Festivals Turning Into Dirtier, Muddier Fashion Shows

If you’ve ever gone to a huge outdoor festival, only to be surrounded by chattering idiots who are angling for blogarazzi shots of the VIP tent’s dwellers while complaining loudly about the weather, then you probably won’t be surprised by the new survey revealing that the percentage of people who are there for the “scene,” and not the music, is pretty high:

The survey, commissioned in the run-up to Glastonbury this weekend, found that a quarter of festival-goers spend around £500 on each outdoor music event.

But half of the 3,000 people questioned struggle to remember the bands they have seen, with almost a fifth admitting they watch less than five hours of music over a festival weekend.

Many festival fans prefer instead to socialise, wander around the grounds and soak in the atmosphere. A third admitted that they shop for a completely new wardrobe, including designer wellies and waterproofs, before heading to a festival.

The phenomenon, which has also seen designer tents spring up on muddy festival grounds, has been dubbed the “Kate Moss effect”.

While this effect probably doesn’t bother festival promoters, it’s worrisome to us: After all, the more fashion-obsessed idiots who show up at shows, the greater the possibility that Mickey Avalon fans will be there, thus justifying his existence for another day.

‘Kate Moss effect’ hits festivals [ITV] [Photo: AP]