What Foods To Bring To A Music Festival

About a year ago I wrote 15 must haves for your festival campsite.

It’s about that time of year where festival lineups are being released, schools coming to an end and the weather is getting warmer. So of course I’m starting to get hyped up for festival season! I always over prepare for festivals so I don’t have to worry about anything while I’m there. However I still manage to have some failures, especially when it comes to food. Some people don’t bring food to festivals at all and just eat the food there, however this can be expensive. Some only eat the food they brought from home but this can be time consuming and inconvenient. I like to be somewhere in the middle. I bring lots of snacking foods, and pre-made, easy to eat meals but I usually plan for 1 food vendor meal/day (usually a greasy breakfast to cure my hangover haha).

After the past few years I’ve learnt what does and doesn’t work while festival camping. You can’t just bring any type of food. There’s a few things you need to take into consideration…..

• It’s probably going to be HOT and you’ll have limited cooler space
• You probably will be intoxicated of some sort and will be unable to cook/too lazy
• Ice in your cooler will melt and you need to be careful that things don’t get soggy
• Some festivals don’t allow BBQ’s or stoves
• The food vendors and food trucks are going to tempt you
• You don’t want to run out of food but you also don’t want food to go to waste. You’re probably not going to be as hungry as you think.
• After dancing all day in the hot sun while intoxicated your body is going to be tired and sore, so you need to replenish it with healthy foods, which isn’t as easy as it sounds because you’ll be surrounded by chips, burgers, bacon and sweets.

You typically want foods that travel well, lots of non-perishables, foods you’ll actually want to eat, and foods that don’t require any (or little) preparation before eating.

I’ve made a list of foods that work well for music festivals. Some I’ve tried out before and some I will be trying this summer. I’ve brought camp stoves and BBQ’s before but I found I don’t use them because they’re a pain. Plus I never want to stand over a hot stove in 35+ degrees. So many of these items are pre-made, grab-and-go foods. Hope this helps

1.Pre-made and packaged sandwhiches

2. Salad in a cup

 3. Sandwhich Kabobs

4. Washed, cut and packaged Fruit

5. Bottled Smoothies

6. Trail Mix (healthy or not)

7. Cheese, Crackers and Deli Meat

8. Snack Boxes (tip* collect individual sized peanut butters from restaurants for dipping)

9. Cold pizza (actually so good for festivals)

10. Energy bars like Clif, Luna, PowerBars

11. Beef Jerky and Pepperoni Sticks

12. Pudding, Apple Sauce, Jell-o, Fruit cups, Etc…

13. Snacks in cups (works great for cereal)

14. Junk food, of course

DIY: Manifesto

1. First do some research to understand what a manifesto is and what it can look like. Manifestos are something everyone should write for their lives. A manifesto should be a guide to your life, a compass pointing you in your true north, a source of motivation, something to remind you of your priorities, and a foundation to building your life. Good examples are the lulu lemon poster, The Holstee manifesto, and my favorite, Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen.
2. Once you have an idea of what manifestos are, figure out and write down your core values, try to narrow it down between 5-10. Core values are the values we try to install in our children or look for in others when finding a spouse. Core values are the beliefs we have, whether it is about a faith, our health, our family, our work, etc… Core values should define who you are (or who you want to be). You can find lists of common core values online to help you out.
3. Next make a list of statements, quotes, wishes and/or advice. Write it all, you can narrow it down later. One thing I kept in mind while writing was ‘what do I want to be remembered by?’ or ‘what would I tell my grandchildren?’. Some things you may want to include are: dealing with failures, opportunities or daily interactions, asking yourself what you stand for, what you’re willing to die for, how you want to live your life, or changes you’d like to make in your life. (This step took me days to do). And like I mentioned before, you can find worksheets online to help you figure out what’s important to you.
4. Now that you have your core values and your list, start to narrow it down. Use your core values to remind you of what is truly important to you. I printed my list off and highlighted the things I really liked and then got rid of the rest. I did this several times until I was left with about 35 items.
5. Time to edit and review! Go thru your list and re-word or add/subtract words to make it sound awesome! You want to use strong language, keep it positive and uplifting, and write it in present tense.
6. After completing the last step I realized I had a few items that were a bit redundant so i deleted them. for example I had 2 different quotes about travel, but they were both about travel and I didn’t need 2. After doing this I was left with about 30 items.
7. The fun part! Now you get to organize and design it! If you know how to use Photoshop, awesome! If not, you can find cool typography makers online. Or you could even just type them out.
8. Once you’re finished, print it off and put it somewhere you can read every day. You could frame it or even get it printed on a canvas to hang as decor in your home!

                                                                  Here is mine!!        

                      

| sidnee