Unfortunately it still may be some time before festivals return, let alone return to being like they were before. But never fear, we have compiled a list of all the things you love about festivals so you can imagine you’re back there and before you know it you will be.

The Past:

Let’s start at the beginning. Planning. Whether you and your mates go to the same festivals every year or you’ve found new ones to go to, you always have to plan. Firstly you want to make sure all your friends will be online when tickets go on sale so that no one misses out – and that’s the easy part.

Figuring out who is driving, who is bringing the camping gear, how you will fit it all in the car plus your outfits, sorting out which bands you want to see and which stage you have to be at, it can be a logistical nightmare. However the result is that you have the best time camping, seeing your favourite bands and all with your best mates.

Next we have the weather. And because you’ll be camping it’ll be ridiculously hot during the day and beyond freezing at night, unless you are the luckiest festival goer ever. And that’s if it doesn’t rain.

But as long as you have sunscreen and sturdy shoes and a good sleeping bag does the weather really matter? A little bit of bad weather won’t take away the fun you’ll have with your mates.

Now something that we definitely miss is a good excuse to get dressed up. Festival fashion is the place to express your personality, wear every pattern under the sun and all the colours and be free to wear whatever you like.

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The excitement of buying a new outfit, choosing matching accessories and helping your friends pick their’s is something that can’t be replicated.

And of course the best part! All your favourite bands, artists and DJs in one location making festivals just one big party. There is absolutely nothing that beats the feeling of dancing in a huge crowd with your best mates in front of a huge stage where your favourite artists are jamming.

It’s even better when there are multiple stages and you have options (although if you and your friends split up you needed a strategy to meet up again). Compared to a live concert there’s so much more freedom and diversity in the music and there’s always something for everyone!

Whether it is for one day or one week the atmosphere, being with your mates and the music is unrivalled and we think that’s what we miss the most – all of it!!

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The Present:

While some Australian states are allowing public gatherings to occur again there are strict protocols and restrictions that remain. To keep everyone safe there are also restrictions on crossing different state borders and travelling from metropolitan areas to regional/rural areas in some cases.

It does not look like the Australian music festival scene we are so accustomed to will be going ahead this summer. So in the meantime keep posting your throwback pictures and keep yourself and others safe so that we can get back to seeing our favourite artists and camping, simultaneously.

And don’t forget that we can still enjoy music and social distance at the same time.

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The Future:

You may have seen that the UK hosted the first ever ‘socially distanced’ music festival earlier in the year. Groups of 3-4 restricted to the area of their own pod, spread out to avoid close contact with other people.

Maybe this is what our festival future looks like. And would we be upset about it? You can’t loose your friends in a crowd, no one gets trampled, there is plenty of room for dancing and you don’t have to rub up against anyone else’s sweaty body. Is this what we want? Or do we want it to go back to what it was pre COVID-19?

I don’t know but what I do know is that either way the next time we can see our favourite musicians performing live it’s going to be one hell of a party.

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