How to Survive (and Thrive!) at a Camping Festival: 2024 Edition

Last year, I wrote an anxious girlie’s guide to surviving a music festival. This year, I have a lot more knowledge around what was causing my anxiety (and fatigue, and constant “blahhhh” feeling), and it turns out it was a sneaky (and severe) vitamin B-12 deficiency.

Though the anxious girlie hacks still stand (and have helped me for many, many years), I find that since fixing my vitamin deficiency I have a lot more mental energy and capacity available to focus on the other parts of festival survival — ya’ know, the physically being able to make it to the end and actually enjoy it.

By “actually enjoy it,” I mean “not being so tired you’re falling asleep at 10 PM before your favorite headliner even comes on stage,” or “waking up so sore you can’t make the walk between camp and the million-miles-away stage.”

So, how does someone (especially someone with a history of vitamin deficiency anemia, or other chronic health conditions) survive a 4-day long camping festival? Try these hacks to keep the party going all weekend long:

How to sustain your energy at a music festival

First of all, let me state the extremely obvious — EAT. DRINK WATER. FUEL YOUR BODY.

It seems like it should go without saying, but often I see folks head to a camping festival with lots of thought around what outfits they’re planning to wear, but absolutely no idea of what they’re going to live on for four days in the forest or desert. Please, PLEASE, bring enough food (both non-perishable and, if the festival campground you’re staying in allows, perishable food that can be kept on dry ice and cooked over a small propane grill), as well as rehydration solutions like Pedialyte (more on that later).

In addition to making sure you’re doing the basics to fuel your body by eating and drinking, you should also keep an eye on your vitamin and mineral intake (yes, even when you’re just trying to spend four days partying like it’s 1999). I suggest the Good Patch brand’s vitamin-infused patches, specifically their B12 Awake patch, to sustain you through your wild weekend – they’re small, simple patches you press onto your wrist that last up to 12 hours, stay adhered to your skin even when you sweat (which you likely will at a summer fest; IYKYK), and you don’t even have to think about them (or remember to take an oral vitamin).

These patches actually saved my ass when I was in the throes of fixing my wacky B12 deficiency and pernicious anemia issues, so I highly recommend them for their safety, potency and ease of use.

Also, remember how I said bringing something like Pedialyte might help you through a camping festival weekend? Well, that’s because water alone doesn’t always hydrate you best, and at a festival you’ll be losing hella electrolytes by sweating, dancing, and doing other fun-filled activities. Let me explain —

How to stay hydrated (and balance those electrolytes!)

Electrolytes are literally defined as “the ionized or ionizable constituents of a living cell, blood, or other organic matter,” meaning all living things are actively composed of them. That said, water alone doesn’t always contain the right concentration of these little life-giving fellows (which include compounds like Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, and the like), and you may need an oral rehydration solution to do the trick.

If you’re like me, though, and you cringe at the thought of downing a full-sized bottle of sickeningly salty-yet-sweet-somehow(?) Pedialyte, there’s a better solution. Like, literally, a solution, made by the brand LyteLine — the LyteShow Concentration for Rapid Rehydration. Just 3mL of this tasteless, calorie-free solution mixes with 32 oz. of regular water to give you a pretty impressive dose of your daily Magnesium, Zinc, Sodium and Potassium intake, and it’s only $20 (and lasts a longggggg time, since you take so little at once).

Plus, LyteShow literally comes with an adorable travel-size bottle for ease of use, so why not bring it along?

How to sleep when the bass is bumping

If you aren’t already using earplugs at festivals (I know, I know, here comes the fun police), you probably should be. Not only is it good for your ears in the long run, but it can actively help you shut out the noise and catch some shut eye when the bass is bumping just a stone’s throw away from your tent and you’re, ya’ know, trying to sleep because the sun is starting to rise above the sea of cars in your wake.

Additionally, packing enough blankets, pillows and additional clothing to keep yourself warm on those somehow-chilly-even-though-it-was-hot-as-Hades-all-damn-day camping nights is so important. I know it’s more fun to think about packing your most fun, festie-friendly two pieces and rompers than it is your cozy PJs, but you won’t get much shut-eye if you’re shivering all night long, ya’ feel me?

Over all, music festivals are supposed to be fun — that’s the whole point, really. So, don’t waste your time and ticket money by not taking care of your body throughout the weekend. Stay safe, stay healthy, and enjoy this summer’s best festivals!

Xoxo,

MM.