I have been to concerts in the past and a few music festivals. However being on the west coast now music festivals are just not the same as east coast music festivals. With that being said there are a few things I learned from attending a west coast fest – KAABOO.
Do Layer on Sunscreen
Luckily COOLA had been nice enough to provide spray on sunscreen for everyone. They had multiple stations to apply sunscreen at. On top of that if you had the BASK pass like we did they also provided small one time use packets of there mineral sunscreen lotion. I was ecstatic when I saw them because a) I totally forgot sunscreen and b) it is legit the only sunscreen i can use on my skin that I have found so far.
Don’t Forget to Continue to Apply Sunscreen
We applied sunscreen once or twice a day. Needless to say it was not enough. We stayed from opening (in line at noon) to almost closing (we left anywhere from 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm). The sun was out a lot, and we felt the heat but we did not think we were burning. In reality we were though. I did not really burn but Dillon sure did! But then again it did turn into a tan the very next day for him.
Do Bring a Reusable Water Bottle
KAABOO had hydration stations that you could refill your water bottles up at, or buy one from them. Dillon and I ended up bringing powerade everyday, and then on top of that the BASK tent gave us two water bottles everyday at the pool too. Therefore we did not have to use the hydration stations.
Don’t Privilege Style Over Comfort
I did this the first day. The very first day I decided I would wear a specific pair of sandals with my outfit and it was a bad idea. At the end of the day the bottoms of my feet felt like they were burning from the friction. The next two days I wore my Old Navy flip flops without a care in the world. And for clothes I just did not care after day 1. The next two days I knew we would be in the pool at some point so I just tried to wear clothes that would be easy to take on and off.
Do Bring a Portable Charger
KAABOO gave me a portable charger in my Swag Box from them that I received for partnering with them. The very first day my phone had died towards the end of the night. All the other days my phone was also dying earlier in the day,. However because of the portable charger I had my phone every single day, all day long.
Do Charge Your Portable Charger the Night Before
The night before the first day I had charged the portable charger for about 8 hours. I guess being brand new out of the box it needs a full 24 hours to charge. Who knows…I threw away the instruction sheet without reading it as soon as I opened it…ooops! The very first day my phone barely charged and it did die. I learned my lesson. The next two days I made sure I had it plugged in charging for the following festival days.
Don’t Wing It
Know the schedule. It is as simple as that. At first the festival was not that crowded but as the days went on it did become even more crowded. If you know the artists schedules then you will know what stages to be at and by what time too.
Do Bring Deodorant
Let me tell you. I definitely learned my lesson. As a result of having a BASK pass Dillon and I were at the pool mainly the first half of everyday. I am pretty sure the pool probably washed off my deodorant and it was hot as crap out so I was definitely sweating. By the end of the day I know I needed to shower.
Do Have a Meeting Spot
This would have probably made everything so much easier when meeting up with @influencersandiego. I should have thought about it in advance but oh well. We just messaged back in forth where I was and where she was and hoped to find each other. Day one was a complete fail but the other two days we did find each other eventually. The second day she had found us and we went to go watch a concert. She left to grab a drink and was gone for a little bit, I honestly figured she was talking to someone and she was. While Dillon and I was watching the concert someone was smoking right in our face (and for those who do not know Dillon cannot have any marijuana in his system or he will be dishonorably discharged) so we moved and then the sun was burning our legs so we dipped them in the pool. I ended up finding out she had met someone. As a result of that we were all going to meet up so we could all go to one section together. Well it was a complete fail for the first 15 minutes. I had no idea where she was, there was just too many people. Eventually though we just met at the AFLAC tent.
Do Meet New People
I think out of all of these this is one of the most important one. Meeting new people is a great experience. Dillon and I usually stick to ourselves mainly because we are so picky with people nowadays. Many of you probably have read on my other blogs that we both have been used for things, and been treated like complete crap by people we thought were our “friends”. You learn as you get older to just let them go. However, we do have a few friends (seriously we do I swear). Like I have said before, we met up with my friend from San Diego, @influencersandiego. While she was getting a drink, and we were watching a concert, she met someone who we ended up hanging out with that day and the last day of KAABOO. Those two hit it off great, and we did not mind hanging out with him, his friend, and his friend’s girlfriend.
Xx
O.
