Ah, summer! Here comes that time of the year again where all of our hippie friends flock to open fields to enjoy carefree days of good music. When the words “music festival” pop into our minds, we think Woodstock, the mother of all music festivals. Images of dirty and shaggy hippies preaching free love fill our thoughts, as well as road tripping hundreds of miles to make it to this sacred and elusive destination.

Anyone who has attended a music festival in recent years knows that this could not be any further from the truth. Everyone and their mothers have been attending music festivals for years, and I do mean that quite literally. Gone is the time when these festivals reach out to one demographic. Everyone from accountants to journalists to middle school baseball coaches are enjoying festivals right in their own backyards. How did this come to be? The simple answer, over saturation of the festival industry.

Wherever you live, there is most likely a music festival happening within 100 miles of you. Unless you live in the middle of Montana (and give it time Montana, you’ll get there), you probably already have easy access to one. Now, festivals with some 50,000+ attendees are emerging all over the country. We’ve mostly seen this increase in the past decade. The more renowned festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo have been around since the turn of the century and are even household names by now. Newer festivals such as Governors Ball, Hangout, Firefly, Sasquatch!, Panorama, Boston Calling have only surfaced in the last 5 years. These are already stripping away at the unique and unparalleled experiences that you would find at a Coachella or a Lollapalooza. With music festivals seemingly popping up all around the country, one would think that the magic is fading. When you factor in how many festivals an artist actually plays, you realize that it truly is.

Ever since I can remember, festivals have always shared some similar artists on their lineups, and that’s OK. I personally am a fan of the indie alternative band The Killers, but I don’t want my sole opportunity to see them to be limited to one festival over 1,000 miles away. Thankfully, that isn’t the case. In fact, it’s nowhere close. The Killers alone are slated to headline over 20 festivals this summer, half of them being in the United States. Now the question transitions from “Did you manage to see the Killers this summer? They were at a couple festivals”, to “I can’t believe you didn’t see the Killers! They played everywhere”! Seeing an artist that headlines this many shows isn’t special or unique anymore, as it has become commonplace. This makes it increasingly difficult for bigger festivals to market to an audience further away, when those people can see their same favorite artists an hour away, instead of having to drive ten hours.

Last year I attended The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester Tennessee. I camped next to a 60-year-old man and his son, I talked to some middle-aged moms, many college students, and even stumbled across children of these parents who could have been no older than nine years old. While these festivals do certainly cater to a certain demographic, you don’t have to be a certain type of person to attend them.

With the convenience of having them so close, people from all walks of life are now beginning to delve into the festival scene. Now the real question is, how does this look for the future of the festival industry? Will festivals keep popping up at alarming rates? Will the bookings become less similar? Only time will tell. We do know one thing though. Music festivals are not purely a part of hippie culture anymore, but rather American culture. We’ve already seen the success that they generate on a massive scale, and they’re here to stay.