Well it's almost that time of year again!

Austin City Limits Music Festival kicks off September 30th in Austin,Texas, and if you're a concert junkie like myself, then this is just as exciting as Christmas morning. Three full days, two weekends and over one hundred bands, Zilker Park holds home to Texas' most humble of festivals. I've been three times and I can personally say that it's worth every penny. If you play it smart, you can see roughly about twenty shows in one weekend. (Give or take). Unfortunately, I won't be going this year, but I've put together a list of essentials and tips to help you to happy festivities!

What to bring:

1. Blanket. Something light, like a soft fleece throw that's easy to carry around. This is an essential for sitting down in the grass literally everywhere and anywhere you can find a room because let's be real here, with the thousands of people attending, there aren't enough picnic tables for everyone!

2. Camelback or refillable water container = LIFE! Oh my god, it is still so hot. Regardless of the weekend that you go, Texas is easily still in the 100's at that time of the year. Easy. It's very important to stay hydrated while you're running from show to show and there are multiple water stations located around the park to keep your container full.

3. Sunscreen. This one is optional but does come in handy if you're wearing a tank top or don't have head protection. There isn't much shade in the park so it's extremely easy to get sunburned.

4. Backpack. Very practical if you are staying the whole day and plan to buy anything or bring blankets or extra clothing. Plus it frees up your hands for rocking out and jumping around!

5. Pocket tissues or small baggie of toilet paper. People don't usually think of this but there are no public bathroom areas in the park so when the festival takes place they provide portable potties, and they usually don't have toilet paper. So the pocket tissues come to the rescue in the time of need!

6. Hand Sanitizer. For everything.

7. Chapstick and Ibuprofen. Having a migraine at a music festival really sucks. Sensitivity to light and sound brought on by day drinking in the hot Texas heat is easy to maintain when you have the meds on deck and the chapstick to help keep your lips moisturized and protected from the sun.

8.Comfortable shoes. This makes catching shows much easier when you can walk faster! The intervals between shows are very little, some by ten minutes so you have to hustle between sets to get a good view, and from experience wearing the wrong shoes gave me blisters for days and so painful.

9. Wristband. DUH

What to do when you get there:

Parking:

I strongly suggest having a plan of operation while you're en route to the city. Park either in a parking garage or do the shuttle. Parking on the streets is downright impossible. Personally, I enjoy taking the bicycle taxis around the city to the festival. They're literally everywhere and all over the city so very easy to find and most of the time they park close to the parking garages to catch you on the way out. It's about $10 a person but worth it, however, I would suggest only using them one way to or from the festival, not both. It can get expensive and worth it to save it for the ride home because after a long day of running around in the hot sun you leave feeling exhausted and the ride feels SO MUCH BETTER at night. The sights of the Austin skyline and the nocturnal atmosphere with the pre-autumn wind in your face is really something.

Arrival:

After you stand in line for probably twenty minutes and get your bags checked, it's time to party! If you love buying merch, then do yourself a favor and head right to the merchandise tents as soon as you possible. The first day of the festival is Friday, and trust me, by Sunday, nearly everything is gone. I learned the hard way one year. Once you've got all of your goodies stored away in your handy backpack, find a copy or download the ACL app and get a game plan for the day: what shows you want to see, and when they come on and what stages to go to. (Keep in mind that a lot of shows are going on at the same time so you should know ahead of time where your favorites are just in case their sets overlap!) At the festival, there are three stages: one main stage, one medium stage, and one small side stage, plus, there are tents that serve as stages as well. This is only if you want to catch as many shows as possible if you're not trippin' about missing anything and want to enjoy yourself then, by all means, HELL YEAH.

(Sidenote: get used to people running into you and not acknowledging your presence, learn to walk firmly and don't take it too personally)

What else to do on your ATX weekend?

This is why I love to visit Austin. There is seriously so much to do while you're out there if you don't attend the festival for the whole day.

Outdoor Fun.

So much nature-friendly activities in Austin, like hiking MT. Bonnell, the greenbelt, Barton Springs, and Hamilton Pool. Kayaking in Lake Austin is really awesome too!

Site Seeing.

Take some time to just walk around the city and enjoy the carefree air!

Food & Drink

You can't come to Austin and not do one of these two things; go to a food truck park or drink on Sixth street. The food truck parks are unreal and full of the most bizarre and delicious food you'll ever find. Sixth Street speaks for itself. I don't care who you are, you're never too old for a good ole' fashioned black out drunk night on the dirtiest street in Texas where you can club, withdraw money, have gourmet doughnuts and get a tattoo all on the same street.

Well, that's all I've got friends! I hope this was helpful and you all enjoy the magic that is Austin City Limits!