For many people, visiting festivals can be outside of their comfort zone – but for festival junkies who enjoy concerts with their friends, an equally daunting task can be to visit that same festival by themselves!
However, visiting a festival by yourself can be one of the most enriching and enlightening experiences you’ll ever have. It will allow you to come out of your shell and make friends much more easily than in a group.
If you’re still weighing whether you want to go to a festival by yourself, here are some of the most important things to take care of before you take the leap:
Preparation is Key
If you prepare for your festival experience in advance, you will know exactly what to expect and there will be less room for unpleasant surprises. This especially relates to booking travel and accommodation.
Don’t wait until the last minute to book your transportation, especially if you’re flying. Good preparation and booking in advance can save you a ton of money which you can use to have a great time at the festival itself.
Also, it would be a good idea to explore the venue before you get there so you’ll know exactly what to expect. You can find images of the festival space quite easily, usually on the organizer’s website (you can even try Instagram with the festival’s hashtag).
Take Care of Stuff at Home First
It’s the best feeling in the world to just unwind at a music festival and forget all about your daily worries and struggles, but if you leave commitments and unresolved tasks, you’re likely to feel stressed and anxious, unable to enjoy your experience to the max.
To tackle some of your academic or work tasks and have a clean slate come festival time, you can use some of the following online services: TopEssayWriting (an online writing service website), ClassyEssay (an essay writing platform where you can delegate your work), Fiverr (a database of freelancers offering various services) or WriteScout (a writing portal for outsourcing writing work).
Attract New People
However unusual it may seem, if you’re alone instead of in a group, you have much higher chances of meeting someone new and even finding a whole new tribe, especially at a festival. To do this, you need to be approachable, which means you should ooze positivity, confidence and good spirit.
Forget about shyness or introversion, at least during your time there, and don’t be afraid to approach other people!
Stay in The Moment
A festival is an amazing environment where you can really stay grounded in the present moment and forget all about regrets from the past or worries from the future. This is especially emphasized if you’re there alone because you’ll have some time to get to know yourself while enjoying the experience.
To make sure you really stay in the moment, try to limit your phone use as much as possible and stay open to real-life interactions with other people. After a life-changing experience, no one ever said: “I wish I was on my phone more”!
Join Meetups
Remember, even if you decide to ride solo at a festival, you’re not the only one who arrived without a group of friends. At every festival, there are a bunch of people who decide to go by themselves, most often for some of the reasons that we’ve mentioned above.
What’s even more interesting is that solo festival attendees often organize meetups so they can meet new people and expand their circle. You can find these meetup groups beforehand in social media groups or forums.
“The best thing about visiting festivals alone is that you can connect to kindred spirits who are also there enjoying their own company. Interestingly, they usually have the most amazing stories, because they are fearless adventurers who don’t need the support of their friend group to have a great time”, says Helene Cue, a travel blogger at Studyker and Subjecto.
Practice Self-Care and Self-Improvement
If you approach your solo festival experience in the right frame of mind, it can turn out to be just the vacation you needed – something like a retreat where you learn to function and have fun on your own.
When you’re visiting festivals in a group, you’ll often have to compromise and adapt to the wishes of the collective. For example, if your group wants to attend one stage, and you’re interested in another performer who’s playing unplugged at a side stage, you will most likely succumb to peer pressure and go to the show your friends want to go to. When you’re alone, you will have the chance to do exactly what you want to do, which is one of the most liberating experiences for those who are used to saying ‘yes’ to people in their lives, whatever they may ask for.
If you want to come back from your solo festival as a new and improved person, remember to take care of yourself: try to get a decent amount of sleep, rest and hydrate and take care of your health needs. Also, you should aim to incorporate a healthy diet that will make up for all the energy you’ll use jumping around and dancing!
Conclusion
If you manage to get out of your head and enjoy the present moment, visiting a festival alone can be one of the most enriching experiences of your life. Of course, it doesn’t mean secluding into your tent all of the time, but actually meeting new people and stepping outside the comfort zone of your friend group.
It can be an experience that will teach you a lot about yourself, your fears, hopes and strengths, which is something that you can apply back in your everyday life.
