Let’s Talk About Totems
For anyone who is not aware, a totem in the music festival sense is an item that you raise up into the air in order to aid in finding/following your friends in large crowds. They can be made from just about anything: pool noodles, cardboard, sticks, the list could go on forever. Full disclosure, I enjoy ~96% of totems at music festivals. I think they add to the ambiance of the event and allow the crowd to feel more like they are a part of the weekend’s production, with some of them going beyond ‘functional way to find your friends’ and tipping over into being a piece of art. Depending on the festival and size of my group, I myself have even been known to whip up a mighty fine totem.
That being said, not everyone loves totems; some even go as far as to loath them, and not without good reason. Sometimes totems lack a sense of creativity, are inside jokes, or people are just plain rude with their usage. Any number of things can sour one’s mood on totems.
To help us all live better lives and enjoy our festival-going experience as much as we can, here are some important things to remember when creating your next friend finding masterpiece.
1. Be Creative.
Creativity can be the difference between a totem the whole crowd enjoys and one that everyone hopes meets an untimely demise on Thursday night. Think of it this way: I don’t know your friend Dave who did not get to come to the festival. You and your group made a giant cutout of his head so he could be there in spirit. To me, that is just a giant head of some guy that is the way of my seeing my favorite band. But if you take ten minutes and add a Mike Tyson face tattoo and a word bubble with something funny in it to Dave’s engorged cranium, suddenly that is something I can also get a laugh out of without having to know who Dave is. Double bonus points for cutting out the exact shape of Dave’s head and not carting around a giant rectangle all weekend.
2. Be respectful.
I really feel like saying this should not be necessary, but I have inevitably run into this person in every single comment section of every single Facebook or Reddit post I have ever read about totems. I know, I know, you paid for your ticket just like everyone else, and you are going to have a great time however you want to. But just take a second to consider that there are thousands of other people trying to enjoy the show just as much as you, and respecting them is going to help you have an even better time. Do you want to spend half of a set trying to spite someone who asked you to put down your twelve-foot flag pole that is completely blocking their view, or would you rather spend it dancing with your friends and making new ones? Leave the petty at home, and respect everyone around you. If a friend is trying to find you, throw it up. But as soon as they get to you, be sure you are able to put your totem down and get it out of the way. Also, once you’re past the sound booth all bets are off; fly your totem as high as you can at that point, as long as there is not a screen that you may be blocking.
3. Be practical.
This is a suggestion that I learned the hard way. When constructing your totem you may feel that you are building the greatest piece of art known to man, the dankest meme ever to be seen, your pièce de résistance. What you may find out, however, is that you did not account for hauling that bad boy around for four days and that nobody else in your group would be interested in taking a turn. My first totem was a retractable pole with a piñata on top. I know it does not sound bad at first, but after the second day of hauling that thing around I was ready for a break. Not only that, but it became a hassle because I had to ensure it was not going to trip anyone walking by any time I sat it down. Before constructing your totem, be sure you confirm that your group is going to help you with hauling it all weekend long, and if not make it as light as possible. Inflatables are a great choice for this reason.
Totems are a part of festival culture, like it or not. It is our duty as festival patrons to decide what that looks like going forward. We can either work together to make them a fun, interactive part of the scene, or we can let them tear us apart and cause us a lot of hatred that is not necessary.
