The Ultimate Music Festival Packing Guide

This article was originally posted on the S&R Blog.

Ah, can you smell it in the air? Freshly cut grass and funnel cake, the sounds of your favorite band warming up for their summer tour and every basic girl’s Instagram feed is slammed with the wildest costumes. Now that Coachella has come and gone, it is officially music festival season!

Festival Season is that magical time of the year folks across the country – nay the world – can spend anywhere from 1 to 4 days partying and getting down outside with 35,000 of your closest friends listening to your favorite music – how can that not be fun?! For the price of a single somewhat decent back of the arena lower bowl Beyonce ticket, you could spend 4 days seeing 39 different sets by some of the greatest improvisational musicians in the world, 77 bands on the beach, 55 top country artists or 111 of the world’s top DJs and rappers. I think I’ll take my $250 and go to a 4-day music festival, sorry Beyonce.

Festivals are magical. Put aside the fact that you can see multiple bands over the weekend and you have a weekend that is still packed with adventure from meeting new friends, trying out new beer and food and – in most places – camping out under the stars! Besides the music, the camping aspect of festivals is my favorite.

For my first music festival, I stayed at a hotel – young, naive and ignorant – and thus I packed like I would a normal weekend getaway. This turned out to be a poor decision. I wasn’t prepared at all – though I still had a blast!

Now that I have experienced many more festivals – both day festivals and the overnight camping variety – I have created the ultimate Festival Camping Packing List. I’ll break down the necessities and my favorite recommendations.

Clothing

Shirt and shoes: This is pretty obvious, but I recommend taking one shirt and pair of shorts per day of the festival. If you want a fresh one to travel home in, pack one as well. Most festivals are in the summer so pack light breathable clothing.

Underwear: Anytime I travel, I’ll pack one per the number of days I’m traveling, plus an extra just in case it rains or something spills over you.

Sweatpants/pjs: So far everything is pretty standard but I always pack my lightest pair of sweatpants to sleep in and lounge in the mornings and evenings. The weather at every festival I have been at drops at night and get scorching hot early in the morning. And there is nothing more I distaste in the morning is waking up because I’m too hot.

Tevas/Chacos: When it comes to festivals, you have to have an open-toed shoe that has a heel strap. I have tried all the other alternatives (except the Vibrams) and nothing works better than a Teva or Chaco. Tennis shoes get too hot plus you have to pack socks and flip-flops lack the support needed for dancing, walking to and from the campsite and exploring.

Sweatshirt/Sweater/Baja:  As I mentioned earlier, nights at festivals can get chilly, especially if its located in the mountains or forests. I like to pack a Baja personally (because music festival), but be sure to look at the weather before you pack and add any sweatshirt or sweater that will keep you warm will to your bag.

Bandana: Bandanas are critical at music festivals. I personally wear them to keep my hair back since hats are too warm for me. But another great use for them is to cool down. I usually pack 3-4 bandanas and keep most of them in ziplock baggies filled with water in the cooler. When I need to cool down, take one out and wrap the cold bandana around your neck and receive the cooldown you need.

Others: other things to consider are hats (if you enjoy wearing a hat), flip-flops – for late night bathroom runs or taking showers, and Rain boots and a rain jacket/poncho. Check the weather before you go, but I always like to pack my rain boots and rain jacket and leave them in the car – just in case.

Hygiene

Hygiene should be pretty standard. Pack your toothbrush, any medication (that your doctor prescribed) along with Tylenol, Advil and allergy medicine. Other helpful hygiene products that are good to pack are sunscreen, bug spray, toilet paper (trust me, you’ll want to bring your own, especially for the camping bathrooms), dry shampoo, wet wipes, hand sanitizer and baby powder – Hey, you never know!

Food & Beverages

For F&B I like to keep things simple. I’ll pack a bag of ice for each day I’m at the festival – you can always buy more there if your cooler does not keep ice for 3 days. With the ice, I will bring a case of water per day of the festival – gotta stay hydrated!

Next is user discretion, I’ll bring beer and soda to supplement my water, snacks such as kind bars, trail mix and chips and two loaves of bread with a jar of peanut butter and lunch meat and cheese. This will serve as my snack and meals when I’m at the campsite – Hey most of the time I’ll be inside where I can get food from vendors – so its ok to be simple. Simple is actually better here so pack things you’ll eat for multiple days.

Some festivals allow grills in the campgrounds. If yours does, pack hotdogs and hamburgers to grill up some food. Don’t forget your portable grill as well! Be sure to check the festival’s website to verify if grills are allowed.

