Reading through all the threads about various Dopefests and get-togethers has made me very interested in attending one of these occasions. Even though I don’t get out much, I always welcome a chance to meet new people, especially from a group that I know to be, for the most part, fun, intelligent and interesting. There have been a couple Dopefests close enough to my area that I might’ve made a trip.
The problem I forsee, though, is the same one I encounter on a day-to-day basis: I’m 20 years old, and while I find the vast majority of people my age to be somewhat – let’s see, how can I put this; “uninspired, boring, and generally idiotic” sounds about right – the older crowd tends to assume the same of me from the get-go. Any attempts by me to delve into the philosophical/moral or psychological aspects of the conversation at hand are dismissed, usually derisively so, and frequently with a comment whose subtext is clear: “you’re too young to have a valid opinion on the issue”. And although it’s decidedly unfair, I can’t in good conscience blame them from making a judgement that I myself admit to be mostly accurate. I’d like to think that my fellow Dopers are above such prejudicial actions, but then again, I figure that if I’m already jaded… : D
This isn’t a rant against age-based discrimination, though…I’ll save that one for The Pit. Basically, I’m just trying to get a feel for the average age of a typical Dopefest group. Is it mostly people in their mid-forties, who wouldn’t look too kindly upon a college-aged kid intruding upon their festivities? Or are there usually a few representatives from the younger set? Even if it were a gathering of mostly adults, I’d still like to attend; it’s always a treat for me when I can sit down and have a decent conversation with a group of people twice my age, with nobody bothering to note that that’s the case.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that I’m completely off-base here, and most Dopefests are akin to college frat parties (where ‘conversation’ consists of who’s boinking who and the latest episode of “Survivor”, and being the “least drunk guy there” means you’re the only one still conscious), but I somehow doubt that. Whatever the case, knowing what you know about me here: would I be welcome at the average Dopefest? And if so, would I have any fun? Thanks!
I’d say that the average age for MADopefests is around 30 or so. We have younger (Dwalin, 17?) and older (Triskadecamus, who will tell you he looks like Santa Claus; RTFirefly who is a mere half-centry young). The majority of us in this area are between 20-40 or so.
I will say this, though. With a very few exceptions, we’re all very nice people who get along with everyone, regardless of age. I have been to many dopefests in the past few years, and I’ve had a good time at every one, whether it’s conversing with a doper’s kid (the bluesclan kids) or a doper’s mom.
Based on my experience with the NY fests, there is quite a wide range of ages. I’ve even gotten to know some of my fellow Dopers’ children – despite what seems to get the most play on the boards, we also have plenty of family-friendy type get-togethers.
We have had people who are in college attend fests, as well as people who are grandparents, and everything in between. As far as I can tell, there’s a lot of mixing and mingling going on, there aren’t little age-related groups huddled together.
As to average, again, speaking from my experience in NY, I would take a blind stab and say the average age group seems to be people in their late 20s and 30s, along with a goodly number of folks representing ages outside this range. I’m guessing that the college age people might be a little under-represented, if only because many college students might not have the time (with their class schedules) and funds (that come along with travel) for a weekend jaunt to New York City.
The only hitch, which seems to hit us hard in NY, is that sometimes it is difficult to find places that can accomodate people under 21 and also groups the size of ours. Most of our choices are bars. We try to keep this in mind as we plan, but sometimes it simply doesn’t work out. Even so, in a weekend full of activities, most are open to people of all ages.
Those “Who boinked whom?” conversations take place AFTER the DopeFests! Just about every DopeFest I have been to has has more than one person under 21, and nobody really noticed their age at all unless it came to bar logistics. I have known several folks under 21 who were among the more mature people at these events. My guess is folks will certainly give you the benefit of the doubt, and will treat you with the respect your maturity reflects. (Bad sentence! BAD!)