Tell us about....Festivals.

I'm a big festival goer - not just music ones, but also ones on ideas. I just saw Zadie Smith talk at the Opera House's All about Women festival for International Women's Day. Yesterday I got all my talks booked for the Sydney Writers festival. I got with different friends, them coming and going, while I'm the constant. I find it a great way to get inspired about reading. My friend has just lined up a stack of nights at the comedy festival.

“Festivals are the fireworks of the soul.” — Sanober Khan

My annual trip down for Ultra is booked. As my husband doesn't like to do anything for NYE, my celebrations start on New Years Day with freinds at Field Day, as those that follow me on Insta would know. Harbourlife herlds the start of the party season and in my head, summer, though it is a few months earlier...

VIVID is one of my favourite festivals - now not just dazzling lights but music, food and ideas. It brings the city alive and makes it a joy to be out and about in the winter months. 

The Festival of Dangerous Ideas really pushes my thinking and engages me on a level that the other festivals don't. I find that so invigorating, so it is by far my favourite of the intellectual festivals.

I love Bluesfest because it's a great way to see bands I would never think to see and it's one that my husband also enjoys so we can share it together. It's a great holiday, though rather costly. It's the longest one that we go to, and I love being in that routine of the festival, passing the free time until it's time to head to the grounds.

I've only been once to Wanderer festival and WOMAD but had a brilliant time at both - I would love to go again.

The Festival of Sydney brings the city alive in January, and there's Volume to get you to the Art Gallery and you could even say the Biennale has a mini festival. There are film festival screenings so you can throw yourself into a culture or language from the ease of a cinema seat.

So why do I love festivals? You get into a bubble of exprience, be it lights, music, food. You see things previously unknown, your senses are stimulated. For a brief time - a day or few days, it's all you think about, all you plan. It's a shift in your being, if only momentarily. If you go with other people, you get into a rhythm. If you go by yourself there is a whole crowd of people to share the experience with. One time at FODI, this woman sat at my dinner table, the only spare seat, and we discussed what we had just seen and what was next. It was as if we were long lost friends. When dancing, people will just join in. There's a shared joyousness. There's an energy that all the attendees have, a tangible bubbling on the surface that excudes in smiles, chatter or movement. Festivals are not just a break from reality, they offer a break from yourself. Your normal life, your day to day living, your obligations and routines are all cast aside and your focus is directed into this one moment.  Your thoughts and discussions change, your interactions with friends and strangers change as everyone else there has done the same. It's a voyage from your daily life into the world of the festival.

“A festival is a celebration of community, culture, and connection.” — Amit Ray

I am off to Parookaville this year (flights permitting) and it refers to itself as it's own country, and you get a 'visa' to go. I feel this is exactly what festivals are. Another country not my own (at least not my normal). You travel into another world, but alas the visit is brief. Then it's back to mundane thoughts, words and deeds...

“Festivals are an opportunity to pause and savor the sweetness of life.” — Anonymous

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