On Friday, Nov. 5, at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston, a crowd rush kickstarted a struggle that became a tragedy. In a crammed audience of around 50,000 attendees, momentum led to collapse, air loss and trampling, resulting in nine deaths.

Welcome back to Inside Statesman, where we take a peek behind the scenes and sit down with writers. This week Francesca talks with one of the Arts & Culture writers, Skylar, and they both dive deep into the writing process of “The evolution of music festivals – America’s favorite pastime.”

With the return of live music has inevitably come the return of beloved and glamorized music festivals — the close of September will host the long-awaited Governor’s Ball at New York City’s own Citi Field.