You’re standing in a crowd. Your hands are up in the air, your head’s bobbing back and forth, your body’s swaying with the beat. There are hundreds of strangers surrounding you, but at that moment it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that you’re a hot and sticky mess. It doesn’t matter that the guy to your right is rocking some mangy body odor and the girl to your left is taking what has to be her thirteenth selfie of the night.

Everyone should feel this moment.

From the instant that first note hits, every single person in that crowd becomes connected to one another. You feel it. That moment when nothing matters but you and the music and the crowd that’s right there on that level with you.

There’s something spellbinding about the effects music can create that bring people together. It’s why everyone should experience going to a music festival at least once in his or her life. Sure, most of us have probably been to a concert before. Maybe even a few. But, there’s nothing quite like spending the entire day at a music festival.

Aside from being able to rock out to a bunch of different artists, it allows you to experience things like making new friends at the merch tents or finally understanding what Stephen Chbosky meant when he wrote “and in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”

Music festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza last for multiple days. It’s something you’d never be able to experience at a concert. Sure, there are some similarities between the two. Like being able to buy merch, the crazy mosh pits, the endless screaming fans, etc. But being at a festival allows you to interact with more people and see a lot more performers. It allows you to get the experience of being outside all day stage hopping from one artist to the next.

When the night comes around and a bunch of people have gone home already, but you and the remaining faithful head to the last set, there’s a camaraderie there that goes unspoken. You all get to that stage and wait for the last performance to start and when it does, there’s this feeling that even after spending the entire day walking around in the sun, and becoming so grimy that all you want is a shower, nothing will ever top this experience. Well, except maybe the next year.

But who knows. It might not be how others feel at all. There are always downsides to being at a music festival. Unless you plan on bringing multiple clothes with you, there is no way to escape the hot sticky mess you will become as the day goes on. And unless it starts raining, everyone experiences what it’s like to be under the hot sun listening to bands and artists perform onstage. Also, in my opinion, you get to experience some of the best crowd sing-a-longs ever. I don’t think there’s anything quite like the feeling of hundreds of people belting out the same words that you are.

However, all the sweating and nasty body odors and mosh pits that take up stage space are worth the experience of being at a music festival. It’s honestly a time that you’ll never forget. So go. Live it. Feel that moment.

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