12 reasons why a virtual festival is better than a real one 🙌
No more mud!
Last updated 12th May 2021
With pretty much all of this year's festivals being cancelled or postponed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, there are plenty of virtual festivals around, and despite not being able to see your favourite acts in person, they can be great fun.
With many virtual festivals on the horizon we thought we'd have a look at real festivals versus virtual festivals. And some of the things we really DON'T miss about real festivals like the dirty toilets, leaky tents and long queues for the bar.
Now take a look 12 reasons why a virtual festival is better than a real one:
Real: The website keeps crashing
We all know that feeling when we join an online queue to buy some highly sought after tickets, only for the website to crash when we finally get to position one!
Virtual: There’s no need to buy an expensive ticket
No queue, no ticket and no money spent, wins all round.
Real: Losing friends at a festival
We've all been there, we lose our friends, not just for an hour, but all day! Festivals are so big, the mobile reception is terrible and you can't hear anything anyway, even if you did get through.
Virtual: You have a Zoom party with your friends
You know exactly where your friends are when you're on a Zoom chat with them, so turn up the tunes, grab a bite to eat and catch up with them.
Real: Phone battery goes flat halfway through the first day
Hands up, who's had a flat battery after just a few hours at a festival? Thought so...
Virtual: No need to worry about your phone battery!
You can use your phone as much as you like, there's no chance of it running out of battery. And, on the off chance that it does, well, you're in your house so just plug it in!
Real: Horrendous weather
It's a good job we 'like' the wet weather in the UK, because most of our festivals are blessed with it!
Virtual: Blazing sun all weekend
Sod's Law, during the weeks you CAN'T go out, the weather is gorgeous! Pass the sun cream please.
Real: Endless fields of mud
And with horrendous weather comes a very muddy field, or five! British festivals wouldn't be the same without a bit of mud would they?
Virtual: Mud? What’s that? You have haven’t seen a muddy field for months!
That's right, the weather is nice and there's not a muddy patch in sight.
Real: A weekend of being crammed in a hot tent with no space to dance
Whether you're crammed at the front of the crowd, or at the back where you can't see or hear anything. Being crammed in a festival tent isn't much fun.
Virtual: Plenty of space for dancing, whether it’s in your kitchen, living room or garden
Space isn't a problem when it's just you and your household. Time to cut a rug.
Real: It’s a VERY long weekend in a terrible tent
Admit it, we all thought the cheap pop-up tent was a perfect buy, but in reality it's no match for the torrential rain.
Virtual: No camping needed here
You have plenty to celebrate with all your home comforts around you. You've got a sofa, shower, food and drink, now you're wondering why you ever slept in that leaky tent, on an airbed with a puncture.
Real: Long queues for the portable toilets
Not only do you have the long queues to contend with, they're pretty dark, dirty, and unhygienic.
Virtual: You’ve got your very own toilet
And you know it will have toilet paper and running water. Bonus!
Real: Having to live in socks and wellies for the weekend
Wellies are pretty much a necessity at all festivals, there's no escaping it.
Virtual: You can wear whatever you want
You could even wear your wellies in your house for the 'complete' experience, or go barefoot, the choice is yours.
Real: Music from other stages interfere with your favourite band
No one wants to hear the stage over there, when you're right in front of your favourite band, but it ALWAYS seems happen.
Virtual: Amazingly good audio coming straight from Northsound 1
We've got this covered on Northsound 1, the audio quality is brilliant and you can listen on DAB or online!
Real: All your favourite acts are on at the same time
It seems to happen at most festivals, who should you see? Your friends want to see one band and you want to see another, but they're on at the same time!
Virtual: No headline clash because you can listen again
No need to worry if there are two artists on at the same time, you can catch up with the performances on listen again through our website or app.
Real: Expensive drinks and long queues for the bar
Queuing for the bar at a festival can take longer than your favourite band's set, then carrying a round of drinks for your mates can be hard too.
Virtual: You can help yourself to a drink whenever you like
There's only you and your household to worry about, so you can help yourself whenever you want to!
Remember to always drinks responsibly.