Lollapalooza certainly left its mark on me. Well, my poor blistered feet more than anything else, but an impression nonetheless. Even with all of the preparation we did for the festival, it ended up being an experience I never could’ve expected and one that I will never forget. One of the most interesting aspects to the festival for me was the fashion. It was something that was fun to partake in as well as observe- the people watching was fantastic! I saw everything from Beatles and Metallica shirts with Nike’s all the way to speedos, Where’s Waldo costumes, and flags worn as capes. It seemed to me that the pageantry of the outfits was almost as important to the festivalgoers as the performances were. This fashion aspect had an interesting tie-in with social media, as I observed many of the participants taking endless amounts of pictures and videos to presumably share with their friends as proof that they were at Lolla. Through our interviews, it was revealed to us that many of the younger attendees view Lollapalooza as a “right of passage” of sorts, and this avenue will be interesting to explore as we write up our research this semester. Blisters aside, the weekend turned out to be quite the success!
Kaitlyn, August 2015
