This Week on Portsmouth Point: More Festivals = Poorer Quality?
By Archie B, Year 8
As we have now entered music festival ‘season’, I would like to look at all festivals that are taking place soon, and their line-ups.
The sheer popularity of music festivals in the UK has sparked a rapid flurry of new festivals popping up all around the UK.From timeless events like Glastonbury, to more recent festivals, like Victorious, first held in 2012.
The many new additions of festivals in the UK has meant there has been greater rivalry between events, all yearning for the biggest stars in the music scene. And this has caused split opinions within the key aspect of all music festivals; the line-up.
That is the deciding factor for whether or not you attend a music event.
Ultimately, it does come down to opinion. If you like rock music, and the festival you were planning to go to has a great deal of this in their line-up, you are suddenly itching to go there. On the other hand however, it could be the complete opposite of this, in terms of how your favourite genre could be missing almost entirely, and you look for other festivals.
The controversy seems to grow year by year amongst such line-ups, with many people believing festival line-ups have worsened and worsened. However, the reality is really just that festivals have increased the depth in their line-ups, with countless amounts of genres being added. This is key to a good festival, as all viewers will be pleased with at least some of what is on display.
If you were to look at Glastonbury line-ups, for example, over the years, you would notice a change in the types of artists performing. This is likely due to the fact that Glastonbury, being (arguably) the most famous and popular festival in the UK, adjust their line-up year by year to what genres are most popular, what artists are ‘trending’, who has just released new albums, and many more factors. To put it briefly, they base it off popularity, and frankly what would sell the most tickets.
As music evolves and expands, there will inevitably be some (in your eyes) ‘poor’ line-ups at festivals. This is just opinion; not fact. The increase in festivals is positive in many ways, such as how it can give local, new talents a shot at the big time, how it can bring families and friends together without needing to travel miles and miles, and so many more.
To conclude, I believe that the increase in festivals in the UK has led to more varied line-ups, which in turn has caused mixed opinions and unfounded protestations that quality has been impacted.
