A website is helping people to get the most from music festivals
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Read the following story by Pasavat Tanskul from Bangkok Post’s Guru Magazine. Then, answer the questions that follow.
Going to music festivals isn’t easy as 1-2-3. A lot of preparation is needed to get the most for your money, especially when you have to handle travel expenses, accommodation and knowing what to pack for these festivities. While working as a sales executive by day and going to music festivals by night, Charlotte Houareau has taken it upon herself to set up The Nitty Gritty Guide To Festivals, an informative website. It provides detailed survival guides to music festivals across Asia to help out fellow music lovers and travellers be fully prepared when they attend and get the most out of their festival experience. We asked the Bangkok-based French-British content creator, who quit her job to do this full time, how she produces such helpful content.
How did you end up creating The Nitty Gritty Guide? Why did you decide to write up survival guides for festivals?
2017 was my biggest year in going to festivals (45 to be exact). This was when I'd just moved to Asia and got this new job and I had wanted to travel during my free time. I wasn't particularly enjoying being in an office Monday to Friday so it was kind of an escape from office life. I'm always the person in my group of friends to plan everything from A-Z, such as booking travel and accommodation. One day, I thought to myself there's no one out there writing guides. We have a lot of platforms to get information on traveling to different cities and countries but we don't have any information on traveling to festivals. I wanted to create a space, a one-stop guide where people can land on one page and have all the information they need to be able to travel to festivals and not feel like they're wasting their money.
What is your process in writing a guide? Where do you get your information when writing about a festival?
When writing, I adopt a mindset of someone who's never been to a festival. I aim to be as informative as possible but I also give some honest opinion of how I felt when I was there because not all festivals are good. I always write a big chunk on the atmosphere, the people and what you can expect from being there. I write from first-hand experience but I also spend hours researching online and then compiling it all into one place.
Most of the festivals you write about are in Thailand and you've written for festivals in other SEA countries (Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia). Are there plans to write about festivals outside of Asia?
I started mostly in Asia because I'm based here and I think it’s a growing scene in the region. I just wanted to shine the spotlight on festivals that aren't on the global scene and people might not know about. I've mostly been focusing on festivals in Asia because one of my objectives is to encourage more travellers to go to them while they're abroad to discover the culture of the place. In some festivals you get to eat the local food, meet people and listen to music from the region. I do have plans to go to Europe next year and to the US at some point to cover the bigger festivals.
Any personal tips for festival goers?
When it comes to festivals, things are going to go wrong but it’s all about the attitude and mindset you bring to a festival. If you want to make the most out of it, be positive! You can't rush and get frustrated at things going wrong because they are going to go wrong. Embrace it.
Section 1: Read through the story and answer the following questions.
1. Where does Charlotte live? …………….
2. What was her last office job? …………….
3. Charlotte thinks all music festivals are good. True or false? …………….
4. She plans to go to festivals in Europe and the US next year. True or false? …………….
5. What is Nitty Gritty?
a. a website. b. a guidebook. c. a booking agent.
6. Charlotte hasn’t covered a festival in which country?
a. Vietnam. b. Singapore. c. The US.
7. What does she write about for each festival?
a. the people. b. the atmosphere. c. both a and b.
8. Who can make each festival a good experience?
a. Charlotte. b. the festival-goers. c. the festival organisers.
Section 2: Write the noun form of the following words.
9. informative.…………10. different. …………11. create.……… 12. honest.…………
13. growing.……………
Section 3: Read the following passage. Then, fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.
The Nitty Gritty …14… always followed my journey through music. During 2017, EDM [electronic dance music] was my life. It was the …15… genre I would listen to. After meeting people at festivals who listen to alternative genres, I …16… to expand my music taste and decided I wasn't …17… to be that person who would resign themselves to one genre. So, …18… discovering more music, I've started to expand my scope. I …19… plans to cover indie rock festivals this year.
14. a. has b. was c. is
15. a. only b. every c. partly
16. a. begin b. started c. start
17. a. having b. going c. being
18. a. since b. when c. because
19. a. make b. made c. have
Section 4: Find words or phrases that match the following definitions.
20. the basic or most important details of an issue or a situation. ……………
21. the act or process of getting ready for something. ……………
22. a set of attitudes or fixed ideas that somebody has. ……………
23. things that you are trying to achieve. ……………
24. to accept an idea, a proposal, a set of beliefs, etc.. ……………
Answers: 1. Bangkok. 2. sales executive. 3. false. 4. false. 5. a. 6. c. 7. c. 8. b.
9. information 10. difference 11. creation 12. honesty 13. growth
14. a. 15. a. 16. b. 17. b. 18. a. 19. c.
20. nitty gritty. 21. preparation. 22. mindset. 23. objectives. 24. embrace.
SCORE
21-24: Excellent! 17-20: Good. 13-16: Fair. 12 or fewer: You'll do better next time!
