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What is a Wook?
If you’ve ever been to an EDM festival or spent any time scrolling through EDM meme pages, chances are you’ve probably heard people use the term “Wook.”
But what exactly is a Wook?
In short, a Wook is someone who enjoys attending electronic dance music events and is basically a modern-day festival hippie.
What Makes a Wook a Wook?
The term is often used to describe ravers or partygoers who dress in colorful or outrageous clothing, look a bit rugged and reminiscent of homeless people in their physical appearance, and lastly are usually seen dancing wildly after taking “all the party things”.
While Wooks are known for being friendly and outgoing ravers they have a reputation for “mysteriously” never having money to chip in on the costs for festivals and activities associated with attending a music festival.
Simply put, Wooks are infamously known as the freeloaders of the festival world and pay the universe back with viral clips and cosmic vibes.
So if you see someone at an EDM event sporting some funky clothes and dancing their heart out, chances are they’re a Wook!
Where Did The Term Wook Come From?
The term Wook first emerged in the 1980s during the Grateful Dead days when comparing festival hippies to the popular Star Wars character Chewbacca, (hence the name Wookie).
While the term has been around for a while, “The Wook” really saw a resurgence in popularity in the mid-2010s as EDM festivals and social media exploded onto the mainstream.
It initially referred to a certain type of person who had no shame and was looking to have an awesome time and put on an unforgettable show.
Over time, Wooks have become music festival icons and infamous internet sensations through their highly shareable meme-worthy and viral clip antics.
In addition, the Wook persona and lifestyle have evolved into its own subculture known as “Festival Wookie” which can be found all over Instagram.
Just like the hippies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the Wooks can be identified quite easily based on their signature look which includes wild print clothing, dreadlocks, sometimes face paint, and other unique accessories.
The Wooks are often seen dancing around, giving out high fives, and introducing others to the party which makes them a spectacle to be around.
Overall, Wooks just want one thing: to create memories at music festivals and have good times with friends.
This often entails being high and halfway to Mars on whatever psychedlic drugs they brought to the festival or mooched from friends or strangers.
The Difference Between a Hippie and a Wook
While Wooks and Hippies have more in common with one another than they have differences there are a few we’d like to share with you.
The primary differences between Wooks and Hippies are that despite their shared appreciation of freedom and spirituality, generally speaking, they have different tastes in music, music festivals, and lifestyle personas.
The Wooks, generally speaking, are frequent attendees of large electronic dance music festivals such as Electric Forest and are more of the unenlightened rugged version of hippies that not only use drugs and alcohol but tend to take things too far.
In contrast, hippies have a stricter commitment to “good vibes” and have more of a lifestyle approach to peace, love, spirituality, and unity.
For this reason, the term Wook has more of a negative connotation associated with it and tends to be a “rave slur.”
The Wooks in Music Festival Pop Culture
As stated before, because of Wooks outlandish festival attire and behavior they have become an infamous pop culture phenomenon.
As a result of viral Wook memes and viral festival clips of Wooks in the wild, popular Instagram meme pages like @passedoutwooks, @wookculture, and @wookcasual have made Wooks internet sensations.
If you’re looking to kill some time and have a laugh we recommend observing Wooks from a safe viewing distance by exploring the most popular Wook meme pages we have included in this post.
A word to the wise for partygoers, never go full Wook.
What Kind of Music and Music Festivals Do Wooks Like?
In general, Wooks love electronic dance music of the bass music and dubstep variety as well as electronically inspired jam bands.
When it comes to music festivals Wooks tend to flock to multi-day multi-genre transformational music festivals such as the ever-popular Electric Forest by Insomniac at the iconic Sherwood Forest.
If you find yourself at a multi-genre music festival that plays bass music and features jam bands chances are you will come across some Wooks.
Final Thoughts on The Wooks
Now that you know what a Wook is and where the term came from you can go out into the world with this new information and keep your distance or party amongst the Wooks when you spot one.
Use this newfound knowledge or refresher course on how to spot a Wook wisely my festival friends.
And remember, don’t feed the Wooks.
Starting with my first EDM event in 2010 at Nocturnal Wonderland and hearing One by Swedish House Mafia and Benny Bennassi’s “Satisfaction” I have been hooked on EDM. While Above&Beyond and Anjunabeats captured my heart in 2012, the genre I love the most is Hardstyle and I feel the most alive when listening to it. My favorite part about the EDM world is the energy that is packed into each genre fan base and event. Writing for Deep In The Mix gives me the opportunity to contribute back to the EDM world I love so much.
