Beginners Guide to Music Festivals

If you have never attended a music festival it can seem a bit overwhelming. What tier of tickets to buy, how camping works, where to shower, etc. All these concerns and more will be covered in this blog.

To break it down, there are two types of music festivals. Camping and non-camping. A camping music festival is typically three days long whereas a non-camping festival is usually two days. Non-camping festivals appear to be cheaper but when you factor in transportation and hotel costs it will get much pricier than a camping festival.

I will be going more in depth on camping music festivals in this blog because of the experience it offers versus a normal non-camping festival.

Tickets and Passes

Tickets for a festival will usually have tiers. The first drop of tickets would be the first tier. This is where tickets will be cheapest, so it is best to get them as soon as possible rather than waiting for other tiers. You can expect the price of a ticket to be anywhere from $250 and up. Tickets are cheapest on the festival website. Getting it from an outside source, there will usually be upcharges and oftentimes it is a scam.

A ticket for a festival is not a regular ticket on your phone or something you can print out. When purchased you will get a box shipped to you with a wristband and a few other goodies. The wristband will act as your ticket and must be worn at all times during the festival.

Along with a regular GA (general admission) ticket you will also need a car camping pass. Most festivals usually allow four people to a camp space. There only needs to be one camping pass split between all people, making it very practical. A basic camping pass is usually about the size of a large parking spot excluding the area your car will take up.

Camping Information

Although you just get a spot to camp, each campsite has their own “hub.” A hub is where everyone staying in that section/campsite can shower, eat, charge phones, etc. In the hub there is shower stations set up you can pay to use, food trucks, and large outlet banks to charge your phone as well as water refill stations. In the hub there are no bathrooms throughout the campsite there are only porta potties.

Campsites will typically look like this

To have a ideal campsite these are some of the recommended items:

• Beach/lawn chairs

• Canopy

• Tapestries to put over canopy

• Portable grill

• Folding Table

• Speaker

All the items listed above will make your campsite feel like home for the weekend. Now for the items that are NECESSARY:

• Bottled/Gallons of water

• Hydropack

• Tent

• Portable Charger

• Paper towels

• Non-perishable snacks

• Sunscreen

• Cooler

These are only some of the basic items needed but it is a good start to your list.

Festival Lineup

Unlike a normal concert, a music festival isnt just seeing one artist but closer to 50-100 artists. When you first look at a lineup it can seem very overwhelming but here are some tips to guide you through the process.

On the festival website as the event gets closer they will release set times. It is broken down by stages and times. This is when you should start writing down who you want to see. Sets will start around 11 a.m. and end around 11 p.m.

Earlier in the day is when there are smaller, underground type artists performing. These crowds are small and there is not much foot traffic around the festival at these times. As it gets later in the day bigger artists will start to perform. Sets can last anywhere from 30-90 minutes depending on the artist.

A festival will always have three headliners. This is the person that will end each night of the festival. You can find the biggest crowds and the longest sets at these shows.

It is best to pre-plan on who you want to see by going into the festival with it written down somewhere on who you want to see, what time they're playing, and what stage.

Pro Tips

There is a lot of information and little hacks I wish I knew when I first started going to music festivals. Lucky for you, I'll be sharing some of the things I learned along the way.

1. At festivals there is not the best signal. A lot of times, texts won't go through and apps will take forever to load. It is easy to venture on your own and lose your group. When you first get to your campsite, open up the maps app in your phone and pin your location. It can be difficult to find your campsite without friends or at night so having your campsite pinned, it allows you to always know where to go even if your phone doesnt have service.

2. PLUR and KANDI. At music festivals there is always a large presence of the raver community. These are people that are avid festival goers and live for the culture. The rave community values PLUR (peace, love, unity, and respect). Ravers can be seen wearing KANDI these are bracelets made from beads that ravers will swap with eachother.

3. Stay Hydrated! Although this seems obvious, I can not stress the importance of this. Attending a festival, being in the sun all day, dancing, etc is exhausting. Having water on you at all times is necessary.

Festival Scene

Being at a music festival is like nothing you will ever experience. It is, in a lot of ways like another world. The community is loving and accepting and almost everyone is truly trying to make friends and just have fun. There is a big stigma around festivals being hot spots for drugs like MDMA, acid, mushrooms, etc. You will definitely encounter some people that are on drugs but that is not everyone there. There are a variety of different people and you will find people tailored to your interests.

This about sums up what you can expect at a music festival. It does not cover everything but will give you a good idea of what you're walking into. If live music attracts you, I highly suggest attending. It has given me some of the best weekends of my life and is worth every penny spent.