some specific examples of festivals that may have provided people with experiences of a changing nature, good or bad!

your views are much appreciated and will contribute towards valuable research in the music festivals and climate change field.

Thanks!

[rosstopher]

not sure if this counts, but in 2008 me and a few mates went to see british sea power in the JP tent and left our mate will in the cinema tent (he didnt like BSP) and left him watching a effects of climate change film, he fell asleep and after we went and collected him he was spouting off exact factual quotes from the film for the rest of the festival..., dont know if this is usefull but there you go, thought i would share not sure if it was that he had learnt from it, or some sort of brainwashing thing haha

Edited by rosstopher, 30 March 2010 - 10:12 AM.

[laid back in the sun]

i hope climate camp dont set up in dragon again this year, they took up all that nice flat area by the entrance and left the rest of us camped on the slope, most inconsiderate of them  

[JodiB]

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[denwyn]

I can see that it may have an effect on some folk there. I do tend to look around at all the eco things ect, but its all more or less forgotten when the music starts and by the time i'm back home its totally gone.

[indie-anna]

JodiB, on Mar 30 2010, 11:44 AM, said:

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thanks for your valuable input

[indie-anna]

denwyn, on Mar 30 2010, 11:48 AM, said:

I can see that it may have an effect on some folk there. I do tend to look around at all the eco things ect, but its all more or less forgotten when the music starts and by the time i'm back home its totally gone.

Thanks, that was the kind of info I was looking for! I am really looking to see if it does have a lasting effect after the festival, but I suspect not. As you say, once the music starts, thats all people are there for.

[4AssedMonkey]

I can only speak for myself but I like to think that I'm aware enough and educated enough already about such issues.  From conversations I've had with many people on here and elsewhere who are Glasto attendees, I would guess that when it comes to issues of environmental damage, climate change and social responsibility et al that they are largely preaching to the converted.  Similarly, I would expect most of the people who are ignorant of such issues and wish to remain so wouldn't be interested in attending a music festival, least of all Glasto.

[st00ka]

As a miserable cinic I feel sometimes they can have the opposite effect, I've stood and been preached at by left wing comedians (Mark Thomas please stand up) a very simplistic view of the world and even as somebody with left leaning views have thought this is a load of old tosh which has in turn made me into an even more miserable cinic.  Vicious cycle.  

[ramragon]

cant say that i noticed as many people educating on climate change and alike last year, in 2008 i remember quite a few stands around the shangri-la area which were handing leaflets out about the effects. Also remember people going around asking your views on certain topics, climate change being one of them. You got a badge at the the end of the conversation and you were asked if you would sign up for further information by email which i did, cant say i ever heard anything back tho.
As for how it helps, i would say that looking around over the last few years a majority of the people who attend glastonbury go for the music, drink and other vices. They see it as an opportunity to let their hair down and socialise. As far as educational value, if the cause involves something that makes you stand out from the crowd ( being painted blue !) then people will buy in to it or be more visible, otherwise, it appears if the education value has very little effect on the masses.

The main theme you see plastered all over is love the farm, leave no trace and im sure that anyone who leaves monday morning will agree that the sentiment is largely ignored. Maybe's changing the slogan to ' love the farm, leave a shit-tip ! ' may have the effect that people might take their rubbish away !

[ukslim]

I think if you have vaguely right-on views, it's easy to feel marginalised in the "real world"; as if the rest of the world thinks the right-wing status quo is right and proper, so you should just shut up.

At a festival like Glastonbury, you get reminded that actually there are people who think like you, and that can motivate some people to get off their arses and work for what they believe in.

(Not me though. I'm a lazy bugger who makes a few charitable donations and leaves it at that. At least, at the moment I am.)

[tommmy]

Global warming is a load of hippy toss.

Clarkson for PM.

[ramragon]

tommmy, on Mar 30 2010, 03:28 PM, said:

Global warming is a load of hippy toss.

Clarkson for PM.

ha ha

[5co77ie]

Glastonbury has been instrumental in re-inforcing my green politics (back in the nineties when no one else knew what recycling was let along anything else) as well as my politics with Leftfield, the annual Tony Benn pilgrimage, alongside Greenpeace, CND then Water Aid, the political hotbed that is the The Green Fields and Green Futures. Glastonbury was for years the only large 'commercial' festival to have a green/red agenda. There were also a lot of free green peace hippy festivals that also promoted a less greedy attitude most were broken up by the police but many survive.

