My friends and I have been going to music festivals for as long as I could borrow my parent's car. And I've been lucky. They've let me drag the family station wagon halfway up and down the eastern seaboard, onto farms and through cities so my brother, friends and I can chase down our favorite live music.
The music is the reason, but a huge part of the experience is the community a festival creates. Each festival is a journey through which we come out having made new friends, bonded with a random person over an only here-and-now moment, and ultimately enjoyed a communal experience that in many ways can be cathartic, empowering, liberating and bonding.
There is nothing like enjoying the sounds of your favorite band ripple through the air, dancing your heart out next to a group of strangers sharing the same face-eating smile. You are all there to enjoy the same happy reasons and to me, there is no better feeling in the world. I love live music.
But just as a music festival is a feast for your ears, it's also a feast for your eyes. One of the biggest considerations prepping for a fest is how you're going to dress. Are your clothes loose enough to dance in, your shoes supportive enough to get you through 12 hours on your feet dancing on divots and potholes? Okay, maybe that's the old(er) lady in me, but it's also one of the best creative expressions of freedom. You can be who ever you want to be.
So this year at Outside Lands, my friend Olivia and I set out to document the best and brightest looks that caught our eye. If you're one of the many people I stopped along the way and agreed to have your photo taken, thank you for sharing your colors with us. No one said no. And everyone said yes with a big smile on his or her face. It was so fun and refreshing to spend three days never hearing no, and giving people the chance to showcase the hard work and thoughtful energy they'd channeled into their outfits for Outside Lands.
There were space aliens, 80s throw-backs, kings of the land, animals of the jungle, and people who defy definition. Under the gray skies of summer in San Francisco, the thousands of you made every moment a lot brighter. Here now are some of the best looks from Outside Lands 2013!