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Pop festivals are music festivals that are focused solely on pop music. They are a social and outdoor event that allow individuals to gather together to enjoy popular music performed by multiple artists.

Music festivals are similar to concerts except for the fact that they are a large scale event. It varies between one hundred thousand people, to millions of people. The event lasts between a few days to two weeks, and happens outdoors. People gather and participate in music festivals because it allows individuals to celebrate the life of music, and how music positively impacts the life of many.

There are many types of music festivals; pop festivals are focused only on one genre. Other music festivals perform songs of many types of music genres, such as VELD Music Festival. Veld covers electronic dance music and hip hop songs. Other festivals focus on jazz, classical, rock, and folk music. Pop music festivals focus on, and/or, incorporates pop music. Pop music is a shorter form of the term, popular music. This genre is very popular because pop music is one of the few types of music that attracts all different kinds of age groups. This helps the genre gain more listeners.

History
Music festivals are an arrangement of performances at a specific place, that celebrates music. Music festivals may be traced back to as early as the eleventh century. The oldest annually celebrated music festival is, the Three Choirs Festival, which dates back to 1724. Whereas, the oldest pop music festival that is still celebrated is, the Pinkpop Festival. The Pinkpop Festival is a Dutch Festival that was established in the year 1970.

Music Festivals
Pop festivals have been around for more than half a century. Pop festivals are usually attended by the younger generation, but this does not prevent older generations from participating. Based on a survey of music festival attendees, in the years of 2010 and 2011, about five to six percent of music festival attendees were sixty year olds and above. Music festivals bring different individuals together through their connection and appreciation of music.

In order for music festivals to succeed, there has to be a plan. There are two ways in order for music festivals to succeed. Either they focus on one genre, and be the best festival to host that genre. Or, they focus on a variety of different genres in order to attract more people, since the audience would have more performances to enjoy. Other ways for the festival to succeed is based on the artist they book, when the artist is very popular, and is in high demand, the festival must acquire the artist in order to be well established.

Pros and Cons
Like any other event and organization that affect individuals, music festivals have their share of positive and negative aspects.

Pros
The experience. There is a different experience individuals have when they listen to music over the radio, compared to when they hear it in person. When experiencing the performance in person, there is a different aura. The individuals get to see the artist, and the vibe of the song. That experience in person cannot be experienced when hearing a song through a different platform.

With continuous developments in technology, scientists are able to create more studies in order to advance societies knowledge. One study focused on the contributions to the health of individuals. The results suggested that, music contributes to the health and wellness of individuals. Since pop festivals are a part of the culture of music, attending music festivals may be beneficial to individuals as the sound of music can improve their health. These benefits are lifelong, as it impacts a persons childhood to senior years. Even the way they engage in social settings, such as their interactions in their community, are affected.

With the increase of online participation amongst todays technology focused society, social media is important when it comes to communication. Since many interactions between individuals occur online, face to face interactions are slowly fading. And although there are more communities being built online, personal connections are harder to discover. However, music festivals make it possible to create personal connections with others because music festivals require offline interactions and actions. Individuals needs to show up in the physical world in order to participate, which helps continue the traditional form of communication in society.

Pop festivals also gather different generations through music, and this can improve relationships between individuals with different ages. Allowing them to enjoy the presence of others while engaging in fun activities. Unlike the Pinkpop Festival, the Lowlands festival offers a variety of entertainment, such as, film, theatre, and stand-up comedy. With the different types of entertainment provided to the audience, it attracts the attention of individuals within different age groups. So the music festival may be enjoyed by everyone.

Cons
Music festivals were firstly enjoyed by hippies, and commonly associated with hippies are drugs. Drugs are common in music festivals, as well as drinking. Music festivals are events where adults and senior adults can enjoy themselves. And it may be hard for individuals to enjoy if they do not appreciate the use of drugs or drinking.

Music festivals usually occur within the span of a few days. Which means that there will be people sleeping in a tent, basically camping, until the event is over. It will be unhygienic to sleep in such conditions. Especially since there will be debris, such as bottles and cans of alcohol, and trash all over the place. There is no caretaker, or not enough, to clean the area up during hours of operation.

Overcrowded. Since there are thousands of individuals attending music festivals, it may get too crowded for people to enjoy. People will get pushed on, maybe jumped on. And it could be hard to see the performance.

Expenses. Like any other business, the main goal is profit. When there is food being served in an isolated area, far from other food vendors, the prices are higher than they normally are because of demand.

List of Pop Music Festivals

 * Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
 * Incheon Korean Music Wave
 * Live Aid
 * Isle of MTV
 * Summerfest
 * Mo Pop Festival

Reference List
Category:Music festivals Category:Pop music