Middle-aged people should stop attending youth-oriented music festivals like Coachella
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/emmabrockes. "Justin Trudeau at Coachella? That’s just wrong: at a certain age, things must change | Emma Brockes | The Guardian." April 16, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that once you reach middle age, you should stop going to youth-focused music festivals like Coachella because you'll look out of place, won't understand the culture, and will change the vibe for younger people who these events are really meant for.
Conclusion
At a certain age, middle-aged people should gracefully exit youth-oriented music festivals and leave them to younger generations
Premises
- Middle-aged festival attendance changes the character of events, driving up prices and introducing unwelcome energy
- When middle-aged people attend festivals like Coachella, they often appear out of place and undignified
- If you need to ask 'Am I too old for this?' on Reddit, then you probably are too old
- Middle-aged attendees will have practical difficulties (bathroom needs, heat, transportation) that diminish their experience
- Young people view these festivals as their cultural space, and older attendees don't understand the cultural references
- There's a specific type of middle-aged man who uses festival attendance to express midlife crisis anxieties
Assumptions
- Music festivals have natural age demographics that should be respected
- Dignity and age-appropriateness are important social values
- Cultural spaces belong primarily to their core demographic
- Middle-aged people attending youth events are inherently performing some form of crisis management
- Practical discomfort indicates unsuitability for an activity