Camping Gear

Tent/Rain Fly: If you forget to pack everything else but remember to pack your tent, you’ll be able to weather the festival. Your tent, outside of food, water, and your ticket is the most important item on this list. Sure you could always bunk up with your new best friend you met, but I prefer my own peace and quiet at night. Your tent can be as luxurious as this “glamping tent” or as simple as this one person tent to be used only for sleeping. I have been using the same tent since I was in boy scouts in the early 90s. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Just make sure you have your rain fly – even if it’s not supposed to rain, the morning dew can soak everything!

Flag/Festival Totem: Ok this may sound odd, but trust me, you will wish you had one if you don’t bring one. A festival pole is simply to mark your location. Some folks use them during the festival to indicate where the group is (Hey, follow the pole with Nemo riding a triceratops, it’ll lead you right to us) but I prefer to use them at the camping site.

After listening to music, drinking a few beers and standing on your feet all day, finding your tent can be daunting. I’ll create a flagpole with a unique combination of flags to serve as a waypoint to find my way back to the campsite. I have gotten lost in the tent city before and it’s not the best feeling in the world. The best way to mark your territory and help you get home is to raise your colors high!

2 Coolers: As I mentioned above, a cooler is a must-have for all festivals. I prefer to bring two, one for ice and one for water/beer/soda and food that needs to be kept cold. Any cooler will do but I prefer the kind that keeps my ice for 3 days.

Flashlight/headlamp: Most camping festivals are held in the city – show me one that is and I will be baffled. Due to their nature (and being in nature), festival campgrounds get dark at night. Packing a flashlight or headlamp is a must have for finding your camping site after the day or late night bathroom runs. I prefer the headlamps as they free up your hands and they look cooler in my opinion.

Pocket Knife: You never know what you might have to cut or open. Sometimes its tent twine and sometimes its to widdle while you sit around a campfire. I always have a knife on me, but here is a good article from the Art of Manliness on why keeping a pocket knife on you should be mandatory.

Sleeping Bag/Sheets & Blanket & Pillow: Ok, this should be obvious, but if you want to sleep in a sleeping bag, bring your sleeping bag, if you plan on sleeping on an air mattress or cot, bring sheets and blankets. There is nothing worse than getting to your camping site and realizing you forgot sheets, blankets, and pillows. Pack them and double check. I have been to a festival before without them – not a great experience on day 3 with a limited amount of sleep. Triple check while you’re reading this.

Ground pad/air mattress/cot: Like above, if you are going to bring an air mattress or cot, make sure you have it and the proper accessories. If anything else, pack a ground bad that blows up or a foam egg crate one. You’ll likely be pitching your tent in a field. This means anything from grass, gravel, random rocks to the hard packed soil. Nothing will ruin your sleep and energy than sleeping on the uncomfortable ground. Just don’t do it, spend the money buy some form of a pad to sleep on.

Lawn Chairs: Creating a lounge environment around the camping site is essential for maximum relaxation. At most festivals, the music doesn’t start until the afternoon. Between the summer heat and the early rising sun, chances are you’ll be up (forced by the elements or naturally) by 10 am. Bringing lawn chairs to hang out, eat your food and relax will make your mornings and evenings more enjoyable.

Trash Bags: This one is easy, you have trash, throw it away properly. I prefer to use the big black outside bags due to their size and durability. Keep the grounds clean.

Camping fan: Bringing a camping fan to hang in your tent is essential. It gets the air moving and removes the muggy feeling tents are known for. Personally, I am the kind of person who needs the room to be freezing to sleep, so during the summer, camping can be uncomfortable for me due to the heat. This helps cool the tent (and me) down. You can find fairly cheap handheld ones, but I prefer to use this and hang it in the middle of the tent with yarn.

Other / Miscellaneous

Portable phone charger/Car charger: This one should be pretty obvious in this day and age but running out of juice on day one with no way to charge your phone for three more days really sucks. Not to mention that besides a way to communicate, social media posts will be missed (how will people know you were there if you don’t post 8000 pics a day) your parents will be worried sick that they haven’t heard from you and you likely won’t have any pictures because millennials don’t have stand-alone cameras. Jokes aside, having a portable charger and/or car charger is a necessity for all festival goers. This portable charger is a beast with 5 chargers peruse. Keeping a car charger is useful when you don’t have a way to recharge your portable charger. Just be sure to turn your car fully on when charging. Your car’s Batteries run out much quicker than gas and trust a gear head when I say this: you won’t burn through your tank by idling for an hour to charge your phone. Just be sure to turn your device on airplane mode while charging as it’ll charge faster.

