I still remember that night. It was the night that every pop-punk enthusiast dreaded; The night that I learned Vans Warped Tour had announced their final full cross-country summer tour.
I was strolling through my news feed on Instagram when an article appeared, verifying that the music festival I and many others loved so much would be ending. The first thing I did was check the credibility of the source because I mean, it couldn't be true, right?
Vans Warped Tour couldn't be ending.
Unfortunately, it could be and it was. I called my best friend, who had been attending the tour with me for the past three years. We talked through the shock and we planned to buy our tickets for the final tour. That was that. Well, until recently.
I was going through old t-shirts when I got to a pile of shirts bought over the years from Warped Tour. I then found myself looking at old photos from the music festival and I took a trip down memory lane. Not only the memories of the insanely talented musicians and music I had the opportunity to listen to but the memories of the different organizations that were there and the rising artist that Warped Tour introduced me to.
That's when it hit me.
Vans Warped Tour is coming to an end, but the impact that they left while they were here will always remain.
Warped Tour was an outlet for originality. Who the world wanted you to be didn't matter whenever you passed through the gates of Warped because who you were was enough. There was no such thing as being an outcast at Warped Tour. Instead, it was just a big group of people who shared the same love; Pop-Punk.
You were given a voice at Warped Tour. There was an organization for everything; Mental health, tattoos and piercings in the workplace, animal cruelty. If you believed it, they accepted it, and they gave you the opportunity to express that with others. There were many outlets that people could reach out to and that is what is so beautiful about Vans Warped Tour; they united people who needed it.
I credit Vans Warped Tour with introducing me to the music I will always listen to. Warped Tour not only brought along some of the biggest names in pop-punk, rock and metal but they also brought along aspiring artist, creating some of the biggest names in these genres. They gave talented young artist the opportunity to showcase themselves, and they gave us who love these genres the introduction to incredible musicians.
Vans Warped tour created a family. A family of pop-punk loving, emo kids who can appreciate who they are. Not only did Vans Warped tour give us the opportunity to listen to the music we love in a fun and accepting environment, but they gave us memories.
Maybe Vans Warped Tour is ending, but what Vans warped tour has left behind will always be here. One day, when nostalgia kicks in, this tour will be the first thing I will remember; the memories and all that it did for me. Vans Warped Your helped me learn how to be myself and it left so many things to the world.
Maybe it is ending, but it will never truly end.
