With all the music around the valley this summer, it’s going to be hard to stay afloat. That’s why we here at TargheeMusic decided to write up our own little music festival survival guide.

Gear

In order of importance…

• Clothing. There are two schools of thought when dealing with the clothing issue at festivals. First, the “minimalists”. These are the people you see running around in short shorts and two bandannas as a bikini. Minimalists have some valid arguments for instance, “it’s better to go bare foot than constantly dig dirt out of your shoes when dancing like a shameless hippie.” They show up with a duffel bag of goods usually having nothing to do with wardrobe and decide to “wing it” on the clothing issue.
  But what if it rains? That’s where the “baroques” come in. These blokes often come geared for every situation except nuclear holocaust. They like to be prepared and actually get a certain amount of satisfaction from knowing that if weather arises they have a garment or accessory mitigate it. You can find many of these types enjoying the creature comforts of their own homes in all manner of RV and trailer positioned in the lower parking lot.
  Granted, most of us fall somewhere in the middle. Whether you like to challenge mother nature head on with nothing more than a tattered shirt and some team spirit or you get a certain fulfillment from knowing that your neighbors are sweltering while you bathe in the glory of your umbrella shaded patch of music festival heaven, there are some things we can agree on.
1. There’s no shame in sandals. Both camps agree, sandals are an acceptable solution. Sandals are stylish, functional and no one can argue that human beings haven’t been walking around in some form of sandals since the ice age. We here at TargheeMusic say, stick with what works.
2. Shades. We won’t comment on the style of sunglasses to bring, because we can’t agree on which styles actually are a style. Blame it on generation gaps between the producers at TargheeMusic but we can smoke the peace pipe over the fact that having some form of sunglasses are a must.
3. Sun Screen. Does this count as a form of clothing? Maybe, but at least we know it’s essential. At the very least it rivals the importance of wearing something more than a man thong on a hot summer with 80% body hair. Also, it turns out that choosing the right sunscreen is important, before you stock up for the show.
4. Wigs. It really depends on the type of music festival one is attending. Suffice it to say, wearing something that makes you look like Gandolf may not go over so well at a bluegrass festival and is probably best left for the raves and lord of the rings gatherings. However, clown wigs seem to be random enough to fit any occasion and if you can find a red, white and blue one, you will most likely be labeled a patriot (kudos).
• Beer. Nuff said…
• Friends. We have found in this category, its easier to come prepared, there is safety in numbers. Start a one man social media campaign and gather friends far and wide. Use the tools the interweb has provided and twitter/facebook/myspace your group to a sizable posse with which you can conquer music festival mayhem. The larger the group, the more exciting and memorable the experience! However, if you happen to associate with polite company and find all your friends “have to work that weekend.” Fear not lone wolves, music festivals are places where the combination of warm sunny days, virtually complete freedom, and copious amounts of adult beverages combine to make a perfect storm of new friendship acquisition!

Tactics

Moderation in all things, except some things, sometimes. Above all, consider those “what if” scenarios to come prepared for any occasion.

• Balance. We’d love nothing more than to head straight off the deep end of the sanity pool and dive into a musical bender lasting for the rest of our lives. However, moderation is actually important to keeping things entertaining and fresh. So the TargheeMusic team has decided its a good idea to balance your musical forays with some much need rest and relaxation. Obviously, one attends a music festival to soak up as much musical whimsy as allowed, but it’s important to refuel the plane before takeoff. We recommend alternating musical fracas with quiet day hikes or a refreshing lunch at a sit down in town. If you’re staying at the resort, it’s always nice to cool your jets with a swim in the pool or float leisurely to the top of Fred’s mountain on our Dreamcatcher Chairlift. This weekend Targhee’s chairlifts will be open from 9AM to 4PM, maximizing your TTR (Time To Relax). There are even discounts on a two-day unlimited lift ride package at the resort. All you need to do is show your three day festival ticket and get two days of unlimited lift rides for just $25. One thing is for sure, this year’s Targhee and Bluegrass Festivals are going to be musically picante so you must mentally prepare yourself to prevent being overwhelmed.
• What if? Preparing for “what if” scenarios are a great way to protect against boredom at music festivals. Unless of course, boredom is your intent. Depending on your mindset, random events like rain could be really fun or really inhibiting. Therefore, it’s a good idea to plan ahead. Where will you meet your friends if you get separated? What will you do in case of a beer drought? If it rains and there happens to be mud in the “mosh pit” are you the kind of person who heroically dashes into the fray or do you pitch a lawn chair and look lively on the ensuing spectacle (in which case, bring lawn chairs)? Careful consideration of these questions may make or break your music festival experience. We recommend you have a backup plan just in case. Especially for the beer drought…did we mention we love beer?

Preparation

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. We’re not saying spontaneity isn’t fun and who knows if you skip work to attend a music festival and lose your job, it may lead you down the path to a better one. We just believe, there are certain levels preparedness that make sense.

• Work. Sometimes the stars align and you happen to have a 3 day weekend line up perfectly with an upcoming festival like Targhee Fest. For the rest of us, it’s going to take some effort to free ourselves from drudgery. In the case of Targhee Fest, drawing nearer at a little more than three weeks away, creativity becomes essential to how we free our time for festival weekend. If you have children, consider yourself fortunate as you bathe in the shower of excuses a child can create for you. Anything from a strange form of the flu to a last minute boyscout camping trip can be valid reasons for you to take a long weekend.
  If you don’t have kids, rest easy, your situation isn’t as difficult as it may seem. The key is preparation. Start now, if shifts can be traded or schedules swapped go the honest route first. However, if ethical means are exhausted your mission becomes subversion, karma points be damned. We suggest reading The Four Hour Work Week. Specifically the section about ways to get your employer to let you work from home. If telecommuting isn’t an option, then the real dirt begins. We don’t suggest going as far as getting temporarily suspended without pay, but tactics like employing a strong body Oder to get yourself dismissed the day before the festival, is allowable. Or consider how little your company enjoys paying overtime, then simply make sure you put in 40 hours of work before the Friday of the show. The point is, one must have a full sense of freedom to maximize enjoyment. If at all possible, free up your entire weekend for 100% play.
• Mental. If you’re the curious type, then learning the area’s history before you attend a music festival might peak some sense of intellectual intrigue. Plus, it never hurts to look up some of the artists before you head off, you might even want to learn a few songs. Besides, you get mad social points for being able to sing along to your favorite hits at concerts.
• Addiction. The TargheeMusic staff are no strangers to addiction, especially when it comes to facebook. In order to combat our addiction, we have decided to binge the week before. During this time we will Facebook so much that the arrival of Targhee Fest weekend (July 16th – 18th) will be a welcome relief. With our addictions mitigated, we can focus our attention on the festival. No hopping on the resort wide wifi to see if our videos of Grace Potter singing happy birthday to Shannon have been tagged yet! We are strictly about the music on festival weekend.

Alas, there are bound to be important music festival tips we’ve missed. How do you prepare for a music festival weekend? Have an interesting piece of writing on a music festival? Send it to us we’d love to hear your story.