Every year on May 22, a number of countries celebrate the unusual holiday – World Goth Day. World Goth Day), mainly – representatives of this subculture.
The initiative to hold such a thematic event was taken in 2009 by the British DJ Cruel Britannia, who organized a gothic music show program on the popular British radio BBC Radio 6 Music. It took place as part of a week-long series of programs dedicated to various subcultures. The event was a success, and then it was decided to create a World Ready Day, which will be held every year. And if in the first year it was celebrated only in Great Britain, then a few years later the holiday gained fame in other countries of Europe and America.
The main goal of Day – is to enable representatives of the Gothic subculture to express themselves and talk about various aspects of «their world», such as music, fashion and art.
Therefore, events held on this day include concerts, fashion shows, art exhibitions and much more. Some countries also hold charity events to combat prejudice and hatred of subcultures so that young people who look different from others can feel the support of the community and do not feel like « outcasts». Thus, the British World Day program is usually attended by the charitable foundation «S.OPHIE», founded in memory of 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster, who died in 2007. She was the victim of a hate murder because of her Goth affiliation.
It is believed that the subculture is ready. Goths, from English. Gothic – Gothic) appeared in the UK in the late 1970s and « grew from the punk movement. One of the foundations for the development of the Gothic movement was «passive», an aesthetic protest against the prevailing cultural stereotypes in society. Being initially youthful, the subculture is now ready to be represented in the world by people of the older generation. The development of Gothic was influenced by certain works of literature and cinema, and later the elements of subcultural aesthetics themselves began to penetrate into mass art.
It must be said that the Gothic subculture is diverse and heterogeneous in its manifestations, but there are also characteristic features for its representatives: a specifically gloomy image (black clothes in the style of the era, specific paraphernalia and special dark makeup), interest in Gothic music (Gothic rock, darkwave, post-punk, industrial, death rock, neoclassical, gothic metal, ethereal wave), mysticism, «black» humor, horror films and the same literature. Within the subculture there are norms and standards of behavior and worldview.
Almost from the very beginning of its existence, it was criticized due to the eccentric appearance of its representatives and the myths about the Goths spread in society. However, this does not prevent the Gothic subculture from being popular for several decades. Currently, it is represented mainly in the West – in Europe, the New World and Australia, where World Day is ready and celebrated annually on May 22.