THREE weeks before the May Day holiday, Tong Zhuo, a 24-year-old computer engineer in Nanjing, started getting busy. He was trying to get in touch with friends on MSN to arrange a trip to the annual Midi Music Festival in Beijing during the holiday.
"I've been waiting for this year's event since the moment it finished last year," said Tong. He first encountered Midi last May while looking for a job in Beijing before finishing school at Nanjing University of Post and Telecommunication.
Although Tong failed in his job-hunt, he felt less frustrated after visiting the festival at the invitation of a friend. "It was the first time that I saw so many crazy people gathered together. When the music reached a climax, people kept yelling, jumping and bumping each other. You felt excited even if you weren't as high as they were," recalled Tong.
Midi, which is held May 1-4, started in 1999 and has grown into China's largest outdoor music festival. The festival is named after Beijing's Midi Music School, which started the event. This year's festival will have 84 bands, 22 of them foreign. It will be held in Haidian Park, northwest Beijing.
Come on, come call
According to Yuan Ye, a pop music specialist, outdoor music festivals have been around for decades in the West. "They often represent a kind of belief that contradicts the established values of society," said Yuan, who has written a book on the history of music in Europe.
The Woodstock Festival in the US in 1969 is an example. It took place while the US was involved in the Vietnam war and was used to express young people's love of peace.
Today, outdoor music festivals are an important part of people's lives in Western countries. "A student in Europe can even spend the whole summer touring festivals," said Yuan.
China's Midi has become a good place for young people as well. "The biggest attraction of Midi is that it is an event for all young people, whether they know rock or not. They can come and have fun together," says Li Wei, a general manager of Beijing Midi Performance Company, the festival organizer.
It's interactive
Shen Yan, of the British Council, believes the open environment of an outdoor festival appeals to young people. "Without the restrictions of seats and walls, people are more likely to release themselves. There's often more interaction between the audience and performers," said Shen, a veteran Midi fan.
"Ticket price is also important. It costs 50 yuan each day, which is much cheaper than a two-hour concert," said Shen. He calls the price "quite reasonable" for young people, even for students.
This year, Shen will lead his band Fengguncao to perform at Midi. He wants more young people to come to the event to enjoy music under a blue sky. "Young people need the chance to hear and enjoy live music. It's different from getting it from the radio or a CD."
For Xu Hao, a 22-year-old grad student at Renmin University, the festival is a chance to get away from pressure and experience a different self. "At Midi, nobody cares who you are," said Xu, who attended last year's festival. "You can just have fun and totally relax. That's the best part."
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climax 高潮
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Some of the world's top festivals
Glastonbury Festival
THIS annual festival is one of the world's largest. It takes place every June at a place called Worthy Farm in southwest England. The first festival took place in 1970. The event was inspired by the hippy movement which rejected conventional standards and instead championed communal living, free sex and the use of drugs. Even today, Glastonbury treasures the legacy of these hippie traditions. At the annual event, young people will live together in tents, practice alternative medicine and bathe themselves in the music.
New Orleans Jazz Festival
THIS event was born in 1970, when city officials decided to create a festival that would fit with the city's reputation as the birthplace of jazz. It is held every spring. Jazz has been long regarded as essentially a black art form that came out of African American culture. The festival aims to promote jazz around the world, but its roots are in a hometown, everyday culture. "It's always a thrill to have so many people looking at you," says Marva Wright, a New Orleans musician.
Big Day Out
THIS summer music festival is Australia's biggest music event. It started in 1992 and has grown into an influential pop culture event. Bands that perform at the festival have often gone on to worldwide fame. One of these is the British band Coldplay, which played at Big Day Out in 2001 before most of the world had heard its hit single Yellow. "[This festival's] the brand name of all brand names," said Stu Macleod, an Australian guitarist who played at the event in 2005.
hippy 嬉皮
communal 公共的，共有的
legacy 遗产
alternative 另类的
Coldplay 酷玩乐队 | |
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