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With the festival season kicking off in earnest this weekend at Coachella and Wanee, we thought this was the perfect time to re-run Jennifer Kirk’s Festival Survival Guide to help you prepare for your festival experiences…
[Originally Published: May 21, 2009]
When the Bonnaroo 2009 lineup was announced a few months ago, my roommate asked me to email him a list of festival ‘essentials.’ As a festival veteran of sorts – I’ve been to every Bonnaroo but one and attended Langerado, Summercamp, Rothbury, Coventry, Oswego, Big Cypress, and the NOLA Jazz Fest – he picked the right person to ask for such a list.
In addition to my festival resume, I’m also a stickler for being organized and more importantly, prepared. As it has turned out in the past, I usually end up ‘running’ the camp site for my friends and well, I kind of like it. Going to a festival and being prepared is a trial and error experience, so I wanted to share some of my ideas with the HT audience and in turn was hoping that you would also chime in with any advice so we can all, collectively, have a better festival going experience.
So, here is a list of some of the essentials you’ll need in order to succeed and of course, survive your long weekend of fun and music!
1. Get an RV. It will make life easier. Now, I’ve actually never attended a festival in an RV, and have done just fine. But, boy would I love to travel to one in style. Perhaps one day. But, if you can’t rent or borrow one then pay extra close attention to the 19 items left on this list.
2. Water. You can’t bring enough of it. Some festivals are starting to provide water refill stations (Rothbury did this last year and you were allowed to bring empty or sealed containers onto the concert grounds). Make sure to check the ‘official’ festival rules first. I would recommend purchasing several gallons worth. After all, you will need it to refill water containers, brush your teeth, wash your dishes, etc. Potable water is generally available on site at washing stations but I tend to shy away from the sweet, sweet stench of sulfur. READ ON for more of Jennifer’s Festival Survival tips and tricks…
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