I was talking the other day with a friend who shared the story of her daughters’ love of concerts and their tradition of collecting confetti. I had never heard of such a thing and wanted to hear more.
The girls, Marissa and Julia, indulged my questions and explained that they plan ahead and arrive at concerts with plastic storage bags in their pockets for collecting the confetti. Once the concert is over, they split up, make their way from their general seats—going against the tide of concert attendees and avoiding security—to the pit where the confetti typically collects after being shot from the cannons.
“We aren’t allowed to get pit tickets at large venues because my mom thinks we’ll get squished.”
At large venues, the confetti reaches only certain parts of the space. The girls have been to some venues enough times to know which way the confetti usually moves, and they work their strategy accordingly. “You have to plan it right.”
According to the girls, Coldplay and Imagine Dragons had “the coolest confetti” with lots of different colors, some even holographic, and the confetti was shot several times during the concerts. Coldplay’s confetti was shaped like doves, butterflies, and stars, unlike typical concerts where the confetti is simply rectangular. Marissa and Julia collect confetti as a fun souvenir of the concert and say it is “cooler than a tour shirt.”
Marissa keeps her confetti in one tall cylinder and marks the layers with the date and name of the band.
Julia keeps her confetti in individually labeled jars.
Lesser-known or alternative bands often don’t have confetti at their venues, but Marissa and Julia have collected confetti from about 10 large-venue concerts so far and intend to keep their tradition going.
Their confetti keepsake makes me smile. What do you or your teens do with your concert keepsakes?
[Photography by Moon Lake Multimedia. All rights reserved.]
Sandy
I love the image of the girls “ avoiding security” to gather the confetti.