A "Barrier Free" Music Experience

This year I looked at how best convey what Carolina Indie Fest is like for people who've not

experienced it before. One of the descriptions that keeps cropping up is "barrier free" music experience. So I challenged myself, is it really "barrier free"? How so?

For one, it's a free festival and you can literally just wander on in (don't forget a beach chair!) and out. We'd love if you'd shop the vendors or buy a beer but that isn't required of you. In fact, there are no requirements. And, shockingly, people love it.

That's one thing we hear about every Carolina Indie Fest - people are all smiles. Vendors have told me it's the happiest festival they work all year. Possibly because attendees just park for free and walk into a two day music festival for free. Even I'm all smiles during the event despite the commitments I'm trying to fulfill throughout the day.

There's certainly no barriers between you and the artists. People often walk up to the artists

after they perform, sometimes at the merch tent but often in the VIP area or beer garden, and want to connect with them about their music. It's guaranteed you haven't heard of 90% of the bands we put on stage before hearing them at Carolina Indie Fest. You'll definitely come away with a couple new bands you love. Why not walk up and tell them that? They love it and, for most of us, this is not something we get to do at concerts in stadiums and dedicated music venues.

And speaking of connections, you'd have to try hard not to connect with your fellow man at Indie Fest. Whether it's concert goers, vendors, performers, bartenders, food trucks or more you will be connecting with new people that day. As many as you'd like. Even I - as an introvert - am a happier (if exhausted) person at the end of Indie week because of all the positive connections I've made with folks. I'll add that these are unfiltered, unmediated experiences which we are learning are extremely important in this age of social media.

So, there you have it - Carolina Indie Fest is a barrier free music experience. We need to talk about that more often, this post is as good a start as any.