Sunglasses: For me, sunglasses aren’t on my packing list as they are always on me. At festivals, I prefer the cheap variant as you never know what will happen to them and I don’t want to lose my nice pair – again. But if you have prescription sunglasses or just wanna rock your Cartier’s be my guest but at least put a cable or croakies around them.

Ticket: This should be obvious but please please please don’t forget your ticket. Sometimes festivals will… actually no. Just make sure your ticket is in your car or wallet. Preferably with your ID. Don’t forget that either.

Cash: while we’re on the topic of wallet.. bring cash! I know most vendors have the square these days but other vendors do not. Especially those you’d find on Shakedown Street. It’s always better to have extra cash at the end of the trip than needing cash and having to pay an arm and a leg in atm fees.

Ear Plugs: Chances are if your reading this, you are a musician (or my mom) Hi Mom!! And as a musician, your most valuable assets are your ears. Music festivals (and concerts for that matter) are loud, especially if you are near the stage. The best way to protect your hearing when you get older is to wear earplugs. You may say they look odd or aren’t cool, but what’s cooler than making sure you can still hear your favorite band when you’re 75?! If you are like me and claim that the cheap foam ones alter the sound quality, check out these Heroes. I use them all the time from concerts to practicing with my band or playing on stage.

Extra batteries: if you are bringing anything that uses batteries – camping fan, flashlight or headlamp – make sure you have replacement batteries for if and when the ones you haven’t changed since buying the device die.

Other Optional Items:

So the above items I  would dub as mandatory. You will likely need most (if not all) of the items at some point during your adventure – or wish you had them. The following items are merely suggestions, or alternatives if you insist.

Tennis shoes: I personally would not wear tennis shoes at a festival unless you need their arch support. They are heavy, they are prone to holding a lot of water. But if you insist you must wear them be sure to pack extra…

Socks: Socks are an absolutely mandatory item to pack if you are planning on wearing tennis shoes. I recommend packing 2 pairs per day of the festival. Between being hot and sweating through a pair, stepping in a puddle or spilling something all over them, it is best to have a spare pair so you prevent blisters from occurring.

Hammock & Strap/Stand: I love my hammock. It is by far my favorite piece of outdoor gear. I have used it everywhere from the beach to the mountains, east coast and west coast. There is nothing more relaxing to me than hanging my hammock up first thing in the morning and getting to read a few pages of my book or playing some songs on my guitar.

Guitar/any musical instrument: You’re at a music festival. Just because aren’t there to see your band doesn’t mean you cant bring your instrument of choice and play around the campsite. Other folks might even join you!

Hanging Shower: So, what is the shower situation like? This is usually the first question I receive when I ask friends if they want to go to a music festival. For that, I have three answers: 1. Well, they have showers there… but you have to pay for them… and they are communal… and there is usually a long wait, or 2. You don’t need to shower, just embrace it and shower when you get home on Monday, or 3. You can bring a hanging shower! A hanging shower is a bladder that will heat up in the sun and act as a gravity shower while you are at your campsite.

GoPro: This one can be tricky. Some bands allow taping, most bands don’t. Check with the festival if you are allowed to tape the shows – chances are if you are seeing a top 40 band the answer is no, but if you are seeing a jam band the answer is yes. Don’t take any risks and don’t steal music (taping the concert is a form of this) so check before you go. But GoPros are also fun to use at the campsite and before and after shows!

Frisbee/football: You’ll want some fun activities for around the campsite when you are not listening to the music. Frisbees, footballs (American and European), board games or a deck of cards are a great way to pass the time.

Coffee/Energy drink: If you are a caffeine junkie, make sure you are well equipt with your favorite form of caffeine.

Camelback/Backpack: So I have found that water is either expensive or at the end of a very long line. At festivals, I will use my camelback. I have had it since camp when I was 10 and it has served me well. It also serves as my backpack so I can store my wallet, sweater, and other things may bring into the festival. If you don’t have a camelback you can always purchase a water bladder to use inside your bag.

Duct Tape: It does wonder. I have come up with a million ways to use it. You may never know when it comes in handy.

Lighter: Like the duct tape, it has a ton of different uses, form starting the grill to building a fire. It’s always handy to have to lay around the campsite.

Some of these items are obvious while others may sound ridiculous. Trust me, they will all come in hand. You can find a downloadable link to the Music Festival Camping Packing List here and on our resources page.

Let us know what festivals you are attending this year and if you have any of your own packing suggestions. I look forward to seeing you all out there.

Until next time, let the music play!