Last weekend I traveled across the country to Las Vegas, Nevada for one of the biggest music
festivals this year: When We Were Young Fest. It was reported that 60 thousand people were in
attendance. How do you avoid getting swept up in the crowds? Here are some music festival
dos and don’ts to keep in mind:

DO:
Bring a Friend/Family member.
Having my mom and my best friend with me enhanced my experience. But it’s not just about
having fun. Holding onto someone’s bag or hand can help you all get out of a crowd with little
struggle. It’s easy to get overheated or overwhelmed at any event with tons of other sweaty
people all around you. Having someone there to check on you is crucial to staying safe.

DON’T:
Wait for the headliner the whole day and miss all your other favorite bands.
Luckily I did not do this and I had a great time. If you’re not camping out at their stage don’t
expect to be at the barricade during a headliner’s set but don’t let that stop you from seeing
other bands. I went to almost all of the 5 stages on the festival grounds and I got to see so many amazing performances. At the end of the night when the headliners (Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance) were scheduled to play it seemed the sea of people near the two main stages had tripled. I was hot, I was tired, my feet were asleep and I was not going to try to enter the crowd so I sat on the grass 30 yards away from the stages and still had a great time. There were screens set up projecting the performances and speakers all around the festival so I didn’t
miss any of the experience. Don’t waste your day and have as much fun as you can.

DO:
Get your merch early.
We got to the festival grounds about an hour and thirty minutes before the gates were scheduled to open. There was some merch outside the gates but the exclusive artist merch was only inside the gates. Luckily they opened the gates an hour early and after a few pictures we rushed to the merch stand. The wait was about 2 hours which sounds crazy but that was the shortest the line was all day.

DONT:
Shove the wrong person. Politely making your way to the front of a crowd while people from the previous set clear out is no problem. Polite is a keyword, you don’t have to say excuse me every time you pass someone but don’t push anyone out of your way, find an opening in the crowd, and sneak in. At The Used set when the first song was starting two girls began to shove everyone they could to get to the front. This ended in a fight between one of the girls and another woman who had been holding her spot for quite some time. Beers were spilled security was called it was a mess.

Be polite.

DO:
Bring your own water bottle. Make sure you have a bottle or hydration pouch that is in line with the festival rules (for example metal bottles were not allowed at When Were Young). There were water fountains all around the festival grounds to fill up bottles and they were all free of charge. If you don’t you may end up spending a hefty chunk of change on canned water and Ghost hydration drinks. I learned this the hard way.

Remember music festivals are all about having fun and making the most of your time. Make your experience your own and just consider these tips.