Thread by @BrockWhalley

A beautiful summer day spent listening to #LiveMusic with friends (and a whole bunch of friendly music fans). An ideal end to a wonderful weekend! #HappyLife (189/365) @mktgqn

Couldn't properly articulate a realization last night.

It turns out that one of my favourite things about music festivals is only tangentially about music.

The festivals that most people consider the best are generally the ones that have variety in their line ups. Different genres and styles, yes, but also where artists are from and who they are (ie, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, etc.).

In my experience, a large portion of the people who attend these festivals are music fans. Not necessarily fans of a specific artist or genre, but in quality music, regardless of what it is or who is making it. A true appreciation of the creative process and what it means.

And the thing I've come to realize, and what I feel might just be the most important aspect of this, is that this view goes hand in hand with being open minded. Open to new and exciting new forms of music, but also open minded about all of the rest of our differences, too.

So it seems especially important in these somewhat selfish and sometimes downright hateful days that these gatherings are a wonderful bright spot and give me hope that we can rise above the negativity and bullshit. One more thing to love about #LiveMusic.

@threadreaderapp Please unroll.