Read these festival etiquette do’s and don’ts before you head to Music Midtown. After all, you don’t want to be “dude-who-spills-beer-on-everyone” or ‘gal-who-wore-uncomfortable-leather-shorts.”
DO Check out bands you haven’t heard of. Remember how you first heard your favorite band? You took a chance listening to something that could have been terrible, but ended up being the best thing to ever grace your eardrums. A festival allows you to experience a wide variety of music, so take advantage of that and get the full price of your ticket. You may end up with a new favorite band.
DO Make new friends. Festivals bring out the best and the weirdest in people and put everyone on the same playing field. Everyone attends a festival for the same reason – music – so use that unified passion as a springboard for friendship. Nothing parallels the shared experience of an amazing concert and that binding memory can make lifetime friends out of strangers.
DO Bring a blanket. Chances are, among the thrashing and fist pumping, you will get exhausted. There is nothing quite like finding that perfect spot next to the stage where you can lie down, close your eyes and feel the incoming vibrations guide you into the best nap of your life.
DO Show up early. The cathartic experience of being front and center when the band you have been waiting hours to see blasts that first chord and it is so mind-numbingly loud that even the hairs on your arm start dancing is incomparable. Prioritize what bands you want to see the most and show up at their stages as early as possible.
DO Go to the bathroom. Seriously. There is no greater conflict than the cries of your bladder versus your desire to keep your hard-earned spot in the crowd.
DON’T Treat the festival as a fashion show. Remember, you are going to stand outside all day long in the late summer Georgia heat. You will sweat. You will be gross, just like everybody else. Embrace it.
DON’T Get (too) wasted. Everyone has seen that one person stumbling around, yelling incoherently, spilling beer on everyone in sight. Don’t. Be. That. Guy.
DON’T Make hundreds of enemies just to get to the front. When the lights dim and the band finally comes on, the audience will resemble as a sea of tightly packed sardines. If you don’t have the most ideal spot in line, don’t ruin it for the people who actually showed up early.
DON’T Worry about looking a fool when you dance. If you spend your whole concert experience fretting about what the hundreds of people behind you think about your boogie, you will rob yourself of fun. Let loose, release your cares, and most importantly, bring your dancing shoes.
