Going Solo to Festivals

Do you prefer to go to festivals with family and friends or on your own?  If you had asked me a few years ago, I would definitely have said with my friends and family.  It was part of the tradition.  I had certain people that I went to each one with and looked forward to them every year.  Now, I honestly prefer to go to them alone.  I have fewer friends and family to choose from down here in Virginia, so over the last decade I have gotten into the habit of going on my own when no one is around to go with me.  Now I find myself actually preferring to go on my own.  I have complete control over when I go, how long I stay, and what I do while I am there.

Two weekends ago, I went to the Herndon Festival (each of the three days I went) on my own.  Each day, I decided when I wanted to go (afternoon, evening, or both).  When I got there, I headed directly for food every time because that is the most important part to me.  Once my hunger was satisfied, I went about entertaining myself according to my personal tastes.  Thursday, I chose the dueling piano act because I remembered how much fun I had at Bobby McKey’s (www.bobbymckeys.com) last year.  Saturday, I chose Teaze because I grew up on a classic rock station and figured I would be able to sing along with most of the music (I was right!).  I also stayed for fireworks with no one there to complain about beating the crowd.  Sunday, I went early so I could browse all the vendor stands before they started to pack up for the day.  If I would have picked something I did not like, then I would have just moved on to the next thing.  Everything was to my own preferences, and no one was around to complain to me about any of it.

Last weekend, I went to Celebrate Fairfax with my husband and another couple.  First, we went later than I probably would have gone on my own.  I proposed the later starting time, but mostly this was because I knew my husband would not want to get there much before the main headliner.  When we got there, I asked to find food first.  He drug me to the first food area on the map, would not give me time to think about my options before picking the vendor we were closest to, and then complained about the lack of choices.  From there, we immediately went to sit down with our friends in the main stage area to hear the headliners for the night, Three Doors Down, instead of exploring anything else at the festival first.  I was super excited to see Three Doors Down, and I thought they put on a good show despite some sound equipment issues.  However, I later listened to my husband and his friend complain about how poor a performance Three Doors Down gave, and how they must have just showed up for their paycheck and were not there to have fun (blah, blah, blah).  Right after the show, we watched the fireworks, which were awesome of course.  At this point, I was ready to go home.  Unfortunately, the late act was an AC/DC cover band called Thunderstruck that my husband decided we were going to watch in its entirety.  Thunderstruck actually turned out to be a lot of fun, but I still would not have stayed until eleven to see their whole set.  It was not that I had a bad time at Celebrate Fairfax with my husband and our friends.  I actually had an enjoyable evening.  I just did not have an outing that was catered to my tastes.

Of course every instance is different.  Sometimes I have a really incredible time with my friends and/or family.  Other times I do not have much fun at all with them.  On average though, I feel like I have a better time going to my summer festivals and programs on my own.  Maybe I am just becoming a selfish person.  Maybe I am just not choosing my festival companions thoughtfully enough.  Maybe I need to be more assertive about what I want from the experience.  Regardless, I will try to go to as many of them as I can on my own this year.

If you see me at a festival this summer though, still stop to say hi.  Just because I like to go on my own, does not mean I am not open to meeting new friends there.  See you next week!