Elektro’s EDM Festival Survival Guide

The attendee faces many challenges throughout the festival, each of which presents a different obstacle towards conquering the three-day marathon. Not getting separated from the flock. Staying nourished during dry season. Navigating unknown terrain at night. Given most attendees get caught up in the moment and are oblivious to basic necessities besides music and dancing (hypothetical scenario: how long would it take for the crowd to realize a zombie is an actual zombie at a festival?), it is important to note the tips below. If you’re lazy, there are two main takeaways: don’t get lost/separated from your group (or at least have a means of re-convening) AND maintain your general well-being.

Comfortable clothing: You’re going to be raging outdoors for most of the day. Wear clothing that is light and airy, along ‘going to war’ shoes you can dance in. Simple stuff. Festivals aren’t places to a make a fashion statement (in the traditional sense of the term) unless you’re a masochist. To facilitate detection in a group, it also helps if someone in the group is wearing a completely outlandish outfit and/or is easily recognizable such as glow in the dark, fluorescent shirts.

Cell Phone: A fully charged battery goes a long way towards not getting lost. Make sure it is fully charged beforehand! Most likely though, the cloud of happiness emitted by tens of thousands ravers will result in sporadic service and delayed text messages (from prior experience and depending on the venue, texts may have a 10-15 minute lag factor to go through for a decent carrier; forever in limbo if you have certain unnamed carriers). Friends have been known to bring an extra battery or write down numbers on a piece of paper. If you prefer to be more practical, we have a handful of back-up tips below to avoid losing your group.

Water: Not much to say...drink it! You should have a few bottles between a group. Also, many of the venues nowadays have free refills so try to keep your bottle, and save the after-tip cash for ice cream or snow cones!

Rendezvous Point: Prior to heading into the crowd and raging, your group should establish an obvious rally spot in case someone gets separated. Please note the emphasis on OBVIOUS. Many locations at festivals tend to look similar and blend together at times. Prior examples of good meet-up spots: the yellow (magic?) school bus at Electric Zoo; in front of the VIP stage at Ultra 2011 & 2012. This is especially important for a large location like EDC’s speedway, whose size is best described by an analogy: Bayfront Park (Ultra’s new venue was 32 acres) is to Las Vegas Speedway (EDC’s new venue, ~1200 acres) as a human is to a dinosaur.

Pre-arranged car service: There are massive throngs of crowds looking to catch a taxi into and exiting the festival. We have learned the hard way: an exhilarating six mile walk after raging during the first day of Ultra 2011 and waiting in the taxi line at this past summer’s EDC for almost an hour and a half after it ended. If you put in a little effort, you can usually arrange a car service to and fro to avoid the madness above. You can also avoid this by staying somewhere close to the venue, but there’s always a trade
-off: In Ultra 2012, we were literally a two minute walk from Bayfront but stayed in a cheery mental hospital turned hostel.

Buddy System: No one should go buy water/food/etc, use the bathroom, or leave the group without another individual tagging along.

Moving through a crowd: Make sure you hold onto each other. It’s easy to lose the group in a tightly packed crowd that instantly fill the slimmest of spaces. Staying on this topic, is it really necessary for your group of 20 to snake through a capacity crowd during the headline act?

Pace matters: The recent trend has been to have a festival over the course of three days, whereas in the past two days were the norm. I’m all for the extra day, but attendees don’t realize the addition of the third day requires you to pace yourself during the first two days or risk a burn-out by the last day.

Eat Healthy: By the end of each ten hour day of the festival, you probably depleted your energy six hours ago and have been running on reserves since. Try to have a consistent, daily diet that doesn’t rely on water and ice cubes.

What to bring: The most basic items to bring are obviously cash, id, cell phone, and your ticket. Ladies, we highly suggest not to bring a purse. Wear shorts with pockets, keep the above items in your bra,or have the guys in your group hold your items (your human purses for the night). Other items to avoid paying a premium at the venue: unopened gum/cigarettes, any additional accessories - sunglasses, gloves, earplugs etc. Depending on the venue (day versus night), we also suggest bringing sunblock or applying beforehand. One backpack for the group helps for the aforementioned items, which can be switched off between individuals holding it.

Fanny Pack: Despite its status as a paternal accessory, it does serve as a much lighter substitute to a backpack.

Hand Sanitizer: I list this separately from items to bring because of its importance. You will be 100x grateful you brought the Purell (unopened) after confronting the port-a-potties.

Maps: All festivals have maps handed out when you enter. Most likely, you’ll end up throwing it into the crowd at one point or chewing on it or just forget how to read. But at some point, when you’re looking for the restrooms or the stage where your favorite DJ is playing you’ll be thankful. Most of the events also have mobile apps you can download beforehand.

Take brief rests!

Miscellaneous tips:

-Breaking a glowstick is not the best idea. Although the fluorescent liquid is enticing and warrants a taste-check, it contains Dibutyl phthalate (depending on the glowstick). While not toxic, it is an irritant to the human body.

-Sunglasses do serve a safety purpose: repellant towards Dibutyl phthalate and against very bright lasers. There have been some freak accidents of vision damage caused by laser seduction.

-As goofy as you may look stretching prior to entering rage mode, it does help avoid cramps during moments requiring epic raging.

-For non-US citizens (and individuals like me who have lost their license), your passport is your identity. I highly recommend placing it in a pocket with a zipper/button. Also, wrap it in a plastic cover as it will likely get soaked with sweat otherwise.