HONK! and Other Music Festivals: The Early Utopia
(Property of Max Schaffer)
Music festivals have long been cultural hubs for civilizations where ideas, messages, love, empathy, and expression were championed. In this cultivation of feeling and visceral connection between our emotions and dialogue we see the inspiration and uplifting of all those usually in connection with the performance. In its most basic sense music festivals have the power to be the arena for activism, for the unification of communities, and for the creation of dare I say it the utopia. We see for example, that HONK! actively facilitates an incredibly diverse environment where people of all colors come together in a day of unity, as seen in the following picture. However, now we see the emergence of music festivals as this commodified experience that although claims to have the same atavistic intentions, but when unveiled is exposed for the profit hungry institutions that it truly is. In the article, “The kids are all white: can US festivals live up to their “post-racial’ promise?”, written by Jemayel Khawaja, Jemayel gives the reader insight into the organizational structure of music festivals. They highlight the fact that US music festivals present this multicultural ubiquitous utopia that facilitates equality, when in reality we see that data suggests that white people can comprise up to roughly 70% of the festival audience like it did in the 2016 Coachella festival.
Anova Brazil performs in Statue Park during the HONK! Festival on Saturday, October 12th, 2019 at 1:30pm.
With the contradicting historical precedent and emerging capitalist agenda of music festivals, I write this commentary solely to remind those of the power of the music festival and to define it as well. I offer a new definition of music festival that is predicated upon the belief that music festivals need to have a few main tenants. 1)Within a music festival there needs to be some kind of activist approach either bringing political or social change 2) There needs to be an effort to bridge the gaps in the representative community between people, 3) There needs to be a diverse set of people either through ideology, culture, race, or identity, 4) Music must either be the instrument or main facilitator in which these tenants are carried through. I give this definition, not out of technicality, but only for the purpose to raise the expectation of these festivals to create the visceral and empathetic connections between music, its performers, and its listeners that the artistry and its novel performance has the power to actually create. Most of the most popular music festivals exist as simply performative stages and spectacles where tickets get sold to the highest bidder. Where “fans” fail to recognize the lessons, the teachings, and consequently the importance and power of the music being presented to them. So, then I argue that music festivals have the responsibility of shaping these festivals into performances that have a message, that stand for something. I believe that this message is best encapsulated by the following image of a banner present at the festival.
Rude Mechanical Orchestra performs in Kenney Park during the HONK! Festival on Saturday, October 12 th 2019 at 3pm.
So why might this be? Why aren’t the claims of the music festival authentic? Jemayel, in my opinion, perfectly states the issue when he claims, “Therein lies the reason for the glaring dissonance between the intent and effect of the festival industry’s push for diversity: those in executive position, from the record label to the management to the promoters to the corporate sponsors, are usually caucasion.” Although, having caucausion promoters and management isn't inherently wrong, the main critique I am trying to highlight is the lack of the diversity of leadership and concern for the festival’s intention. I argue is the reason the intended objective of music festivals to be the oasis of equality never occurs. I argue that the leadership are those that facilitate the mission of the festivals. I argue that it is necessary for the leadership of these festivals to actively consider the mission statement for creating this ubiquitous meeting ground, and to ensure that the correct structural factors are in place to allow for activism and community building. For example, in my interview with Kevin Leppmann, who is one of the original founders of the HONK! Festival, claims that,
“So, the festival, as I say, if it's just to the extent to which it's a success, it has provided as a space and a forum where individually and collectively people can realize all kinds of creative possibilities and particularly surprising, spontaneous possibilities. And that in turn, as it turns out, and this is kind of the flip side of what I learned. What I think a lot of us learned organizing the festival, that it isn't so much that you need to orchestrate new ideas or intuitions. You need to remove a lot of other obstacles that modern society puts in the way of having this kind of collective imagination and expression that in fact. Given the opportunity and once you remove those other barriers, there is a natural inclination for people to sing and dance and laugh and play and love one another.”
We see that when leaders such as Kevin Leppmann actually do challenge the societal boundaries that exist between communities, the entire structure of the festival then revolves around the issue of breaking them down. The creation of a ubiquitous environment cannot be passive, and will take a back seat to other aspects of the spectacle if treated as such.
https://youtu.be/Kuz8vFQb9EY
In conclusion, I hope that this commentary opens the reader’s eyes to the potential of what all music festivals can stand for. I hope that it aptly recognizes the HONK! Festival for the community, activism, and structural change that it and its organizers create. I hope that it implores the reader to ask more from other festivals and their creators, and to demand an authentic music festival experience rather than this hollow shell of a festival we currently see today.
