History of Neo-Pagan Druidism, Requirement 7

Discuss the influence of the Pagan festival movement, and how the festivals changed Paganism in the 1980s. (minimum 100 words)

For someone my age, it is difficult to imagine Paganism without festivals. The benefits of festivals are immediately apparent to anyone who has attended them: multiple groups can come together, people can meet and discuss ideas, impressionable persons can be steered away from power tripping Pagan "leaders" and introduced to a new group better suited to their needs, and there's the critical mass of like minds to get a person truly excited about what they're doing. Before festivals, communication was not only difficult, but potentially dangerous: once contact was made, the long, exhaustive search might lead to a sense of commitment, or a desire to connect with someone who didn't fit your needs just because you couldn't find anyone else.

Festivals have lead to the growth of fledgling movements (like ADF) that have a community to provide to its members, and seen the decline and defuncting of groups that did not or could not provide that community. Neo-Paganism without festivals seems lonely and isolated, and (honestly) quite scary.

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