After the recent success of Austin’s South by Southwest and Miami’s Ultra, I’m happy to say that music festival season is upon us. And, with Lollapalooza recently selling out within hours, it’s obvious I’m not the only one desperately anticipating an escape from what seems like this perpetual winter! I'm ready for a warmer climate and some good tunes.Whether you’re headed out West for Coachella, back East for Governor’s Ball or down South for Bonnaroo, these tips from a fellow music festival lover should help keep your experience exciting.  

Go see OutKast

Since they’re headlining almost every major festival in the country this summer, you have no excuse not to see André 3000 and Big Boi on this legendary reunion tour. Even if you don’t recognize much of their stuff, you can reminisce over all those wonderful frat parties that featured you drunkenly belting out the lyrics to “Roses.”

Don’t miss the small font bands

At least one day, get there early enough to see bands you’ve never heard of. A lot of awesome performers started out in smaller font and worked their way up to those hallowed boldfaced letters. You won’t love ‘em all but, chances are, you’ll stumble upon a hidden gem.

Don’t sacrifice comfort for fashion

Yeah, wearing those $130 combat boots seems like a great idea right now, but after walking and standing for upwards of 10 hours, you’re going to want to burn them. And that heavy makeup that looked, like, soooo trendy this morning? It's dripping down your face. The point is, choose a look that will make it through the day.

Eat the food

I don’t care how skinny you want to look in that crop top you bought from Free People for half the price of your actual festival ticket – try the food. These events feature some of the best food vendors in the area, serving up every type of cuisine imaginable. You don’t want to look back on your life one day and think, Wow, why didn’t I eat that piece of cheesecake dipped in nuts and chocolate,sandwiched between two waffles?

Drink water, apply sunscreen, blah, blah, blah

I feel like this piece of advice is pretty self-explanatory. All I have to add is this: if hats are your thing, wear one.

Put your phone down

There won’t be any service with thousands of people scrounging to tweet their most recent celebrity sightings or Instagram a picture of that day’s outfit. On top of that, when you’re constantly trying to document everything, you forget to just watch the show. Use your phone to keep in contact with your group and snap a few pics of the scenery, but don’t let it distract you from what’s right in front of you.

If someone offers you their shoulders, get on them.

Unless they seem really creepy, then don’t do that. But, in a crowd full of people, nothing bad can really happen. Forget about feeling awkward or self-conscious—hop on and enjoy the view without the annoyance of bobbing heads.