Fun Facts and Useful Tips for Music Festivals
Music festivals are, for many people, the purest and most enjoyable way to experience live music. However, they can be physically and mentally exhausting.
Here are a couple of tips you should think about if you are going to a festival:
- Get your tickets early. Most music festivals that charge money have graduated pricing, where tickets are sold at "Early Bird" prices, advance prices and gate prices.
- Know the schedule in advance. You don't want to miss out on your favorite bands.
- Consider bringing: dry shampoo (yes it exists), portable phone charger, first aid kit, baby wipes, ear plugs
- Manage your money. If the music festival you're attending runs for four days, it's probably not wise to spend most of your cash on CDs or craft vendors on the first day.
- Keep yourself comfortable. High heels are never a good idea. Air mattresses are great and bring sunblock if the weather is sunny.
- Don't bring expensive stuff. You don't really need your diamond necklace, your iPad, your Rolex or anything else that costs a ton of money anyway.
- Make friends. Festivals aren't just about music, they're about togetherness and community as well.
- If staying overnight, know where to put your tent! Don’t camp by the stage, a walkway, or at the bottom of a hill (in case of rain).
TOP 10 Music Festivals
1. Coachella Valley Music and Art FestivalWhere: Indio, California When: a mid-April weekend 2. Glastonbury FestivalWhere: Pilton, Somerset, England When: Last weekend in June Fun fact: It is not unexpected for it to rain during days of the festival and to have a party in the mud 3. Bonnaroo FestivalWhere: Manchester, Tennessee When: Usually 2nd week in June 4. RoskildeWhere: Roskilde, Denmark When: End of June/ Beginning July Fun fact: There is a nude run where a male and female win tickets for next year’s festival. 5. LollapaloozaWhere: Grant Park, Chicago When: First weekend in August |
6. FujirockWhere: Naeba, Japan When: Last weekend in July Fun fact: It is often regarded as the festival with the best natural scenery, with a mountain backdrop and beautiful forests. 7. South by SouthwestWhere: Austin, Texas When: March 8. Ultra MusicWhere: Miami, Florida When: March 9. BeniccasimWhere: Beniccasim, Spain When: Mid-July 10. T in the ParkWhere: Balado, Perth and Kinross, Scotland When: 2nd week of July |
The major music festivals are huge. Just to understand how huge they are check out some random stats about one of the biggest – Glastonbury Festival.
An army of 34,000 workers including 400 first-aiders put it all together every year. There are 20 bars, 300 showers and about 4,500 toilets. The BBC brings almost 40 miles of cable and about 50 cameras, while Glastonbury also has two underground, terrorist-proof reservoirs that can each hold one million liters of water.
Examining the data from UK's big festivals, as well as hundreds more independent and private music festivals along the way, a British radio station has discovered that:
Of these, there were over 8.2 million meters of toilet paper used in just four of the major festivals, with an estimated 15 million used overall by festival goers and festival staff. That's about 5,000 miles, or the distance from London to Rome, on festival toilet paper. And this is just the United Kingdom. Nice.
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