A Guide to Bringing Your Kids to Phish

3. Bring Plenty of EVERYTHING

Water, snacks, meals, sunscreen, juice, rain gear (much needed at SPAC last summer), toys, extra clothes–pack like you are going camping–you don’t want to be without anything your kids may need for fun, shelter, food, etc…

4. Bring Headphones

Go on Amazon and look for the brand Peltor. They cancel out all of the sounds that could be bad for your kids’ ears.

[#6 on our B List – 10 Kiddie Phish Videos]

5. Find a Seat That’s Best For Your Kids, Not For You

SPAC has a great lawn section for people with families. It’s flat, open, and there are other kids there. Not sure what other venues have. If you really want to be able to make it through the show, don’t worry about sitelines. You can hear the music.

6. Have A Plan

My wife was really amazing with this whole experience. She is not really a phan, but knew how important this was for me. We made a plan, that I was in charge of our son for the first set, and if we were still there, she would take care of him for the second set.

So, how did it turn out for us? We played at a playground for three hours before the show. Ate some dinner, then went inside and found a questionable spot on the lawn. Then the rain came–I had my son in my kid backpack, found some shelter to wait out the storm and then we moved up to the upper lawn where we found some other kids and families. Our boy ran around the upper lawn for a while (with me hot on his tail) and, around 8:45, fell asleep on my shoulders. At set break, my wife settled into her camping chair with him, and he slept until we were walking back to our car after Highway To Hell.

Hopefully, this helps someone planning to bring kids this summer. The one thing I have to stress, which hopefully I don’t really need to…put your kids first. If they are miserable, don’t be so self-important that they have a terrible night. You’ll have plenty more opportunities to see Phish.

• Previously on HT: The B List – 10 Kiddie Phish Vids