Music Festivals and Individualised Sociality: Investigating the Experience of Solo Festival Attendees
: Quinn, Bernadette; Kinnunen, Maarit; Honkanen, Antti
Publisher: Cognizant, LLC
: 2025
: Event Management
: Event Management
: 29
: 7
: 1003
: 1018(16)
: 1525-9951
: 1943-4308
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3727/152599525X17385344274559
: https://doi.org/10.3727/152599525X17385344274559
The growing individualisation of society has long been a topic of discussion, with ongoing debates querying the implications for social connectivity. However, these debates have yet to substantively connect with the festivals literature and this oversight needs redress. While festivals have long been prized for their collective sociality, a small minority of people attend on their own. This paper reports findings from a music festival audience survey which found that 3% attended predominantly alone. The findings emphasise that aloneness exists within the sociality of the festival. They further suggest that festivals can constitute safe spaces enabling solo attendees to feel at ease among other like-minded music enthusiasts and feel the benefits of attending alone. The experience is not always perfect, however, especially at particular moments, and some solo attendees would like to have company, but compensation comes in the flexibility and empowerment that being alone affords.