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This is a guide for anyone who is either new to attending festivals, casual attendees or have been going to festivals for that long, your life literally depends on it! There are different types of music festivals that take place all year around, everywhere in the world.
Some may run for a few hours whereas others can run for more than a week.
In most multiple day festivals, you may finding yourself having to camp overnight and sharing space with thousands of other people!

So we are going to go through a checklist of what essential items are required in order to be best prepared for your festival experience and also what precautions you can take so that you get the most out the event you have been looking most forward to.

    Essential Items To Bring To A Festival

1. Tickets - Yes it may seem like an obvious one, but trust me, you may be so focused on everything else that you have to bring, it is very possible you may overlook the most important item for the festival/gig/show you are going to.
2. Identification - Before you purchase your tickets, you will no doubt be made aware if the festival you are attending is an   Over 18/21 event. Even if it is all All Ages event, you will more than likely require a form of photo identification if you wish to purchase and consume alcohol on the festival's premises. The event usually has specific-coloured wristbands for people who are over and under the legal drinking age. This makes it easy for the staff to identify you. 
3. Sunblock - Not just restricted to summer music festivals, sunblock is recommended especially because of the number of hours your skin might be exposed to the suns rays. Sunburns over the next few days after the event can be quite irritating, so make sure to apply sunblock before and during your time at the festival. A hat is also a good idea too!
4. Camera - Nowadays, you will see plenty of people with all types of cameras at festivals and this is the best way to capture memories of your favourite artists and the day itself. Make sure to charge your battery (if required) the night before so you don't miss out on snapping the headlining act at the end of the night/weekend. Certain festivals have rules on what type of cameras are allowed so make sure to check up on this before you attend. 
5. Bottled Water/Sports Drinks - You may not be able to bring your liquids directly into the festival, as security on the door may ask you to throw your item in the trash. Some people try and put alcohol in their container instead so certain festivals will only allow you to consume liquid by purchasing it inside the event .  
6. First Aid Kit - Most festivals will have a designated first aid tent and ambulances somewhere at the venue. But it's best to be prepared with your own headache medicine (if required) and items such as band aids. This can save you some time from having to walk to the first aid stand, and therefore you won't be in danger of missing out on seeing some of your favourite artists.
7. Toilet Paper - Most avid festival-goers know that bringing their own supply of toilet paper is a must, especially if you have to camp overnight. Portable toilets can run out of toilet paper at any time of day and also stock the cheap, rough paper. 
8. Blankets & Fold Out Chairs -  Blankets are certainly handy especially when attending the winter festivals. As for bringing fold out chairs, this will depend again on the rules and regulations of the festival you are looking to attend. 
9. Backpacks - This item is handy for those long days at a festival when you don't want to carry around those items that won't fit in your pockets.  Drink coolers, purses, first aid kits and ponchos for wet weather are ideal to store in your backpack. 
10. Event Map & Schedule - Most festivals will publish a timetable and map in the lead-up to the start of the event.                   It should contain the confirmed artists, the day and times that they will play, as well as the location of the stages and other important festival stands (e.g. Merchandise stands, first aid, toilets, food stalls) 

    How To Best Prepare For A Festival

1. Get Your Tickets As Early As Possible - The more popular the festival is, the more likely it is to sell out quick! Make sure to be organized when ordering your tickets and be prepared to sit on your computer or phone (or queuing up) for a while for the festivals that have a limited capacity. Festivals also may have tickets for camping so make sure to have some extra money stored away if you don't intend to seek accomodation near the venue. Other reservations such as plane tickets and renting a car may also be required. Make sure to book these in advance.
2. Get a Good Nights Sleep -  Festivals can be tiring, esepcially if you have to wait for up to an hour in the hot sun for your favourite artist. Speaking from experience, it's not a great idea to have a big night out, the day before the festival you wish to attend. You may end up falling asleep through a set for a band that you really wanted to see!
3. Check Out The Festival Rules - Before the big day/week arrives, it's best to take a look at the rules of the festival you will be attending. You can usually find the festivals' rules on the event's official website, well before the day it begins.
4. Make Sure You Have Enough Money - This is especially important if you are attending festivals that last for more than one day. And try and save any merchandise purchases until the end of the day, that way you don't have to carry them around for most of the time. 
5. Dress Appropriately - This will depend a lot on the time of year and the weather predicted for the festival. So if there is a chance of rain, a poncho and gumboots are essential whereas on a hot summer's day, sunblock and lighter clothing is preferred. High heels are never a good idea as they can be tiring on the feet after a ten hour day and they just look plain ridiculous, especially at a metal, punk or rock festival!
6. Know The Venue -  Apart from knowing how to get to the festival, it's a good idea to study where each of the stages are, toilets, stalls and food & drink tents. Some festivals very rarely change their venue layout so it can be an advantage if you have attended the same festivals a few times. 
7. Select A Good Meeting Place - It's very easy to get separated at an event with hundreds of thousands of people. So as soon as you enter the festival, it's always a good idea to decide on a place to meet up at the end of the day, just in case you get separated. Mobile phone signals are known to drop out at festvials, due to the high amount of people sending text messages and ringing others all at the one time, in the same place. So selecting a good meeting place can be handy by day's end. 
8. Drink Lots Of Fluids - Regardless if it's a hot or cold day, drinking lots of water can serve you better, the longer the festival runs. Pacing yourself when drinking alcohol is also important as too much consumption can cause dehydration and sap your energy really quickly. Make sure to have somethin to eat when required as well. 
9. Don't Bring Anything Expensive - A pretty simple rule. You have absolutely no reason to bring your Ipod, you're at a music festival right? Any other expensive items are best left at home. Try and travel light if your at the festival for just the day.
10. And Most Importantly - Enjoy yourself! Relax and try to have a good time. Festivals, like the one you intend to go to may only happen once a year so make the most of it. Try and check out the any non-music related stages or stalls. And also try and make some friends. This should be easy seeing as everyone attending already shares your interest in attending festivals!

