Survival Guide to Festival Season

By Giovanni Gilmore
Music Journalist

With spring and summer arriving quickly, there have been many major festivals announced that take place in the next few months. No matter if you’re going to JMBLYA, Bonnaroo, LollaPalooza, Woodstock or one of the many taking place this year I hope I can give you some tips to survive. With a good plan of how to save money for fees, knowing what’s good to wear and what to bring can make a trip for a music festival one of the best days of your life. Every summer comes with dozens of music festivals that take place all over the country with some in Texas like JMBLYA, Float Fest, ACL and more. While there are many all over the country like Bonneraro in Tennessee and LollaPalooza in Chicago. Even if a festival is states away from you they still have, for the most part, the same tips as for any festival.

The first tip of how to survive a festival is making sure you have a plan for tickets and fees for the trip. If planned poorly you can end up penniless from all the expenses of hotels, tickets, transportation and food on the trip. Buying your ticket months before the festival will save a lot of money since the prices rise closer to the day of the event. Most festivals offer a payment plan to help with the stress of having to pay so much at once. Booking your flight and hotel early during slow seasons can help save hundreds for your trip that you can help with saving for your next big trip.

Next set of tips would be to know what to wear at the festival. For the most part, festivals don’t have a required dress code, but with the summer heat that hits during festival season, it’s a good idea to dress for the weather. Some of the most common outfits are usually shorts and an easy-to-breathe in T-shirt, or a sports jersey. Most of the time wearing anything that is heavy will get you sent to the ER tent with heatstroke.

Lastly, I am going over what you should bring to the festivals you attend. Some of the necessities to bring are your phone, portable charger, sunglasses, and a fanny pack to hold all your stuff easily in one bag. Even if you forget your wallet or don’t feel like risking losing all your valuables that are in there, most festivals are starting to introduce a cashless feature to the wristband you receive so you don’t have to carry your debit card or cash with you. The most important thing of all is to make sure to bring a water bottle to fill or a Camelbak. Going to a festival on very little water can make you faint, pass out or even end up in the hospital. So make sure to drink water consistently to stay hydrated.

Now that you know about how to save money on the whole cost of the festival, what to wear and what to bring hopefully you are able to use some of these tips at the next festival you go to.

Featured Image by Giovanni Gilmore.