How to Prepare for a Music Festival

Happy Hump Day Friends!

I spent this weekend at Music Midtown. This is Atlanta’s biggest music festival and takes place over two days at Piedmont Park. As usual, it was a blast and I’m so sad it’s over. It’s an exhausting two days (I went to work on Monday and came home and slept approximately 13 hours to recover) but there is nothing like it!

This year’s headliners were Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, and Fall Out Boy. Other big players were Khalid, Foster the People, 30 Seconds to Mars, Portugal the Man, Gucci Mane, Janelle Monae, and more. You can check out the full lineup here.

BONUS: I posted a picture to Instagram and got a VIP Upgrade from Unify Water which was super awesome! Unify Water created the H20 Initiative to provide millions of gallons of clean water to people in the most water stricken communities all over the world.

So thanks to Unify Water, I got to watch Imagine Dragons at the front of the stage with a free drink in my hand. Basically in my life: the movie…nothing changes.

I love Music Midtown and I’ve learned a lot of things from my two years as an attendee. So here are my favorite tips to prepare for a music festival!

BUY COMFORTABLE SHOES. In 2017, I was not prepared. I wore these gold slide on sneakers that rubbed the back of my foot all day. Then I tried to fix the situation with Chacos the second day. All poor decisions. Don’t worry about wearing super cute shoes. Just be comfortable—it’s a LONG two days. I found the world’s best music festival shoes. They are sneakers, but are holographic silver so they are fun but comfy. They changed my life this year and I highly recommend them if you have any kind of event where you have to stand all day.

Eat breakfast. Food at the festival isn’t super cheap and definitely not nutritious—like I ate tots covered in cheese, bacon, chives, and ranch for one of my meals. So try to eat a good breakfast to fuel you for the remainder of the day.

Sunscreen is your friend. ‘Nuff said.

Pick the correct bag. I went with the fanny pack this year. It was so much easier than the cross body bag. I could keep all my stuff inside, was hands free, and stayed cool because I didn’t have an extra strap across my body. I purchased this one from Amazon and LOVED it. I clearly was all about the holographic theme this year.

If you are curvy, use an anti-chafe stick. Another thing I learned from 2017—I have mermaid thighs and I was practically penguin waddling by the end of the day and it was awful. This year, I used my Megababe stick in the morning and was perfectly fine ALL day. I swear if your thighs touch and you haven’t purchased the Megababe Anti-Chafe stick, I don’t even know how you are living. This is my favorite purchase of 2018.

Plan ahead and don’t rely on your phone. Because there are SO many people in one congested area, service sucks. If you are going to split from your friends to see different bands on different stages, be sure to have a SPECIFIC meeting spot because you probably won’t get a text through. Most music festivals also have an app with the schedule, so use that and sit down the week of and plan which band you are going to hear when. Also, it’s a good idea to screenshot that line-up in case you can’t open the app.

Go cashless if you can. Music Midtown has the option to set up a credit card on your wristband so all you have to do is tap your band when you are purchasing food, drink or merchandise. Think Disney World Magic Bands. It’s amazing and saves so much time. If your music festival gives this option—DO IT!

Plan your transportation wisely. If you are going to take Uber, make plans for after the show is over to wait out the crowds or plan to walk way away from the venue because the surge prices will have you taking an $85 ride home. We opted for Marta and walked from the station. It is a bit of a pain in the butt because everyone leaves at the same time and it’s super crowded, but this was the best option for us. Don’t drive—because you usually can’t park.

Hydrate. It’s a really long two days. Music Midtown has hydration stations throughout the park so be sure to use them.

Bring a back-up battery pack. Because your phone is going to be searching for service the whole time and you KNOW you’re going to take lots of pics and videos, it’s a good idea to bring a back-up battery pack and a charging cord. I have this one and love it! It fits in my fanny pack, charges your phone lighting fast, and even has a flashlight. Big fan.

 

Have you ever been to a music festival? What are your favorite tips?