Kent Taylor’s vlog is based on his undergraduate research on American bass music communities, looking into the shift to online research methodology amidst social distancing, in the summer of 2020. Kent discusses the interface between our scholarly goals—that is, as researchers and representatives of the University—and the collective goals of the American bass music and EDM festival scene. His analysis of social media sources explores the real dimensions of this interface, as a forum where music scenes and university communities, alike, develop their ethics on pandemic, racial justice, and sexual misconduct.  

With the global spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, all countries of the world, and consequently most of the world’s religions, faced new conditions and unforeseen problems. One of these issues has been the religious interpretation of the epidemic, the duties of the believers in these circumstances, and the holding of religious ceremonies during the pandemic. Shiite Muslims also faced a large number of these challenges.

With the advent of COVID-19 around the world, areas with significant Shiite populations soon became involved in debating how festivals could be held. Shiite scholars generally refused to hold Ashura festivals in 2020 as these happened in previous years, whilst curtailing visits to shrines. On the other hand, Shiite theological arguments made it possible for some Shiites to perform pilgrimage remotely, by using modern technologies. However, these changes strongly challenged the issue of closeness in Shiite festivals.

Prof Tony Walter’s blog discusses the tensions implicit in Extinction Rebellion (XR) protestivals, as they warn of dire eco-catastrophe yet are often playful, carnivalesque. Intended to diffuse anger from police and bystanders, having fun while inconveniencing others can also produce negative reactions both in bystanders and potentially in XR rebels themselves. 

The changing landscape of music festivals, and the necessary movement online, is changing the way that individuals not only consume the festival experience but also the way in which these individuals interact within the music festival experience.