My name is Adam and I currently reside on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland on the eastern side Australia. I have been attending music gigs and festivals since the age of 11 but didn't start attending them more frequently until I was 17.

The first live show I ever attended was for a 1980's Puerto Rican boy-band called Menudo when I was four year's old.
The show was in Manila, the Philippines, and unbeknownst to me at the time, featured a very young Ricky Martin! (pic: bottom left) Not one of my fondest memories but I guess we all have some skeletons in our closet don't we? 

When I was ten years old, our parents took us to see American singer-songwriter
Neil Diamond. Without knowing quite what to expect, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and I feel lucky to have seen someone who I consider a pioneer for rock 'n' roll music.
Since that night, I still find it amazing just how many great songs Neil had written back in the day. These songs included classic tracks such as "Cherry, Cherry", "Solitary Man",
(which has been covered by the late Johnny Cash) and "I'm A Believer" which was a worldwide hit for pop-rock quartet The Monkees.
   
 My brother and I were brought up on The Beatles "Red and Blue Album" by my father.
 I have great memories of taking long car trips out of town and having a cassette tape of
 The Beatles biggest hits being played for hours on end.
 My half-sister was actually named after the mainly Paul McCartney penned "Michelle".
 Our mother brought us up on artists such as Michael Jackson, The Bee Gees and Motown.
 The first song I remember hearing as a child would have to have been "Ebony and  Ivory" by  Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.
 It certainly wasn't the greatest song ever written but I have to say, that there's not many other  artists that any child of the 80's, would want to have singing as their most earliest memory. 
 The first music video clip I remember seeing at a very early age (and frightened the life out of  me!) was Michael Jackson's epic short-film "Thriller".

The first single I ever bought was Bon Jovi's "Always" (right) at the start of 1995.
My filipino uncle is a huge fan and I remember him showing me a copy of a Bon Jovi concert ticket from 1993, just as their new single, "Always" was playing on
the music channel. The show that my uncle attended was on September 29th, 1993 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City in the Phillipines. My first thoughts of the band from memory would have been, "I'm glad I'm not stupid enough to even attempt to copy their hairstyles!"

From there, I was mainly interested in what was going on in the Australian music charts, seeing new artists come and go, each and every week. As I look back at
the early-1990's period today, I have to say that I was completely oblivious to what was happening in the "Seattle Music Scene". The emergence of bands such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana, whom helped popularize the Grunge genre, was something I didn't discover or appreciate until I was well out of my teens.

 When I was fourteen years of age, the first group that really  stuck out for me was Manchester band Oasis (left).
 Maybe it was my father playing those two Beatles albums  over and over again that made it easier for me to get into their  music, but the fact that even my closest mates liked them,  convinced me that they were worth learning more about.  They were the first band that I remember playing their  albums repeatedly. I would also buy their singles the first day  they came out, as well as purchasing magazines with articles  of them and I would also keep an eye & ear out for any  interviews of the band.
 By listening to all the songs that Noel Gallagher had written  for Oasis very early on in their career, it was plain to see that  they were more than just a band who were influenced by The  Beatles. Bands like The Rolling Stones, The Jam, The Smiths, The Sex Pistols and The Kinks, all made up parts of Oasis' sound. There's no denying that it is becoming increasingly more difficult for bands nowadays to be regarded as "original". But even though Oasis weren't the most original band ever, they were able to take a few sounds from previous era's of music, and successsully make them sound modern.

Being an Oasis fan in the mid-90's as well as being one of many swept up in the whole "Britpop" era, led me to discover other popular British bands. The first few that my best mate from high school had told me about was the Stereophonics and the Manic Street Preachers from Wales, Ash from Northern Ireland and English three-piece Supergrass. I liked Blur as well, but I really only saw them as more of a "chart singles" type band. Over time I have learned to appreciate their music a lot more. 

