Music festivals: everything you need to know
Several days of uninterrupted music. Boys camped somewhere away from the city. They see fun 24 hours with their friends. Parents, alcohol and drugs out of control. The truth is that the music festivals They have become a preferred option for young people and parents have to know what they are, why they like it so much, keep open communication channels with our children and get that complicated balance between their freedom and our concern.
The music festivals that so many young people want to attend have become that fear that is fired during the winter and becomes a reality every summer. Drugs and alcohol, poor security, brutal accumulations of people, are some of the concerns of parents. But how many of these concerns are unfounded and which are real? Although there are some well-founded fears, there is no lack of unjustified prejudices that generate fear in parents. The best way to make a correct decision is to get informed and, above all, to talk a lot with the children.
The phenomenon of music festivals
Every year in Spain the phenomenon of musical festivals is adding more and more followers, a circumstance that promoters and entrepreneurs take advantage of, to invest more and more money and create new events in our country.
Of the classics like the Sound, celebrated in Barcelona since 1994, the Dreambeach (formerly known as Creamfields Andalucía), which is around ten years old, or the FIB at Benicasim that this year will reach its 22 editions, the festival essence has multiplied giving rise to numerous festivals throughout Spain.
Others of great importance are the BBK Live of Bilbao and the one highly valued by young people Arenal Sound, which, since its opening in 2010 in Castellón, has become one of the most acclaimed in Spain, if not the most.
Musical styles of festivals: what do our children listen to?
There are three types of festivals based on their musical style, indie / rock music festivals, electronic music festivals and the mixture of both styles. This is what our children listen to,
1. At indie music festivals they participate mostly bands, although occasionally and exceptionally they act electronic groups (some events of indie music are the BBK, the FIB or the SOS 4.8).
2. Electronic music festivals they are the ones that are having the most growth, these are divided between those who bet on a specific subgenre or those who opt for the union of some of them (some of them are the Sónar, the Dreambeach or A Summer Story and 4every1 in Madrid). This type of festivals is probably the one that most arouses fear in parents, who frequently link electronic music with drugs, despite the usual controls in the venues.
3. The amalgam of indie and electronics in a same place, a concept that also has a great place in the national environment, and that undoubtedly has as its maximum exponent the Arenal Sound Festival.
Are music festivals safe?
The image of the dangerous avalanches It is always one of the fears that invade parents when children talk to them about festivals. It is true that in any enclosure with a large accumulation of people these risks occur. However, it has become one of the great obsessions of the businessmen of these parties and the control of the Administration has also become more fierce, especially after the tragedy of Madrid Arena.
Javier Martín, one of the promoters of two major festivals in the capital, the Winter Festival and A Summer Story, explained to Thisfamilywelove how this challenge is faced. A set is established number of people dedicated exclusively to security, always depending on the number of people attending the festival. To this end, a device is put into operation that links private and public security that act jointly and in a coordinated manner. Emergencies are another issue that most concern. Martínez explains that there is a system prepared in case of evacuation. The emergency exits depend on the capacity and have maximum control. If there were a massive exit, they would be totally open to avoid the horror that followed the Madrid Arena. All these measures are essential, if not, the festival would be suspended immediately.
The greatest fear: alcohol and drugs
To deny that alcohol and drugs are present at a festival is to deny the evidence. But it is also true that they are also present in any night out of our children. From the organization, they try extreme controls. In the case of the festivals directed by Javier Martínez, he affirms that the festival's private security is in charge of exhaustively registering both the attendees and their belongings (backpacks, bags ...).Apart, the Civil Guard puts controls for vehicles in the vicinity of the enclosure. As for alcohol, the festivals are prepared for any setback, since they put high security controls so that bottles can not be introduced inside the venue. Inside, the drinks are regulated in the same way as in any nighttime entertainment.
Marina Berrio
It may interest you:
- The audition of young people, endangered by bad practices
- Drugs: your best ally, prevention
- Alcohol and adolescents: advice from the AEP to prevent consumption
- Adolescents and the use of their freedom
