Why does the UK have such strong festival culture?

The US has around 334 million people while the UK has a little under 69 million. Yet somehow, it feels like the festival culture in the United Kingdom supersedes that of the US. I think music culture in both countries is a massive part of their respective identities but festivals in the UK seem like such an integral piece of the country’s current identity whereas the US might have had its festival heyday in the late 1900s and early 2000s. It also feels like there are more large-scale cultural festivals compared to the United States. Of course, certain states have large cultural celebrations depending on the immigrant population in that state or within larger cities. New Orleans is known for Mardi Gras (with the second largest festival in St. Louis, some of my favorite memories at WashU) and I think it’s NYC, Chicago and Boston that have massive St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. As a Houstonian, the first thing that comes to mind is the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show which is the biggest in the world, but people don’t come from across the country to attend it the way British people do for Notting Hill Carnival. There are a million smaller ethnic celebrations in Houston, as it’s the most diverse large city in the country, but I feel like only people who are a part of that ethnicity or tapped into that ethnic group in some ways are knowledgeable about the festivals. Also, Notting Hill Carnival is free, which leads me into my next consideration when thinking about the strength of festival culture in the UK vs the US: pricing.

I know for many, myself included, the lack of festival participation is because of the high cost of not only festival tickets but transportation to these festivals which usually requires a flight. I looked into the cost for six British music festivals: Reading, Glastonbury, Wireless, Parklife, Wilderness and Latitude. The cheapest GA weekend pass I saw was Parklife starting at 135 pounds before fees and the most expensive was Glastonbury starting at 355 pounds. The average music festival in the US can cost $200-600 for just tickets, excluding transportation, food, where you’re staying etc. Because the UK is a lot smaller than the United States, I feel like I can make the informed assumption that transportation costs to these festivals are way lower than in the United States. I’ve also learned that camping is more integral to UK festival culture than in the US so you might be getting more “bang for your buck” in the UK.

All of this to say, I’m still unsure about why it feels like a country with a fifth of the US’s population has a festival culture that is known worldwide. Really, this little dive has left me with more questions than answers. I’m probably just living in my little bubble since I follow a ton of British influencers and I’m unaware of the worldwide pull American music festivals have. Nevertheless, I’m intrigued to see the music festival that wins the bid to take my music festival virginity in the future, whether here in the States or somewhere around the world.