Music Festivals make all of the sweltering weather and sunburns seem like nothing. Each year some of the most popular, and most obscure, bands come together to celebrate the love of music! With any luck you’ll be able to land some tickets and enjoy all of the good things that summer has to offer too you. Of course, if you’re on a tight budget you might also find that music festivals can dry up your budget and force you to live on a ramen diet just to recover from your financial lost. There are ways to avoid losing a lot of money on your favorite music festival, which will still allow you to enjoy the festival to its fullest.
1. Research
Your biggest aid in fighting costing is to do a little bit of research on the festivals that are happening. Although all of the festivals might seem appealing you might want to check into which one will be the most festival for your morning. For instance, you should check out if the bands you love are going to have a large set or will just be features between other bands. You might also want to tally up the amount of bands you like opposed to the bands you don’t know of or arent too sure of. If you haven’t heard of the bands then look up their songs to see if it is something you’d want to spend money on. Usually, one festival will stand out more than the others so you might want to order tickets for that festival rather than spending a whole lot of money to go to them all. You should also check out what comes with your ticket. Sometimes festivals will give out goody bags or a free treat that they might actually calculate into the cost. By choosing the best festival for your dollar you’ll feel satisfied with your buy instead of feeling like you have to go to more festivals to make up for the one you were disappointed with.
2. Volunteer
So you want to go the festival, but you’re a few dollars short of the full purchase? Well, put your money away and apply to volunteer. Usually, if you get your application to volunteer in you should be able to get into the festival for free and enjoy the music while you pass out water or other small tasks. Booths at music festivals are often run solely by volunteers so don’t hesitate when you find out the details of the festival. Typically, volunteers are also privy to a free meal or two so you won’t have to bring a whole lot of money with you. You might only end up getting one day of the festival free so you might want to compensate for the other days of the festival if you can afford it. One great thing about volunteer work is it looks great on college and work applications, so you’ll be winning in more way than one.
3. Camp Out
If you’re planning a huge vacation just to go to the music festival then stop what you’re doing and breathe. A music festival is about relaxing and enjoying the music so allow yourself to that. You don’t need a hotel room for your stay, instead pitch a tent and enjoy the nonstop party for a few days. Camping out allows you to catch as many music shows as possible so you won’t have miss out on any of the bands you paid to see. Camping also allows you to take a cool down break between shows and can make storing food a whole lot easier. Camping will cut down on your festival cost by hundreds of dollars, so you can put the money into other aspects of your trip, or straight into savings.
4. Bring Your Own Food
It doesn’t matter if you’re staying at the festivals for one day or throughout the entire festival, bringing your own food will help save you a whole lot of money. There is generally a lot of foods available to choose from at the festival, but most will cost you a small fortune. Usually the foods are designed to cater to the typical teenagers taste buds too, which might not be the best diet while you’re trapped out in the hot sun and only have porta-potties to run to. Instead, bring a cooler filled with ingredients to make light foods like sandwiches. You should also bring some fruit along for a nice refresher throughout the day, which will help you keep the energy up without having to worry about feel rough a couple of hours later.
5. Water
Water is the essence of life, but you won’t appreciate it quite as much as you do when you’re at a music festival. Vendors at festivals can charge high prices for water because people have no other option but to pay the price. You do have the option to bring in your own water, so don’t forget to pack a lot before you go to the festivals. Music festivals generally take place at the height of summer, which means it is going to be beyond hot and there is going to be a lot of bodies packed into a tight area. Usually a 24 pack of bottled water can take you pretty far while you’re at a festival, but make sure to plan ahead just in case you run out. If you want to save even more money than you clean out old milk jugs and pour in filtered water so you don’t have to spend any extra money. This will allow you to keep hydrated while allowing you to save money and avoid long lines.
6. Beer
If you’re of drinking age then chances are drinking while you’re at the festival is going to be one of your means of fun. Alcohol can be incredibly expensive if you aren’t careful though, so know you drinking and financial limit and respect it. Usually a beer can cost as much as a full meal at a festival so if you do plan on drinking then choose one day out of the festival to do so. By choosing one day you get to get the drinking mood out of your system so you can gleefully transition into sober mode. You could also bring your own beer to certain festivals. Make sure you check on the matter before you stock up on booze though. If you are allow then try to buy cheaper beverages. Usually bulk sized beers will be your best bet. You should probably exclude buying mixed drinks and hard liquor though as this might send your budget into shock.
7. Bring Cash
Sure, there will be ATM machines all over the festival because no one will want to accept a credit or debit card as a payment. ATM machines, of course, charge you a lot of money to pull out money too. So unless you like giving a machine $5 every time you see something you have to have you might want to bring cash ahead of time. There will be a lot of cool things to see, do and buy at the festival so bringing cash can also help cut down on your spending. Try to set a reasonable spending limit and pull out the cash and then forget about the spending money. Leaving your credit card at home might even help prevent you from overdoing it. When you get to the festival put aside your food money and plan out little activities you might to do while waiting for your favorite band to play. Being frugal at the festival might even allow you to return home with some extra spending cash.
8. Scope Out Vendors
Let’s face it, if you’re staying for a full week at the festival you’re going to get sick of eating sandwiches fairly quickly. So, chances are you’re probably going to end up venturing to the fast food huts to get something a little bit different. This won’t hurt you too bad if you only eat at the vendors occasionally, but you will always want to scope out the vendors ahead of time. Just to make the rounds to get a feel for what you are in the mood for eating. Usually, there is more than one vendor for each food type so shop around the cheapest buy. If you want to know a little cheat code for the real world you should probably always look for the vendor with the longest lines. This is usually where you’ll get the cheapest foods at the festival. You should also follow the same rule when it comes to souvenirs. You probably won’t get too much of a choice when it comes to autographs, but you might find a cheap shirt or poster somewhere in the mess of vendors.
9. Grab Tickets Early
Sometimes, tickets can gain value the longer they are out on the market. You might want to try to get the tickets the very day they are released. Back in the olden days you’d have to camp outside of a ticket booth, but now all you have to is stalk your favorite ticket vendor online. Usually when tickets first hit the market they are about 10% cheaper than the tickets that just hang around in limbo until summer comes. You will always get a better price online opposed to waiting until the festival begins and buying them at the gate. A lot of the time you will only get one chance to buy tickets as some of the more popular festivals will sell out right away, so don’t stop and hesitate. Buying tickets earlier will also allow you plenty of time to save for other expenses that might arise during your festival trip.
10. Bring Entertainment
A lot of first time festival adventurers find that there are actually some down time between shows. One of the worst things possible is to get bored during a festival. This is usually when people start to venture off and look for food to entertain themselves or something else to buy. There is a solution to these down times though. For starters you can easily bring a pack of cards in your festival bag. This will not only allow you to have some fun while you’re waiting for your favorite band to take the stage, you will also be able to make some new friends. As you meet new people you will feel more comfortable with your surroundings and have a little more fun without having to rely on food and shopping. You can also bring a book you’ve been meaning to catch up on, it might not be the quietest of environments, but it’ll keep you busy while you wait. Of course, there is always napping between gigs!
Music festivals can really bring a summer to life so don’t skip out just because you might not have the funding. There are many ways to help cut the cost of the festival so you won’t have to miss out on your favorite bands just because you’re slowly approaching broke. With these tips you’ll not only get to catch some awesome music and make new friends, you’ll also learn the power you have over money during some of the most tempting situations.
