Planning and executing your plan to Bonnaroo is always a work in progress. Each year has become progressively easier for me personally, after not having a pop-up canopy first year, and after correcting our food situation from my second year, let’s take a look at what my group could have done better this year, and what we will surely capitalize on in the coming years.
First of all, shoes. My vans are great for everyday stuff, but let’s be honest, those kicks, while perfect for 80% of situations in my opinion, don’t offer enough support to be walking or standing for 95% of your waking hours for four days straight. Wear some Chacos, or at least something meant for a lot of walking, your feet and legs will thank you at the end of the day. It isn’t really something you think about otherwise, but after your days my legs just felt like jelly, very very sore and kinda painful jelly.
The second order of business is sleep. Now this one is a double edged sword, but I experienced both ends of it this year. If you get too much sleep (like I did on Friday night and Saturday morning), you’re gonna miss out on some awesome stuff going on around the festival. I missed The Chainsmokers, as well as the Keys N Krates Kalliope set, just because I thought that I “should really get some sleep for the big day/night tomorrow”, which I now really regret, because I heard those shows were both fantastic. On the other hand, Saturday night we were up until 5 AM after RL Grime, as well as Adventure club and a Kalliope set. You WILL wake up before 8:30 every day due to the heat in the tents, so make sure you account for that. If your body and mind won’t hate you too much the next day, go ahead and stay up super late, it will be worth it, otherwise though sleep is pertinent.
Lastly, stay hydrated, but make sure you are always replenishing electrolytes. By this, i mean even though you are hydrated, make sure you are eating foods to carry you through the day and night, because of how taxing all the activities at Bonnaroo are. Just drinking water will actually cause you to lose more electrolytes as they wash out of your system, and you need those to keep on keepin’ on at all these concerts. In extreme cases like water poisoning, a bag of chips could save a life. Be smart, stay safe, and have the time of your life out there.