During Oasis' first tour of Australia, a three piece band from Sydney (now a four-piece), You Am I (right), were their support. Ever since seeing them for the first time in March of 1998, they have easily been my favourite Australian artist. I've seen them more than 25 times live since and they are still regarded as one of the best live bands in Australia. They have had the priviledge of
touring with other recognized artsists, which include
The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Strokes and Soundgarden.

Some of Australia's biggest bands in recent memory have regarded You Am I as a major influence. The Likes of Wolfmother , Jet and The Vines have all at some time mentioned You Am I as being a big influence on each of their respective sounds and reason for starting a band.

My interest in British bands continued at the turn of the century, with Scottish band Travis and British Alternative rock band Coldplay coming to my attention.
My love for Travis was very short-lived, with Coldplay's debut album "Parachutes", instantly making me a fan.
In the Australian Summer of 2001, Coldplay toured for the very first time in Australia, as part of the Big Day Out line-up.
Whilst in the city of Adelaide, I was fortunate enough to meet the band at a signing tent that the venue had put on for the festival. I remember their being a queue to see Coldplay and another queue for Powderfinger (who were arguably Australia's most popular band at the time), which was three times as long as Coldplay's! They were nice down to earth guys and I'm pretty certain that nothing could prepare them for how popular they were destined to become on a global scale, especially once their sophmore album hit the music store shelves a year later. (See my picture with Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland here.)

 One of the best debut albums I've ever had the pleasure of hearing very early on  was by New York rock band The Strokes.
 Apart from the Foo Fighters, Everclear and The Offspring to an extent, I really  wasn't interested in that many American bands when The Strokes appeared on  the music scene.  

 Their debut, "Is This It", released in October of 2001 was recently hailed by  Britain's NME Magazine as their "Album Of The Decade". I knew very little  about The Strokes when they played support act for You Am I (to promote their  debut album), back in July of 2001. From what I remember that night, half the  people in attendance at The Arena in Brisbane flocked to the mosh pit floor  once the house lights went down. They stampeded to the front as if it were the  headlining act that was preparing to take to the stage, not a support act.

 Such was the hype around The Strokes at the time, their short melodic garage  rock tunes had me grinning with delight from start to finish. I stood there amazed  as five well-dressed blokes from Manhattan ploughed through an astonishing  forty minute set. It seemed that this style of music was going to kick off the new  millenium, the same way the Seattle music scene had started the nineties.

More and more bands from all corners of the globe seemed to be rapidly growing their fanbases thanks to an explosion of interest in the garage rock music scene. The White Stripes & The Von Bondies from Detroit, The Hives from Sweden
and The Vines from Sydney, Australia all gained popularity during a period that
led music media to describe these bands as "the saviours of rock".
This wave carried on through to the halfway point of the decade, with another group of bands emerging into the spotlight.
These bands came from eitherside of the Atlantic, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Bands including The Killers, The Libertines, The Darkness, Bloc Party and Scottish quartet Franz Ferdinand, all had a "dance-rock" vibe about the music they were releasing.
From Australia, the AC/DC influenced Jet, had one of the highest selling albums locally, Get Born, in 2004. And across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand,
The Datsons and The D4 were creating their own noise at music festivals around the world. 

The Killers Hot Fuss and Franz Ferdinand's self-titled debut were on high rotation in my CD player in 2004 (I didn't have an I-pod yet!).
I immediately appreciated The Killers (right) music very early on and it wasn't a real surprise to me when I read that both the lead singer and lead guitarist were big fans of Oasis.
Surprisingly though, their music is more influenced by popular eighties artists like New Order, Depeche Mode & The Cure.

By 2006, the Arctic Monkeys were the only new British band that I took any interest in, especially since their debut album,
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not had become the fastest selling British debut album of all time.   
It was around about this time that I stopped taking much interest in any current music, and began listening to artists that were popular back when my parents were young.

 Legendary artists such as The Beach Boys, Creedence  Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Stevie  Wonder, Buddy Holly, The Four Seasons, The Bee Gees,  Crowded House, Elton John, Phil Collins and Van Morrison, are  who I've been listening to more of in recent years. There are    certain artists I believe, that one should really try and see live  before they call it a day.
 
 Seeing Stevie Wonder (left) in 2008 was certainly a highlight  in my gig attending career, as was Beach Boys singer-songwriter  Brian Wilson, despite seeing what the affects of fame had done to  his state of health.
 And I feel fortunate to have seen the late Michael Jackson way  back in 1996 as part of his "History - World Tour".
 These kinds of memories stay with you forever..

I've tried to diversify the artists and gigs that I have attended. Seeing iconic eighties band The Bangles was surprisingly good, and music-parody genius Weird Al Yankovic, was as entertaining live as his music video clips are. I may have missed the boat to see the Rolling Stones, but any chance of seeing Sir Paul McCartney in concert are certainly high on the wish list..

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