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Guest blogger Josh Burke at ArcTanGent
Editor's note: My good friend Josh Burke travels to far more festivals than I do, and he contributed his review of Post Festival in Indianapolis in early August. More recently, he traveled to the UK to attend the ArcTanGent festival, and he was once again kind enough to share his thoughts on his experience. This is actually Josh's second trip to ATG and his second time sharing his thoughts on the festival. You can read his recap of last year's festival here.
Read his take on it below on this year's ATG below!
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Minsk at Post Fest
Editor's note: My good friend Josh Burke travels to far more festivals than I do, and he was at Post Festival in Indianapolis while I was at Fire in the Mountains in Montana. He was kind enough to share his thoughts about Post in the writeup that follows. Please give it a read - if he gets a warm enough reception, perhaps he'll also grace us with his thoughts on the upcoming ArcTanGent festival!
By Josh Burke
Post Festival 2026 has come and gone. In what has been a weird (and, frankly, terrible) year in so many ways, the core of what makes Post a can’t-miss festival remains. There's great music of course, but also great people. It feels like a cliche to call any festival a “family,” but it’s well-deserved here. I’ve met and gotten to know a lot of great people in the three years that I have attended, and reconnecting with them has become almost as important as the music to me. I know a lot of festivals say that and mean it, but I haven’t found a festival with a more accepting vibe. That matters more than ever these days. That vibe comes from everyone - the organizers of the festival (the tireless, amazing, delightful Sean, Nason and Derek), the bands, and the people who travel from all over the world to be in Indianapolis for the weekend. Everyone is hanging out, digging the bands, and chatting with everyone else all weekend. There is nothing cooler than hearing Phil from Caspian say that they would not be a band if it weren’t for The Appleseed Cast, and then seeing him packed into the small room with everyone else watching The Appleseed Cast, bobbing his head and singing along.
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This was my third time in Austin for Ripplefest Texas, a celebration of desert rock and stoner metal. It bills itself as a “family reunion” and of all the festivals I’ve been to, it really does feel the most like home in a lot of ways. I have made many friends at this festival and it’s great to see a lot of the same faces year after year. It’s also a small festival - while the capacity for the main venue is 2,000 people, I would guess the actual attendance is closer to 500. I don’t know how the financials work with this size of a crowd, but I love the intimacy. You can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be standing next to the bands playing the festival and I love getting the chance to meet and have real conversations with some of my favorite artists.