Music Festival Survival Guide

Pro Tips to a Better Festival Experience

By Maren J. Lee

Can you recall the excitement and overwhelming feeling right before a music festival? Well, I can still clearly remember my first festival. Not knowing what I signed up for, my friends persuaded me to purchase a last minute ticket and off I went to a 3 days festival at San Bernardino. As a festival virgin,  I did not know what to expect or what to bring to the event. All I had packed in my duffle  bag were three outfits and my toothbrush. Although I was extremely underprepared, I still fell in love with the beauty of festival. The beauty of escaping reality fascinated my imagination. I started to wonder if there are better ways to enjoy the festivities…  

As festival becomes more popular among the millennials generation, more and more people are attending the festivity for the first time. This articles will provide a few ways to improve the overall experience through these three categories: 

• Preparing For Battle
• Staying Hydrated
• Entering The War Zone

Preparing For Battle

The first step toward any good adventure is preparation. Although different festivals may be located at various locations, which means that you would need to bring specific items to the venue. For example, you will definitely need a ski jacket to SnowGlobe due to the weather on New Year's Eve at South Lake Tahoe. However, the most crucial tools to carry at any festivals are generally the following: 

• CamelBak / Hydration Pack
• Earplugs
• Cash
• Blender / Ice Cooler Full of Fruits

Anyone who’s been hiking will automatically understand the necessity of hydration pack. At any festival, owning a hydration pack is like carrying a life saving fountain. It will not only help yourself but also all of your friends. 

The most annoying thing after a festival is the consistent sound of ringing at the back of your head. As I grew older, I started to wonder why do they always have to turn the volume so high with such loud bass. Then I started using earplugs at major festivals. It honestly didn’t effect the audio quality all that much, but it did solve my ringing problem and gave me an opportunity to sleep at night. 

As a member of the plastic generation, I never have any cash on me. I’ve always figured as long as I have my cards or my phone then I will be able to get through the day. Well, I can’t emphasize on how wrong I am about carrying cash. The idea of bringing cash to a music venue seems a bit risky, but tipping the workers properly will provide endless opportunities.

Some may be surprise to see blender and ice cooler to be in the list. But what sounds better than a nice, cool smoothie after a long of dancing and sweating? Usually they have smoothies stands in the festival venue, but it usually cost ten dollars for a small cup of smoothie. Not only will you be able to same some money, but you can also blend in some vitamin supplements into the smoothie and stay healthy. 

Staying Hydrated

Do you know that the leading cause of festival death is dehydration? Sure, most of it is caused by consuming MDMA, but no one should deny the importance of staying hydrated. Most of the festivals have water station for you to fill up the hydration pack. In the long term, investing in a 2 liters hydration pack is going to be cheaper than buying five dollars water bottles  

There are a couple smart ways to stay hydrated at a music festival. First of all, you’ll need to locate the water fountain stations. If you know the exact location of the closest water station, then you will be able to refill the hydration pack within minutes and return to the concert in no time. Second, sip early and often. While we are enjoying the amazing visual effect of the festival, you would easily forget to drink until your mouth feels like the Sahara desert. Thirst is a sign that you are already dehydrated. So drink early and often, keep yourself hydrated from the very beginning. Lastly, balance the consumption level of alcohol and caffeine with water. Festival headliners often rely on these substances to fuel their energy for the night. A good strategy is to alternate alcohol or caffeine beverages with 12 oz of water. Not only will this tactic slow down your pace, but also ease your hungover the next morning.

ProTip: Find a vender with bags of fresh ice and tip the worker a couple dollars then fill up the hydration pack with ice. When you are raging in the heart of the crowd, ice cold water is the answer to all your problem. 

Entering The War Zone

What is the war zone you asked? I mean, we are at a music festival… isn’t it all about Love, Peace, Respect, and Unity… where could this war zone be? At a festival, everyone is friendly until you get into your car and trying to get out of the lot. The parking lot is the war zone. I realize that parking is not the first topic everyone would have thought of in terms of festival, but knowing your way around the parking lot definitely would not hurt your chances of getting out alive. Personally, a good parking spot means a great start toward a good adventure

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ProTip: Where you enter the lot is usually where you would get out of the lot. So, upon entering the parking area, you would want to slow down as much as possible and start looking for places to park your car. This is going against traditional parking method of finding the closest spot to the entrance. I highly recommend to walk 20 minutes to the entrance of the venue than to be stuck in traffic for three hours in the lot. Well, you might say that there are no spots for to park near the exit. (They usually fill up the lot from the outside) Then its time for plan B. Break out a twenty dollar bills and slowly roll up to the traffic director. As minimum wages workers, twenty dollars is twice the amount of his payment for an hour worth of work. Just ask him if you could double park this space or squeeze into that spot where the traffic cone is on. This pro tip works nine out of ten times. On average, I get out of the venue and back at my hotel within 30 mins.