Festival How to

Festival How To: Know How: What to: All you need to know: Everything: Guide: Tips

What to bring: 

Clothing:

I wear high socks throughout the festival. Whether it rains or not, the festival grounds inevitably get muddy! BRING EXTRA SOCKS. They don't take up much space - and they are a life saver. Having wet feet for an extended period of time is not fun! And underwear. I bring a couple pairs, just in case.

Comfortable t-shirts/tank-tops. Because my chest is not too big, I bring tops that I can wear sans bra. It makes dancing more comfortable and me feel less inhibited. But that's just me. Bring whatever t-shirts/tank-tops that feel comfortable dancing in, wearing for extended periods of time, and can be dirty/sweaty (without getting upset). I normally bring one for each day.

Unless I wear a dress! I love dresses for festivals. I can wear one piece of clothing that matches itself (no need to pick out matching top and bottom) that beautifully flows around me as I twirl to the music!

If I wear a dress, I always put on shorts/legging shorts/leggings/some type of bottom over my underwear. Sitting on the ground and all the moving from camp site to camp site meeting new people and going on new adventures gives your clothing a lot of use - and honestly, if you are drinking alcohol or not drinking enough water (aka dehydrated) you may not be thinking clearly and may open your legs and ... you should wear something under the dress!

Bring a comfortable, cute, able to be worn for multiple days: shorts. If you are going to be wearing the shorts more than 2 days, bring an extra pair. Or bring a skirt. Whatever you want.

If it rains, wearing a bathing suit is amazing. It dries quickly. This can only be done if the weather is hot enough.

Rain coat. If you wanted you could use an umbrella instead. The nice thing about a raincoat is that it doubles as a regular coat if you get cold at night. Regular coat? Ha.

I wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt to bed. So I make sure to bring a pair of each to sleep in each night. I also bring an extra long sleeve/sweatshirt thang for the day if I get cold (kind of thin so it can be layered) and a thicker sweatshirt/or if you like a coat for the night. I also bring a pair of sweatpants/ if you are warm enough in leggings for when I am cold at night (and outside of my tent).

Rain boots. To be worn when it is raining or with mud or even if you are cold.

Sandals. To be worn during the day if it is not muddy.

If you want Hiking boots/Doc Martens. I can wear these for the whole festival instead of rain boots and sandals. But it is your choice.

Stuff

Tent.

Outdoor chairs (lawn chairs). If I can camp next to my car, it makes this whole experience much easier. No need to carry everything to the camping spot from the car. Anyways if I can, I bring an extra chair or two. Someone will forget a chair, and it is very friendly to have an extra spot open - it is very inviting to the festival community and a great way to make new friends.

Easy up canopy. These are not completely necessary if you cannot park next to your camp site, but it is a wonderful homebase. Homebase is my safe spot at a festival. It is my home - where I can go to relax and unwind after hours of music and meeting new people and having new experiences. Anyways, the easy up can house all the lawn chairs and coolers.

Cooler. The cooler will hold your drinks and food - which will be gotten to in the next section! Yummy.

Air mattress. I love camping. But I may love it because it feels like home - I make it feel like home by using an air mattress. With the air mattress, you also need to bring a pump. I use a hand pump - you honestly could get away with not bringing a pump and borrowing one from someone at the festival, but I like to be self sufficient. This is not completely necessary (this meaning air mattress) but I love it so I use it and this is my blog and the things I thought important for a festival so I added it.

Sleeping bag and Pillow. Pillow is not necessary but nice. And you can use a comforter or multiple blankets or whatever you wanted instead of a sleeping bag - a sleeping bag is just more compact.

Wagon/Utility cart. This is essential if you cannot park next to where you set up your camp site. This will allow you to carry all your stuff to your camp site.

Toilet paper. Paper towels. Hand sanitizer. Baby wipes. Allows you to wash your body (seriously). Hat. Sun screen. Bug spray (if you want). Tooth brush. Tooth paste. Hair brush. Towel. I never shower while at a festival - well other than my "shower" with baby wipes. But somehow a towel comes in handy - whether it rains and I need to dry off to get into my pajamas (sweats) or just to clean mud off myself. Flashlight. At night it gets dark and mildly scary when it is a new place and hard to find your campsite. Lighter. A good thing to have. Ear plugs. If you want to go to sleep without listening to music blasting around you, ear plugs are amazing.

Food Stuff

If you are going to cook, bring [or make sure someone if your group (if you are going in a group)] a mini grill. Propane (an extra one).

Pan. Spatula. 

Butter. Bread. Cheese. Eggs. Bacon (if you want) Hamburgers. Hot dogs. Ketchup. Apples. Carrots. *or whatever fruit/vegetable mixture you want. But apples are a must* Gatorade. Water. Nuts/granola mix. With this you can make: Breakfast egg and cheese/ egg cheese and bacon sandwiches. Grilled cheese or grilled cheese with bacon, hamburger (use the bread as the bun), hotdog (use the bread as the bun). Energy from the nuts/granola mixture. Eat fresh apples and carrots - trust me you will thank me later. The fresh fruit/vegetables is the most amazing taste you can imagine, especially when it is hard to find fresh food. You will find tons of vendors selling fried items which are amazing, and you can live off these for the weekend. But you do not have to. The gatorade is great when you are low on energy and dancing away. It is easy to bring to where the music is being played. And water is amazing. Fresh water is the most important thing you can bring. I always to remember to drink. I bought a Camel-bak - which I bring to all the festivals. I keep it filled, thus I keep myself hydrated always.

