A recent piece of news released by the Governors Ball Music Festival, also known as
Gov Ball, has stated that people under the age of 18 will only be allowed to attend this year’s
festival if accompanied by someone over age 21. Since 2011, the first year Gov Ball took place,
anyone with a ticket was allowed to attend regardless of age. However, the rules are now
changing, and this will significantly impact the festival in many ways.
Gov Ball is a huge event that takes place every summer around the middle of June. The
festival always occurs outdoors on Randall’s Island, right next to Manhattan. Gov Ball is special
and enjoyable, especially for teenagers, for multiple reasons.
In the first place, there are dozens of artists that perform throughout the three days of the
festival. Some of these singers are known and popular, and some are not. It is a good chance
to discover new and upcoming artists with incredible music. These artists perform many genres
of songs and get everyone near the stage dancing and jumping. The festival goes from morning
till night, with different performers every day, and those attending the event describe it as
unforgettable.
Second, there is a smorgasbord of amazing and one-of-a-kind food stands. From
popular restaurants, such as Black Tap and Juice Press, to unique desserts, such as “Wowfulls”
(a hot pressed-waffle rolled into the shape of a cone filled with colorful ice cream and an
extravaganza of toppings), the food at Gov Ball is like no other.
The third and very important component of Gov Ball is fashion. The festival goers
typically wear bright outfits, fanny packs, sunglasses, belts, and have lots of glitter in their hair.
Gov Ball is extremely popular on social media.
“I always see how incredible Governors Ball looks on Instagram, and it really makes me
want to experience the excitement first-hand at the festival,” said sophomore Kaeleigh Romero.
Now that the Governors Ball company has issued this new age-limit law, it will make it
much harder to be able to have the experience of attending the festival. According to
governersballmusicfestival.com, anyone under age 17 must attend with an adult who is 21 or
older. Each adult can only be responsible for two teenagers.
Some may wonder why Gov Ball issued this new law. It seems that many adults have
complained about teenage attendees at the past festivals. Last year especially, there were
many teenagers with fake IDs, and this made the festival less enjoyable for the adults there.
Tom Russell and Jordan Wolowitz, the co-founders of Founders Entertainment, which sponsors

Gov Ball, explained that their top priority is to make the festival as pleasurable as possible in
order to keep their ticket buyers happy.
“We are always listening, always evolving, and always trying to give our fans and our City
the best festival they could ask for,” said the pair in an interview.
Although this new policy is very discouraging to young people, including many Schreiber
students, it might truly be the safest policy. There is a lot of alcohol present at the festival, and
sketchy adults sometimes attend. Now, teenagers who attend will have an adult chaperone
there with them, in case anything happens.
“By making sure a trusted adult is attending the festival with each child, it lessens the risk
of anything bad occurring,” said sophomore Leah Schachter.
Although it is inevitable that some high school students will try to violate the new policy in
order to come to the festival, it will be hard to do so, due to the increase in security and check-in
guards being provided this year. According to change.org, many teenagers have created
petitions to try to reverse the rule, and numerous signatures have been obtained.
It is not clear whether these petitions will be successful. If not, the upcoming festival in
June 2020 will be a different experience for those who manage to attend.