Why the Aussie festival isn’t dead – it’s just evolved
Bolster’s head of creative & strategy, Darren Levin, shares an insider perspective on how the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival is regenerating the Australian festival experience for young consumers, after many have been forced to shut down.
My first Big Day Out as a teenager in 1999 was the ultimate cultural hazing. We snuck in vodka in water bottles that were expertly sealed with soldering irons, endured facilities that violated every OH&S rule under the sun (and were probably the reason some were created), and survived mosh pits that could literally swallow you up.
I’m still not sure how we made it out alive – but we did and we told everyone about it the next day.
For many years festivals were the ultimate rite of passage for young Australians. And then came the Covid circuit breaker, confining teenagers to their bedroom, ushering in a wave of social anxiety, and accelerating the take up of TikTok, Twitch, Discord, and other online experiences and communities.
