After months of packing camping gear, planning how to get from stage to stage without missing a beat from your favorite bands, and mental preparation that you won’t be showering for days at a time, you did it. You not only survived a music festival, but you had the best weekend of your life. Now, it’s back to the real world. While taking a warm shower to get three days worth of dirt out from under your fingernails and eat a meal at an actual table, you quickly start to miss festival life.
Post Festival Depression is a serious problem that affects millions of people each year. The struggle is real because your daily life simply pails in comparison to your musical fest life. What do you mean there’s no concert going on at 3 am tonight? When will you get to see your campsite neighbors/new bffs who live three states away again? Why is hugging strangers frowned upon?
Symptoms of PFD include:
1. A strong desire to start “Sweet Caroline” sing-alongs in public
2. Incessant sobbing
3. Disregard for proper footwear
4. Lack of proper hygiene
5. Wearing your Camelbak despite being near fresh water at all times
6. Refusal to cut off your wristband
7. Referring to the festival as “heaven” or “my happy place”
8. Spending countless hours scouring festival tags on social media
9. Urge to wear costumes/a bathing suit at all times
10. General lack of interest in everything not music fest related
Unfortunately, there is no cure for PFD, but you can get through it. Just follow these steps and know you’re not alone.
1. Let yourself be sad.
For some unfair reason, the real world can’t be like music festivals. It sucks. Give into the grieving process despite coworkers, friends, and family not fully understanding why you won’t take off your Bonnaroo t-shirt or stop listening to Lana Del Ray on repeat.
2. Reminisce with fellow festival goers.
Trying to describe a music festival to someone who has never experienced one isn’t just impossible, it’s disheartening. That’s why you need to lean on your friends who went with you for support during this difficult time and keep in touch with your newfound friends. Watching YouTube videos together or scrolling through pics will ease the ache.
3. Set up another concert in the near future.
I got a fever! And the only prescription…is more cowbell (or EDM or Drake whatever your own personal cowbell may be). Getting tickets to another show a few weeks after a festival will give you something to look forward to.
4. Road trip to visit new friends.
Not only will the long car ride remind you of your journey to your little slice of heaven, but you know the main topic of conversation when you get there will be the great memories of music festival life. Seriously, meeting new people is one of the greatest parts of any fest.
5. Spread the love and the music.
The positive vibes might not be coming from everyone around you anymore, but they can still come from you. Keep that happy feeling all year long. Maybe you discovered a cool band on a small stage while you were getting some shade – let your friends know about them and suddenly you have new festival mates.
6. Look forward to next year.
Maybe next year you will fly across the country to check out Coachella. Maybe you’ll hit three fests. Maybe you’ll round up twenty carloads of friends to join you. Start dreaming up those line up wish lists and scooping up those early release tickets.
7. Be happy it happened, not sad it’s over.
Easier said than done, I know, but there’s always next year.
