Top Five Essentials to Pack for a Festival

With festival season in full swing, now is the time to start thinking about what to pack along for your upcoming open-air music experience. Phone, wallet, and event tickets are already obviously on your list. But to really feel the vibes and go with the flow of this year’s outdoor festivities, you’ll at least need a few essential items.

To allow for both utility and mobility, these items can all fit in a medium-sized purse or small backpack. That way, you can enjoy your festival worry-free while carrying the following must-haves:

Portable chargers

You already know how important your phone is, both for keeping track of friends and to take photos and videos of various performances. But you wouldn’t want your phone battery to die while you’re recording the most epic video of your friends next to your favorite DJ doing his best set, would you?

So, be sure to pack some portable chargers. That’s right, multiple chargers (friends might need one). Remember to recharge all portable chargers the night before, and to bring cables compatible with your phone or your friends’ phones.

Toiletries

This one isn’t one item per se, since it deserves a category of its own, but it fulfills the same important purpose: self-hygiene. As far as self-care during a multiple-day event, you’ll naturally need your toothbrush and toothpaste. However, some deodorant and dry shampoo can also help you freshen up before getting back to the party.

You’ll also want to bring some extra paper tissues or toilet paper. Better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. Trust us. You — or some unfortunate friend in need — will thank us for it later.

Ear plugs

Ear plugs are the silent heroes — no pun intended — of music events: People don’t often give them enough credit. Of course, we love loud music as much as any self-respectable concertgoer, but our ears usually don’t. Be sure to carry a few pairs of ear plugs (especially if you plan to be close to the sound speakers) to help prevent any temporary hearing impairments or worse, any long-term hearing damage caused by loud music. It can happen!

So give those ears an occasional break and plug them for a while. We can assure you that, even with the ear plugs on, these songs will blast loud enough for you to enjoy all the lively sounds of your favorite music event.

Sun protection

Sunshine is the spice to any decent summer festival, but too much of that spice will bring heatstroke and dehydration. So, besides of course drinking water (be sure to bring your own refillable water bottle) to offset high temperatures, make sure to pack appropriate amounts of sunscreen, sunglasses, and a just-in-case hat to cover you against the sun.

Trash bags

Plastic trash bags are a mainstay of outdoor event utility. You can put trash in them. You can use them create makeshift ponchos to keep from the rain. You can even twist them up and tie things together with them. Whether used in camping emergencies or for keeping the surroundings litter-free, you’ll want to keep a few of these larger plastic bags with you at all times.

These are the top essential items to add to your outdoors music event packing list. Of course, there are other items you might want to pack along to the party (including some you know we can’t mention). However, with this quick list, you should be able to enjoy the season’s best music festival keeping clean, dry, and fresh — all while staying connected to your friends, social media, and your favorite artist performances.