I went to Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona. Here are the best and worst photos that show what it's like to attend

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider's senior music reporter recently attended All Things Go, a small music festival in Maryland.</li><li>The sold-out event featured all-female headliners and a refreshing, laid-back approach to live music.</li></ul>Since the dawn of social media, the phrase "music festival" tends to evoke <a href="https://www.insider.com/coachella-photos-instagram-vs-reality-2023-4">images of Ferris wheels</a>, large-scale art installations, and crowds of young fans packed together like anchovies.As Insider's senior music reporter and <a href="https://www.insider.com/coachella-review-overrated-not-worth-hype-2022-4">a longtime festivalgoer</a>, I appreciate those experiences for having a unique appeal — namely, the promise of escapism and envy-inducing backdrops. But I am also, at my core, just a fan of live music. So I recognize the need for an alternative without the bells and whistles.Enter All Things Go, an independent music festival held annually in Columbia, Maryland. Launched in 2014 as a one-day event with a 5,000-person cap, All Things Go has swelled to feature two full days of performances. Still, it was the smallest, most refreshingly manageable festival I've ever attended. This year, the daily capacity was 20,000 people (compared to Coachella's <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2016/04/07/indio-approves-capacity-increase-for-bigger-crowds-at-coachella-stagecoach/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">125,000</a>, Lollapalooza's <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/08/08/lollapalooza-arrests-hospitalizations-continue-to-decline-despite-increased-capacity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">115,000</a>, or even Primavera Sound's estimated <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/primavera-sound-2022-dangerous-conditions-b2093660.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">66,000</a>, which felt completely overwhelming when I went to the Barcelona edition in 2022).There are just two stages onsite. The main stage is located at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, an amphitheater-style venue, while the Chrysalis Stage is just a short walk across the forest grounds.Both are positioned at the bottom of a slight slope — so you can stake your claim in the pit if you're feeling resilient, or you can hang out in the back with a cheaper lawn ticket, but you don't have to sacrifice a decent view.<div type="image" title="all things go lizzy mcalpine crowd 2023 drone photo" height="1364" width="1818" msid="104196364" hostid="261"></div>Most importantly, there's absolutely no overlap with the set times, so fans are able to see every performance that's advertised, if they so choose. For my first-ever All Things Go, I was treated to a thrilling lineup full of women and queer artists: Maggie Rogers, <a href="https://www.insider.com/boygenius-the-record-album-review-tracklist-breakdown-2023-4">boygenius</a>, and Lana Del Rey were billed as headliners, while cult favorites like <a href="https://www.insider.com/lizzy-mcalpine-five-seconds-flat-interview-2022-11">Lizzy McAlpine</a>, MUNA, and Carly Rae Jepsen took earlier slots.In fact, the festival's female-centric reputation is partially thanks to Rogers, who partnered directly with the organizers back in 2018."She was like, 'It sucks how few music festivals have female headliners,'" cofounder Stephen Vallimarescu told Insider. "We said, 'Why don't you curate the lineup for us?' And she said, 'Alright, let's make it all female.'"Since then, Vallimarescu and fellow cofounder Will Suter have worked hard to maintain Rogers' vision, booking stars like Billie Eilish, HAIM, Charli XCX, Lorde, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/king-princess-hold-on-baby-album-interview-2022-7">King Princess</a>.Indeed, the spirit of crowdsourcing is essential to their operation. Many larger festivals are owned by major entertainment companies, like AEG (Coachella, Firefly, Stagecoach) and Live Nation (Bonaroo, Governors Ball, Lollapalooza). But All Things Go operates independently, so performers and fans are granted unprecedented input. "Nothing against those festivals, but we are very much a DIY approach over here," Vallimarescu explained.<div type="image" title="maggie rogers all things go 2023" height="1864" width="2485" msid="104196365" hostid="261"></div>This year, for example, festivalgoers pitched a fit when <a href="https://twitter.com/AllThingsGo/status/1703814158897103168" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set times were announced</a>. MUNA was scheduled to take the Chrysalis Stage at 8 p.m. on Sunday, the same time boygenius would wrap their performance in the pavilion. Even without any technical overlap, fans were frustrated with <a href="https://x.com/parkersrodrigo/status/1703819355086344218?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the lack of travel time</a>, determined to see both "Salt in the Wound" (the classic boygenius closer) and "What I Want" (<a href="https://www.insider.com/best-songs-this-year-ranked-2022-12">the delightful MUNA opener</a>). Many were expecting a bonafide <a href="https://x.com/meghanhilley/status/1703946111088558199?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stampede</a>.Organizers actually listened to the criticism, so the schedule was adjusted to allow for a 10-minute buffer in between sets.According to Vallimarescu, he and Suter treat feedback as "gospel," especially when it comes to lineup suggestions. They have already begun sending artist requests for next year, motivated by the many polls they conduct on Instagram.Fan feedback has also pushed the festival to become <a href="https://jezebel.com/this-female-forward-music-festival-was-as-sickeningly-1850892325" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an emphatically queer-friendly space</a>. During her headline performance, Rogers remarked on how "safe" she felt while looking at the crowd. MUNA's Naomi McPherson lovingly christened the festival "Lesbopalooza."In contrast to the <a href="https://www.insider.com/coachella-best-worst-things-about-music-festival-2022-4">influencer pilgrimage</a> normalized by Coachella, All Things Go is not meant to be picturesque or pretentious. And it's certainly not an experience <a href="https://www.insider.com/coachella-vip-photos-better-than-ga-2023-4">designed to benefit a small subset of wealthy patrons</a>. It's simply intended as a safe, relaxing environment for live-music fans, which is greatly enhanced by the infrastructure of Merriweather Post Pavilion (as in, there are real bathrooms, real seats, and water-refill stations aplenty)."What we've learned, not focusing on Instagram moments or ferris wheels, is that our fans just don't really care about that stuff," Vallimarescu said. "They're not hanging out in the VIP. They're watching music."

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I went to Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona. Here are the best and worst photos that show what it's like to attend

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I went to Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona. Here are the best and worst photos that show what it's like to attend

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