Festival season is so back. I had the amazing opportunity to attend Governors Ball Music Festival (colloquially known as Gov Ball) this past weekend. I went to the festival on Sunday and had an incredible time watching some of my favorite artists play sets and experiencing all of the activations that Gov Ball had to offer. Here is my perspective and takeaways from my Gov Ball experience from this past weekend:
The Music
Female artists and fans are truly the diamonds of festival season. From SZA delivering such an fantastic headlining set, to Chappell Roan’s mainstage moment and homage to New York with Statue of Liberty and yellow taxi inspired outfits, this festival’s standout sets come from female-identifying artists, accompanied by a large female crowd. And every full set I caught this weekend were performances from female artists.
Chappell Roan’s set in particular was a highlight of the weekend. She cemented herself in Gov Ball history with her outfits, crowd engagement, and message by dressing up as the Statue of Liberty, a representation of freedom. Her rise to pop stardom has officially taken off, and comparing the sheer amount of people doing the “HOT TO GO” dance in the crowd from when I saw her last in March 2023 was wild. Chappell has come such a long way from when I first discovered her in 2022 when her Spotify monthly listeners hadn’t even cracked 100,000 and this weekend was a testament to her finally receiving her flowers.
LGBTQ+ artists also shined and celebrated Pride Month through their sets. Chappell Roan specifically called for “freedom for all” during a speech, and Reneé Rapp introduced her performance of “Pretty Girls” by shouting out “Happy Pride!” While the New York City pride parade doesn’t take place until the last week of June, Gov Ball is clearly a part of the celebration.
As someone who has wanted to see SZA live for years, I can wholeheartedly say that watching her headline was worth the wait. She knows how to command an audience, and play a set filled with her most popular songs, fan favorites, and even deep cuts. SZA is an incredible performer and is true headliner material: I would love to see her headline Coachella next year.
The Experience
Considering that the last concert that I went to (not at the venue I work at) was The Eras Tour and the last major festival I attended was Coachella, I came into Gov Ball having recently experienced concerts and festivals at a much larger scale. Gov Ball is the biggest music festival in the NYC metropolitan area, yet is not nearly the physical size of Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo, since it has only 3 stages and a smaller lineup. However, Gov Ball had such incredible vendors and activations and was a great representation of the music festival experience.
First, let’s talk about activations: Gov Ball was a gold mine when it came to brand activations, and many of them stood out to me. Standouts include the two-story Dunkin pop-up with free Munchkins and iced coffee (which I loved as I am a Dunkin enthusiast), the Aperol popup which went above and beyond, giving 21+ customers free Aperol Spritz beach hats an an interactive photobooth, Impress Beauty doing free press-on manicures and lashes, and a Sharpie truck designed for fans to make posters for their favorite acts. The different brand activations were well-tailored for the fans and made the festival engaging from a brand partnerships perspective.
Gov Ball has always been known to highlight some of NYC’s best food vendors, and the food did not disappoint. I had spicy chicken tenders and waffle fries from Fuku, and they were delicious. I will have to say that Gov Ball food vendors are pricey, and were more expensive than the majority of vendors at Coachella and other venues I’ve been to. Of course, it's in NYC, so in some regards, it's to be expected.
The only other qualms that I have about my experience was transit to and from Flushing Corona Meadows park. Getting there from Long Island during the day seemed relatively straight foward until maps routed myself and other festival goers the wrong way coming from Jamaica station, leading to a part of the park that was not connected to the festival grounds. The good news is we met really nice people as we shared an Uber to the correct entrance, which ended up being cheaper than us all paying for subway fare. I wish there had been a little more clear information on the proper place to go in the park. To be fair, the park was much easier to get to than Randall's Island, which was the old venue of Gov Ball until 2019 and was prone to flooding with entire days of the festival being cancelled. Alongside that, the only other issue I had was the lack of free WiFi at the festival: considering that Coachella and other large event spaces have free WiFi, it would’ve been nice to have.
On a more positive note, I loved seeing the music festival fashion at Gov Ball. Although outfits were less made for social media and more casual and comfy, Gov Ball’s festival fashion did not disappoint. I even loved seeing everyone dress up in “Pink Pony Club” inspired outfits with pink cowgirl hats for Chappell Roan. I personally wore a white top with a white jean skirt, accessorized by pink sunglasses and my Lululemon Wear Everywhere Belt Bag (the best crossbody bag for music festivals), and it definitely fit the fashion vibe of the weekend.
Takeaways
If there is anything that going to Gov Ball this year showed me, it is that festival season is in full swing and female artists are killing the festival game. No matter what music festivals you attend this summer, this season is truly about savoring up live music and good vibes.
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