Spring has finally arrived, and that can only mean one thing... festival time! Unfortunately, there are folks out there who don't really understand proper festival etiquette. These are the people who should end up on YouTube under "Pagans Behaving Badly" -- and you know who they are. They get sloppy drunk, they don't help with anything, they try to have sex with anything that has a pulse, and then they whine about how much the event sucks. I think the worst example I've ever seen of Really Bad Pagan Behavior was at a public Mabon ceremony I attended years ago. There were a group of people who all arrived late, didn't bring anything to contribute to the potluck, complained the whole time about the food that was there, and then got mad when they were asked to please be quiet during ritual. They stomped off in a huff and left the gathering, and the collective sigh of relief was palpable. It was just plain rudeness, and unfortunately, it does happen.

If you look on the 2008 Wiccan Calendar, you'll see that it's filling up rapidly with seasonal events. That means it's a good time to take a minute and review something really important: Pagan and Wiccan Festival Etiquette. If you've never been to a public event, and you're thinking about attending one (or if you've been to one and think you might need a reminder on how to behave in public), you should take a peek. After all, you want to be invited back next year, right?

Ever been a witness to Pagans Behaving Badly at a festival? Share your stories about people who came out to a public Pagan event but left their manners at home!