Yes, they are fun. And there is a sense of community, in a weird kind of bubble-that's-not-part-of-the-real-world way. How we are all cool and kind and laid-back. Unlike the ruthless sharp-elbowed day-to-day, way.
I love them but it can't be the only part of the year that's fun, can it? A weekend in the summer and that's it?
For me there used to be Glastonbury and Virgin Festival and now and then Reading or Monsters of Rock. Now it's just Cambridge Folk. It's the only one I do these days.
To be honest, most of the music is quite boring. Diddle-de, diddle-de, diddle-de, dum. As I was walking across the moor. You get the idea. Old School folk and lots of fiddles and Northumbrian pipes. I had enough of them when I was at school, in Northumbria. The people are lovely but the music is a real yawn.
But it has a great feel and so I keep doing it. Go year after year to have a fix of nice people in a nice place with (sometimes) nice weather. Songs and beer with felafel thrown in. It's only one weekend, but it is so much fun.
Yes, festivals are only now and then. A short window into the garden of Eden - maybe I should add that to the day-to-day? Make every weekend feel like a festival.
That does sound nice.