If you drink, make sure to bring beer and liquor. It is extremely expensive at the festival. As are cigarettes. So bring enough to last you the entire time - although you can easily bum cigarettes, it is nice to not have to rely on other people. If you need soda with your liquor, don't forget it!


Extra stuff 

If you have extra room or are able to camp next to your car - some nice extra things to bring include:

Instruments. Instruments allow for mingling between campsites. As well as encourages people walking by to stop and hang out - maybe pick up the banjo and play a tune. Whatever instrument you have, us festival goers want to hear it especially if you are able to play some groovy tunes.

Playing cards.

Face paint. 

Tapestry. It will beautify your easy-up.

Table. You always need something to put your stuff on. Make your food on - put your food on while it is being made. To roll your cigarettes on... :) Just a great space to do things.

Frisbee.

Rolling papers and tobacco.

Any games/toys that are able to be shared between groups of people.



Always remember: Be nice. Be welcoming. Encourage everyone to be part of the "group" so there is no group. Cliques are not cool. People want to feel liked. When you have a happy demeanor, people will want to be around you. Stay positive. You are amazing.

The Fatty Crab

So full. Wow. I just had an amazing meal at The Fatty Crab, located in the meatpacking district. It was literally incredible. My meal consisted of a glass of Riesling, Tea Sandwiches (hand pulled lamb shoulder, tofu aioli, salted chili), skinny Asparagus prepared in some amazing way (when I find out, I will post it. If I can remember), and Chili Crab (chili sauce, white toast). The Tea Sandwiches were great. The lamb was so tender and it had a perfect amount of spice. The Chili Crab was mouth watering. I had not really eaten crab (other than sushi) in years - pulling it apart with my hands was so much fun. A total body experience.
I cannot talk anymore about it, my stomach is so FULL and overwhelmed with goodness.

Try it out :)

Summer Time Again

Hi fellow internet people. Excuse my extremely long absence from blogging. I can give excuses but what it comes down to is I was too lazy to write. And since my absence was so long, I will instead focus on my here and now and not give you a synopsis of what has been going on.

EXTREMELY AMAZING NEWS: I bake. I work at a bakery, baking. My dream. Getting paid to cook/bake. It is literally amazing. I have to be at work by 5:00 A.M. 6 days a week! But that is the nature of the beast. The food industry, or any industry that "serves", is working when other people are relaxing. But I love it. I mix everything including challah, cookies, donuts, danish, ruggalah, breads (rye, pumpernickel, whole grain, white, wheat, cinnamon bread, etc), buttercream, fudge, streizel (most people say streusel but that is not correct), cream-cheese icing, cheesecake, sour cream pound cake, cream-cheese pound cake, marble cake, chocolate cake, white cake, cupcakes (chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter, lemon, and many more), smear, brownies, cinnamon rolls, gluten-free cookies and cakes and brownies as well as a variety of other products. It is exhausting trying to remember everything that I mix up - I definitely forgot to mention some things. Oh well, I tried! Besides mixing, I also assist with decorating cookies and will soon begin working with cakes, including fondant and icing and decorating. I feel so lucky to have a job that I love!

Since I must be at work by 5:00 A.M. 6 days a week, I have found myself going to sleep even earlier than usual (which is a feat in itself because I already went to sleep at an unusually early hour for a young adult). That has definitely curbed my "going out", not that it was much to begin with. Every so often I do want to have a drink or stay at a friends house past my "bedtime" but being an adult comes with responsibility. Yes I called myself an adult. Young adult is a better term but an adult none-the-less.

Besides baking, and considering it is the summer, my loyal blog readers (Hi Mom! Hi Josh! haha) should know what I am up to - CONCERTS. MUSIC. FESTIVALS. HIKING. BIKING. Ok maybe not festivals this year (because of work) but definitely a lot of music and hiking. I even have been toying with the idea of buying a new bicycle (mine is at least 10 years old and cannot go through the woods and the streets and everywhere else I bring it without something going wrong). So far the concerts I am definitely going to include Phish at SPAC and Yonder Mountain String Band in Brooklyn (I believe). I was also planning on other concerts but had to cut back because I want to work and not miss out on an opportunity to learn while making money! :)

I am going to upload some pictures to make up for my lack of posting. Hopefully I will get back up to speed and be a regular on here once again! Enjoy.

Tennis

Just got back from playing some tennis with my brother (who, by the way, will be 21 in less than 2 weeks! AHH). I haven't played for years, or so it seems. It was extremely hot outside and I did not have a properly sized racket, though I had a great time. It is very fun and productive to do an "activity" instead of watching television or a movie, or some other lethargic activity. I love being outside. Anyways right next to the tennis courts is a big field - and there was Field Day going on there. Field Day is an activity my local middle school sets up that pins the red team against the white team in a variety of athletic events. It has been held since I was in middle school, and probably years before that! It was really nice to watch the little kids enjoy themselves.

I hope to continue playing tennis. I need to work on my serve! I will keep you all updated :)

Leopard Print Nails

Phish

Check out this blog, Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts. I went to Phish on the 10, 11, and 12th of this month (yesterday and the days before). I had a great time. I enjoyed the first night at Merriweather the best. It was so upbeat and exciting. The blog I have linked up is interesting. Check it out and get back to me. ENJOY Phishers :)

"Geek Love"

I just saw the cutest, geekiest, most romantic wedding proposal. Not that I would want it for myself, but I think it was adorable and memorable. Super Mario Proposal