Toby Young Toby Young

The self-delusion that makes people go to festivals – me included

Is it consumerism wrapped up as subversion? Or just the declining liberal chattering classes huddled together for warmth?

  • Comments

I wouldn’t describe myself as a veteran of the summer festival circuit, but I’ve been to enough to have a theory about them. Or, rather, discuss someone else’s — in this case that of Matthew Taylor, head of the RSA.

For those readers who’ve never been to a festival, I will begin with a short primer.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Read next

Trending

Cindy Yu

How China cornered the green market

Cindy Yu
From the magazine
When Rishi Sunak announced that the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars would be delayed by five years, he framed it as a common-sense move. What he didn’t say is that he had been advised that, had the original deadline stuck, Britain’s electric vehicle (EV) market would have been handed over to China.

Because you read about festivals

Also by Toby Young

Latest

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in