Summer is coming up faster than we think, and for me, that only means one thing: Music festivals! A bunch of artists coming together for a day or weekend of music and fun is my idea of a good time. If you’re going to your first music festival this summer or if you’ve made your way around the track like me, I have some tips and reminders to make sure your festival date is the absolute best that it can be!
1. Water. Tons of water.
We all know that you’re supposed to drink eight glasses of water per day, even if we don’t always follow that rule of thumb. During this summer’s music festivals, it is absolutely necessary that you drink at least that much, if not more. You’re going to be sweating, exerting a good amount of energy, and you need to drink tons of water in order to stay hydrated and able to have a good time. It’ll also keep you safe from passing out or feeling sick and keep you cool—what more could you ask for? As good as those sugary drinks may sound in the moment (trust me, I’m a huge fan of Monster), your body needs water. Be nice to your body. Give it tons of water.
2. Wear sunscreen.
“I don’t burn easily.” That’s nice. “I’ll be fine.” Haha, OK. Here’s some sunscreen for you. No one likes a sunburn, and even more, no one likes the risks you have when you get a bad enough sunburn. Sun poisoning, risks of skin cancer, risks of melanoma—if the pain and red skin don’t scare you into wearing sunscreen, hopefully those will. Nobody likes to hear that C-word, but if it gets you to wear sunscreen, I’ll bring it up. It’s so important to protect yourself from the sun, so please for your own sake, wear sunscreen.
3. People with shoulder-length hair or longer: Hair ties.
C’mon, when you’re jumping and dancing around to the music, be considerate of people behind and around you and pull your hair up (preferably into a bun, if your hair is long enough for that). Bonus: It’ll keep you cooler in the heat, and it’s another place that you can apply sunscreen to!
4. Pack a drawstring bag to carry with you.
Most music festivals will check bags when you enter, which shouldn’t be a big deal. I always have the essentials in my music festival bag: one sealed water bottle, two or three granola bars, however much cash I need for the day (never a credit or debit card), my handy dandy sunscreen, a portable phone charger, and a sharpie. Tip: Most music festivals check bags, and all that do will not allow you to take in an unsealed water bottle. However, you can refill that throughout the day as a lot of festivals have water bottle “refill stations.” As far as the “cash only” rule, why would you bring your credit card to a place like that? Bring what you need, keep your keys (preferably only one house and one car key) and your ID in your front pocket or bra, and do not bring anything you’re not prepared to lose. I’m not saying it will happen, but know that it could.
5. Be comfortable.
Wear lightly colored clothes (cue the gasps from all the Warped Tour goers), and make sure they fit somewhat loosely. You don’t want to be sweating out all of that water you just drank in a tight black top, do you? Then you’d have to drink even more water. Wear lace-up sneakers that have been wore in a decent amount. Please for your own sake, stay away from new sneakers or—gasp—flip flops. You’ll thank me for that.
The most important thing, of course, is to have a good time. You paid for your ticket, you waited for the date to come, and you should have an amazing time and make tons of memories. Plan a meet up spot with your friends just in case, try to stay off your pone during performances, check in with your parents every few hours, get an over-priced T-shirt, and have an amazing time.
