Music Festivals and Individualised Sociality: Investigating the Experience of Solo Festival Attendees




Quinn, Bernadette; Kinnunen, Maarit; Honkanen, Antti

PublisherCognizant, LLC

2025

Event Management

Event Management

29

7

1003

1018(16)

1525-9951

1943-4308

DOIhttps://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.



Last updated on 2025-03-10 at 07:33