I seriously think Glastonbury has over the years played a major part in putting green issues in the public consciousness, and making them and their supporters more mainstream.

Then of course there's folk festivals and their revolutionary stance, fighting for what's right - any good folk artist as Justin Sullivan said, "write about stuff that was going on. But, we've always written about it from different points of view, a song about people righting a wrong, vengeance, or being one of the chosen are written from the point of view that we might not even necessarily agree with, they're just about human emotion."

Many big festivals have now set up a similar agenda and i think that's great to offer their punters a wider view of the world than music, smoke, sex, and cider.

Edited by 5co77ie, 30 March 2010 - 04:40 PM.

[Howl]

4AssedMonkey, on Mar 30 2010, 11:34 AM, said:

I would guess that when it comes to issues of environmental damage, climate change and social responsibility et al that they are largely preaching to the converted.

I'm not so sure. I know it doesn't apply to all Glasto goers, but the amount of left-wing liberals who also indulge hugely in controlled substances is large. Anyone who happily indulges in the products of the drugs industry without a thought about the massive human right violations much of that production involves cannot really be described as fully converted on these issues.

That said, drugs related campaigning is rarely what is preached at festivals.

[russycarps]

is this research for a university dissertation?

[st00ka]

Howl, on Mar 30 2010, 06:08 PM, said:

I'm not so sure. I know it doesn't apply to all Glasto goers, but the amount of left-wing liberals who also indulge hugely in controlled substances is large. Anyone who happily indulges in the products of the drugs industry without a thought about the massive human right violations much of that production involves cannot really be described as fully converted on these issues.

That said, drugs related campaigning is rarely what is preached at festivals.

Fair trade drugs for all.

[20/20]

There is an interesting comparison of the rhetoric of festival goers and the reality of the actual punters who attend Glasto. There are a handful of pro-green pro-humanrights pro-thelatestflavourofthemonth etc types at Glasto. The Leftfield is the perfect example of this. Compare how many people say they want to blow off Billy Bragg, Tony Benn etc with the tiny proportion of people who actually give enough of a crap to go and see them.

The best example of the rhetoric v reality is the state glastonbury is left in on the Monday. Never mind it taking a few months before the social messages fade from the psyche, by Monday hardly anyone at Glasto gives a poo, despite their protestations. The proof, sadly, is in aftermath of the site. Many thousands of tents, cans and bags litter the site. Search Youtube for Glastonbury Aftermath 2009 to see how bad this is.

What is going on is that there are a lot of people who want to be associated with the green/social version of Glastonbury. Very few of them actually give a crap when they are not being watched. If Glastonbury can't get a grip of itself then it can't preach to the world about how green or socially responsible the world should be.

I for one, am deeply saddened, by the selfish behaviours of people who we might reasonably expect better of.

[Bza]

I think it may have something to do with the age at which you are exposed to the politics.

I know that when i was in my teens/early twenties I was well into left-leaning literature/music and loved the eco/political side of the festival in 2003 (first glasto).  Thankfully because I was exposed to this at this age it has kept me on the left side of things now, but i am not as outspoken as I was on these topics.

Maybe its worth looking at how different age groups respond to the festival and its environmental/political messages.

Frank Turner summed it up quite well with 'Im young enough to be all pissed off but im old enough to be jaded'.

[paulo999]

5co77ie, on Mar 30 2010, 05:38 PM, said:

Glastonbury has been instrumental in re-inforcing my green politics (back in the nineties when no one else knew what recycling was let along anything else) as well as my politics with Leftfield, the annual Tony Benn pilgrimage, alongside Greenpeace, CND then Water Aid, the political hotbed that is the The Green Fields and Green Futures. Glastonbury was for years the only large 'commercial' festival to have a green/red agenda. There were also a lot of free green peace hippy festivals that also promoted a less greedy attitude most were broken up by the police but many survive.

I seriously think Glastonbury has over the years played a major part in putting green issues in the public consciousness, and making them and their supporters more mainstream.

Then of course there's folk festivals and their revolutionary stance, fighting for what's right - any good folk artist as Justin Sullivan said, "write about stuff that was going on. But, we've always written about it from different points of view, a song about people righting a wrong, vengeance, or being one of the chosen are written from the point of view that we might not even necessarily agree with, they're just about human emotion."

Many big festivals have now set up a similar agenda and i think that's great to offer their punters a wider view of the world than music, smoke, sex, and cider.

Good perspective.