Festival Planning

Top 10 tips for your next Summer music festival

My favorite time of year is the festival season and I spend quite a bit of time researching, planning, and scheming to go to as many festivals I can every year and this has been one of my “hobbies” most of my adult life, hence the blog. Instead of retirement plans and cruises every year for vacation, I go to camping festivals and let me tell you…I have learned a thing or two.

The plan for this article is to cover some of the best tips I have learned for my version of glamping at festivals, keeping clean, food, organizing your gear, fashion and yes, ladies we are going to be talking products and favorite tips for staying healthy and beautify hydrated.

Here are are the top 10 things I have learned (in no particular order):

Bonnaroo is the BEST but any will do

The number one thing I can tell you is festivals can be really HOT when you are exposed in the sun. Roo is HOT in June. I grew up in Middle Tennessee, just down the road and heatstroke in Tennessee ain’t no joke ya’ll. So #1, the most important thing to plan for is shade! You must shade your camp and you must plan to shade yourself. It does not matter where the festival is located, if there is no A/C then you might be out of your comfort zone.

#1 One of the best things you can have is a good pop up canopy to relax under, your tent is not enough shade. I find putting a pop up over your tent can really extend your intent sleeping time, especially if you position your tent with the sun. Do you know that compass on your phone? Use it here to make sure you have shade for the East and West. Use tarps and tapestries, that way in the mornings and afternoons you will have a cool place to chill.

A well-placed tarp can be a lifesaver, so don’t leave home without something. On any given day in Center Roo you will see, just like cows in the field, everyone is huddled around the trees.

Also a few tarps are really cheap at the discount stores but can really make a difference if a storm comes through. I usually bring about four, and I like to put one under my tent, sometimes on the ground under my pop up if it is really a deluge and on the sides for shade if I don’t have tapestries. I usually bring about four tapestries also and I can use them to wrap when it gets cold at night myself in or to sit on.

#2 Keep food simple! Ice, Ice baby will break the $reakin the bank. So plan ahead. I use recycled water bottles and I fill them almost full of drinking water and then I freeze them about a week before. I have a small cooler that I double insulted with reflectix insulating wrap and I put the water bottles in the bottom. Usually, this will keep any perishable food cold for about 3 days and on the last day, there is usually still one cold bottle of drinking water to help with my recovery.

As far as food goes, we will get into more details on some recipes and my favorite products I always take along, but for now, just an overview. Personally, once I get there and realize to see all the bands on my list the next 4 days will be a logistical nightmare, I am always glad I came prepared and pre-made some of my food and easy meals that I can eat on the run. Screw grilling burgers and a three-course meal at the camp! If I wanted to kumbaya, I’ll go camping one weekend when there are NOT 25 bands I am trying to see, ya feel me?

I plan to eat some meals in the field (Yes food trucks!) and then I take wraps! Wraps with peanut butter, ok almond butter for you sensitive types. Ham, various veggies, hummus, chips, guacamole, anything I can cram in a wrap. Sometimes I even pre-make sandwiches. If you toast the bread and then make the sandwich, it won’t be soggy. Wrap those suckers up and it is egg salad for breakfast as I am walking, and I am first in line bitches. Definitely trail mix in little individual baggies, apples, bananas, bagels, olives, any little weird individual packets I can find. By pre-making some food like pasta or other side dishes, it saves time and I have food when I am impaired. Later, when my cold ice is gone, I don’t have to throw away a 1/2 pound of wet soggy ham that is floating and stinking in the bottom of the cooler on Sunday. Yikes, don’t waste your money or food leave it at home in the fridge.

#3 Shoes – Any time I travel, I always carry more than one pair of comfortable shoes. This can be a touchy subject, so we are talking about whatever is comfortable for you. I see people walking around barefoot every year, and that same person is at the med tent on Sunday. So I definitely suggest some shoes you can really walk miles in…because you will be walking miles. Miles over large hard gravel and then cow pastures. There are areas in Center Roo that are great for taking your shoes off, but you need something to protect your feet while traveling to the venue.

And then the rain comes…I have only been to a few festivals where there was not a downpour and storm for hours of the festival. That being said, having some type of breathable hiking boots, or rainproof boots will really make your trips to the porta-potties much more enjoyable. Beware of that mud puddle in the loo.

#4 A HAT! – Oh I remember that year I forgot my hat. I wore a hat I found in the garbage. Don’t have to wear a garbage hat, bring your own. Decorate your hat, add feathers and sparkles or find the biggest hat you can. Trust me, a hat will shade you and make you feel several degrees cooler and keep that heatstroke I mentioned at bay.

#5 Bandanas! I bring like 3 for every day! First and foremost, that orange Tennessee soil turns to dust in that hot sun and a bandana and a little water can shield you from breathing in all the dust that gets kicked up by feet and the carts. Add water from the water station and put it on your neck and back and it will cool you down quickly. Tie them around your head, your wrist, your neck and pop it over your face you will look like a real rebel! Or they might be good for an emergency when you go into the porta-potties or just blow those dust boogers out ya nose. (Yes, this is a real thing, don’t eat them!)

#6 Prepare for Rain! Once your tent leaks and that bag with all your clothes get wet when the sun comes out again, your clothes will sour and you won’t be able to wear that underwear. Time to invest in a plastic bin and a waterproof bag. I organize all my clothes and toiletries in the bin and keep my sleeping pad, towels and sleeping bag in a waterproof bag.

#7 Sun Glasses – Nuf said

#8 Plastic Rain Poncho – You know the flimsy plastic ones that costs a few bucks?

I bring one with me every day and if the ground is wet, I use them to sit on so I don’t have to carry a blanket around. It serves as an emergency rain protection and can also be used to wrap up anything I might buy, like posters or knickknacks.

#9 Don’t depend on the general store. You know how you can go to certain big box stores and buy a bunch of cheap stuff? You should do that, everything in the general store is marked up a huge percentage. A toothbrush and sunscreen will cost you $20 at the general store. Ladies, I once had to pay $1 per tampon after aunt flow came to town unexpectedly, so be sure to stock up on any personal items you may need. It will save you a lot of beer money!

#Ten There is nothing better after a full day of raging on the rail…going back to camp and removing the filth with a pack of baby wipes. Depending on your level of filth, I suggest multiple packs. One drunken fall into a mud puddle and you can use a whole pack.