Did you hear that? It’s the sound of music festival lineups being released around the globe.
If you’re not too busy gathering your best pairs of high-waisted jorts or hand-weaving a daisy crown, take a moment to reflect on this list of true music festival must-haves. Only the strongest can survive a multi-day festival, so come equipped.
Walkie Talkies
Cell phones are okay, but they’re not always reliable in overcrowded fields with spotty reception—not to mention the risk you take in using up your whole battery filming Milky Chance’s set (more on that later).
Enter the walkie talkie: it’s truly shocking that more people haven’t figured out how awesome walkie talkies are at music festivals. Connect with your friends instantly, listen in on the backstage gossip by tuning into the right channel, and pretend that you’re a 4-year-old playing Spy. Trust us: walkie talkies are absolutely a festival must-have.
Cheap Shades
The most important accessory of all is six pairs of cheap sunglasses.
The cheap part is important: there is a 90% chance that you will not be returning home with these suckers. Since you’ll be watching shows from mid-day to sundown, you probably won’t have time to put them away responsibly in your tent. Instead, you’ll hook them onto your collar, forgetting that they’re there later on in the mosh pit. That’s why you bring six pairs.
A Water Bottle
If drinking water is not part of your festival regimen, then you’ve got yourself a one-way ticket to the first aid tent, where you’ll be mashed up with all the other dehydrated folks.
You could drop a month’s rent on the water sold on the grounds, or you could bring your own empty bottle and fill it up at the water stations that more and more festivals are incorporating. Check your festival of choice’s policies, but most are okay with empty bottles.
Portable Power
Remember when you used up your entire battery filming that Milky Chance set? Well, if you’d brought along some portable power, you wouldn’t be in such a pickle.
Outdoor Tech just so happens to make a few power banks, including one that’s waterproof (you never know). Don’t leave home without it.
Wet Wipes
Wet wipes are not just for post chicken wing hand cleaning.
No matter how hard festival organizers try, porta-potties are always going to be totally disgusting. You can probably contract 26 different diseases just by looking at one. Bring wet wipes. Use them often.
Sunscreen and/or a Hat
When you’re rolling into your campsite, that blazing sun will be the most beautiful thing you have ever seen—but you’ll be cursing its existence the next day when you’re a shade of red that’s somewhere between strawberry and fire hydrant. Your mom was right: wear sunscreen and bring a hat.
Deodorant
For the love of the guy standing next to you as you wave your hands in the air like you just don’t care, bring (and wear) deodorant.
True. We figured the Walkie Talkies out 4 years ago because we kept losing each other. They are a must. We haven’t gone to one single festival without them since.