If you are a music festival newbie, attending your first fest can seem overwhelming. Where are you going to stay? Who are you going to see when there are conflicts (cause there definitely will be conflicts)? Well, one thing this post can help with is what gear you should bring to a music festival to ensure a fun and positive experience. This post does not cover camping & housing essentials, but check out this one instead if that’s what you are looking for.
The ESSENTIALS
The most important things to bring are your ticket/wristband, your phone and money. Each festival may have differing rules, so it is important to check the festival information to see if the festival uses a RFID wristband to load money or not.
Another very important item is your ID (driver’s license, passport, etc.). If you are over the drinking age limit and plan to drink, you will need your ID to get a wristband or enter a beer garden. Do not leave home without it! If you are from out of the country, do some researching first to see if you can get away with something other than a passport. Try asking on the festival forums, the official social media channels, Reddit, etc. to see what your specific festival will take as a form of identification when from out of the country.
Bringing a phone is important to keep in touch with friends. But what use is a dead phone? An important thing to bring is a portable phone charger. Usually, you can get a few full charges out of portable phone chargers nowadays and they’re fairly compact. Make sure your group has at least one charger you guys can all share throughout the day!
Life Pro Tip #1: Set up at least one time and spot to meet in case you get separated from your group and phone dies. For example, 6pm meet at astronaut art installation.
It can take awhile for your messages to send so always make sure to send timestamps in your messages! If you let your friend know you’re at back left side of Stage A and then he/she doesn’t see it until hours later when you’re front row of Stage C, you’re going to have a hard time meeting up with them.
Life Pro Tip #2: Send timestamps in your text messages. For example, “bathrooms to the left of main stage. 3:05pm”
The Nice-to-Haves
It’s always important to stay hydrated. Dancing all day out in the sun can tire you out. Most festivals will have free water stations to fill up purchased or reusable water bottles and hydration packs. You can also buy water bottles too, but it is more environmentally friendly to opt for a collapsible/reusable one or a hydration pack like a CamelBak. Hydration packs comes in all shapes and sizes. Some only have a pouch for water while others also function as a backpack. Most festivals won’t allow you to bring in liquids, so they likely will check to make sure your water bottles and hydration packs are empty when you are going through security.
If you are hydrating all day (which you should be!), one thing you won’t be able to avoid is using the port-a-potty. Some festivals may have nicer bathrooms, but it is always still good to bring things like hand sanitizer or wet wipes. There will be washing stations, but sometimes they run out of soap, water, or paper towels. It’s always better to be safe than sorry and carry your own hand sanitizer. We also recommend bringing in some toilet paper for when the port-a-potties run out.
Being out in the sun for most of the day requires sun protection. This can range from sunscreen/sunblock to chapstick to sunglasses to hats. Speaking of sun, a nice to have item is a cooling wrap. You can wear this around your neck or on your head and rewet it throughout the day. Or you can opt for a bandana. This can keep you cool if you wet it and double as a fashion accessory or even block out the dust if it’s a windy day.
Whether or not you are renting a locker at the festival, you will still need something to carry around your things. As mentioned before, if you have a CamelBak, this can double as a backpack depending on which one you have. Other options are backpacks, fanny packs, and purses/bags. Be sure to check the festival rules to see if there a size limitation for backpacks.
If you’ve been to many concerts and festivals, you know how loud it can get. Earplugs come in many colors and sizes and are small enough to easily carry around. For those with a little extra spending money, look into customized ear plugs. These are custom to your ears, so you should barely feel them. Check out this post to find our choices for both custom and non-custom earplugs.
Life Pro Tip #3: protect your ears early by wearing earplugs so you can keep going to these events!
Gum is something we always bring and easy to share with friends and other festival goers. These can help after that delicious meal or with alcohol breath or even if you just want something to chew on. Some festivals may have rules about only allowing unopened packs, so if you are attending a multi-day fest, be sure to bring multiple gum packs.
If you wear contacts or your eyes dry out easily, don’t forget eye drops! The single use containers are best for this so that you don’t contaminate your eye drops in case it is super windy and dusty outside.
If you like to capture videos, don’t forget a GoPro. Definitely check out the festival rules first, because some might not let you bring one in on a stick.
What else do you normally like to bring that we didn’t have in our list?
The Checklist
- Ticket / Wristband
- Phone
- Money (Cash / Credit Card / Pre-loaded wristband)
- ID (Driver’s License, Passport)
- Portable Phone Charger
- Hydration Pack (CamelBak) or Collapsible Reusable Water Bottle
- Hand Sanitizer / Wet Wipes / Toilet Paper
- Sunscreen
- Chapstick
- Sunglasses
- Hat
- Bandana
- Cooling Wrap
- Backpack / Fanny Pack / Purse / Bag
- Earplugs
- Gum
- Eye Drops (single use containers are best!)
- GoPro