Pack The Car and Hit The Road! Surviving your first festival!

It's that time of year again.

Warm Weather, Summer Time, and Festivals!

The festival season is slowly getting into swing, and with events such as Wanee, Amberland, and plenty of others, its time to choose your route, pack your car and get your ass to a summer music festival. Although many are focused on jam band's and blues music, there is a festival for everyone if you can seek it out. However, there is a common thread to every camping music festival. Preparation.

When preparing for my own festival experience, I usually plan ahead for a few different things:

1. Beer is cheap: buy ahead of time and avoid high prices

2. Weather is unpredictable: be ready for anything

3. All in all, the more you bring....the better off you are.

Most festivals allow you to bring everything you need to your campsite not necessarily to the stages, so be prepared to spend a few dollars, but there is always a way to avoid costs additional to the weekend ticket purchased for anywhere from 40-$500 (VIP access can be in the thousands!). Food and Drink are your 2 largest cost's if you are totally unprepared, since many food vendors although delicious...can add up throughout the weekend. Coolers full of food and drinks are your #1 priority. Many festival goers are very friendly and when asked, most will gladly let you use their stove or grill if you don't have one to cook on.

Weather, although somewhat trackable, can always throw you a curve. Plan on having at minimum 1 poncho, and an air mattress can be helpful if for not only comfort, a raised platform in a flooded tent. All though many tents claim to be "waterproof" any air mattress prove as a defense against the puddle that happens to show up after a good down-pour.

Finally, if finances are not an issue. Bring extra. Not only does it create an opportunity to sell a case of beer and make a few bucks on your ticket back, but it assures that nothing that you need will diminish too quickly. Long story short, most festivals allow you to show up and spend as much money as you want, allowing you to be as unprepared as possible, however, for the conscious festival goer, purchasing camping equipment, and supplies allows for the best experience at the lowest cost! So no matter what your excuse, don't let money be a reason to not go to a summer music festival!