How To Go To Music Festivals Solo

Have you ever wanted to buy tickets to a music festival but found yourself with no one to go with? If you have, you’re far from alone. With tons of events coming back online this year (and more coming out each year), the chances of running into scheduling conflicts with friends is inevitable. It can feel intimidating to take on a festival or even a one night show on your own, especially when traveling out of town. Even so, there are tons of perks about choosing the solo adventure that make the experience worth it! (You can read my in-depth reflection on the benefits of solo adventuring in my previous article).

The good news is, if your next solo adventure involves a music festival, I can say with confidence that there’s probably no better setting to have this experience. The great thing about music festivals and raves is that they are incredibly solo-friendly events. I feel more safe being alone in these environments than I do in just about any other setting, and I see many benefits to exploring festivals solo that often go overlooked!

That said, we can all benefit from a little extra planning and from learning some basic tips and ideas to make the most out of a solo experience. Attending a show on your own can undeniably feel different…you may find yourself wondering how to figure out lodging and transportation options, what to do at the event, how to meet people, and how to stay safe. It can certainly feel overwhelming, especially for your first time. Even so, there’s no reason to feel like you’ll be navigating everything entirely on your own! Every time I’ve walked into an event on my own, I walked out with new friends (even if just for the night), logistics questions answered, and I often felt surprised by how easily I made connections throughout the experience. That’s why today I want to walk through some basic strategies and ideas that can help you make the most out of both the planning process as well as the event itself that I’ve learned from my experiences !

Part 1: Before the festival

I’ll confess that logistics are probably my least favorite part of planning for a festival, and I usually let someone else take care of finding hotels/ Airbnb's and arranging transportation when I’m part of a group! Unfortunately, there’s no getting out of the more tedious bits when traveling on your own, but on the flip side, the benefit is that you are entirely in control! We’ve never had access to as many resources to connect with other ravers and to arrange logistics as we do today, and with options come solutions!

Now, paying to hold a hotel room or a camping spot (depending on the festival) to yourself likely isn’t your first option (but if it is and you have the means, of course go for it!). If staying with a friend or acquaintance also isn’t an option, you’ll likely find yourself looking for a squad to join up with. Yes, this may indeed mean (gasp!) meeting with strangers. Trust me, I can understand why the idea may feel uncomfortable, but if you find yourself lurching back in your chair or wherever you’re reading this, worry not! There’s a few ways you can meet and screen potential housemates/ camp buddies ahead of time so you can go into a plan with more ease (and hopefully come out of the experience with new friends).

Tips for meeting people online

As much as we can discuss the negative side of social media and the internet, online communities still make a fantastic resource for making new connections. I’ll admit I don’t make much personal use of Facebook anymore, however, the only thing that keeps me coming back to the platform is the plethora of communities you can find in this niche. For better or worse, there’s a Facebook group for just about everything out there, and most cities have either group or event pages dedicated to any scene with a presence in their region. This is a great first place to look for fellow ravers in your area who may be going to the same event!

When I first moved to the Pacific Northwest, I began my search for new friends in the rave scene by looking through any locally based- Facebook groups dedicated to edm and raves that I could find. My search revealed a local bar and venue that hosted weekly live local edm shows— this is where I became friends with local ravers and found a squad with whom I explored shows all over the state!

Pages dedicated to specific artists and events can also be a good place to meet people if you’re traveling out of town. As another personal example, I often get insights about upcoming Ganja White Night tours and mingle with fans in other cities through a GWN fan page on Facebook. I also follow EDLV’s official page as well as fan-based shoot-off pages to stay up to date on tips, updates and to mingle with other attendees each year I’ve planned to attend the festival

In my experience, Facebook groups make a great starting point for finding both local contacts as well as people out of town who are attending your event, and it’s still the first place I typically start. Other useful options on social media include Twitter, Reddit, and Radiate, which is a platform dedicated specifically to helping ravers get in contact with each other! The app allows you to toggle between location and specific festivals so you can discover other people or groups attending your event from anywhere in the world.

Screening

Okay, so say you find some people going to your event through social media and they start talking about meeting up and possibly sharing housing and making other arrangements …next, let’s address the elephant in the room: How do you know if you can trust them?

In my opinion, there’s no “by-the-book” strategy for this, the best thing to do is get to know as much about the people as possible and trust your gut at the end of the day. I’ll note, I don’t think it’s necessary to go through all the details I’m about to share to full extent if you’re just planning to hang out at the show, but if you are looking for people to make logistical arrangements with such as sharing an Airbnb, it’s worth your time to go through a few extra steps to verify everyone’s identity and make sure you’ll make compatible houseguests!

If you find a contact in the local area, see if you’ll have a chance to meet them in person before the event. If that’s not an option, suggest connecting over video chat and of course linking socials or exchanging numbers. If you really want to be as thorough as possible in making sure the person on the other side of the screen is legit, you could even request a verification picture. This is a trick commonly used in dating apps and other “personal services” sites of the internet where bots and fakes most often like to lurk— it may seem a bit “extra” but it can’t hurt, at the end of the day, it’s your piece of mind!

Here are some quick tips for making a verification picture. Ideally, all steps would be completed on the same day.

1. Write / Have the person or group members write their name, handle or username on a piece of paper along with the date
2. Crumple up the piece of paper and flatten it back out enough to be legible
3. Take/ have your contact take a selfie of themselves holding the piece of paper with their name and date visible and exchange it on the same day as the date written on the paper

Once you take care of verifying identities here are some ideas for topics you can discuss with your contact. There’s no wrong answer here, these are just ideas to help you establish boundaries!

• Discuss what sleeping arrangements you’re comfortable with…are you okay sharing a room? If so, with whom and what is off limits? Will you have access to a private space?
• Budget: What’s your price range for housing? If you’re camping, are you going for glamping or spartan style in GA?
• Team Sleep vs. No Sleep: Are you trying to crush it from the pre-party to the after-party or are you just trying to chill after the show?
• Talk about what sets you want to see and if there’s any “hell-yeses or hell no’s”
• “Party Favors”
• Bonus: what food do you like?

Going in cold-call style can feel daunting, and trust me, it’s an experience I myself am still learning to navigate! There’s no perfect solution that will take all the risk out of any situation, but these tips should help you cover the basics when it comes to meeting and making plans with new people before an event. I’m someone who likes to feel structure in my environment, so this approach also helps me feel like I can get the most out of my experience. Now if you’re more of a go-where-the wind-takes you type and this is all a little too much structure, or say you’re just interested in socializing at the actual event, there’s also lots of things you can do to enrich your experience!

Part 2: At The Event

You’ve made it this far, congratulations! The hardest part of attending a festival solo is getting there. Whether it’s overcoming mental discomfort or hashing out the logistics, it takes work— but the good news is that you only have to do it all for the first time once, and when you’ve made it through the gates, the possibilities all lie ahead of you. This is where the greatest benefit of going solo comes in: You can do anything YOU want. You’re in control!

Not feeling the vibe? Move along. Want to go to the rail? Get on up there. Want to lay in the grass? Make yourself comfortable. Have a hankering to get those spicy kimchi fries that would give your partner/ friend a grossed-out gag face? Chow down baby. Going solo also means skipping the complications that come with being in a large group. No set conflicts, no meetup spots, no white knuckle hand-link chains through the crowd. You have the freedom to choose what you want to get out of the experience.

Making Friends

As someone who used to struggle with social anxiety, I found that festivals helped me overcome feeling awkward around new people. Because the scene generally embraces a culture of openness and acceptance, I always felt that approaching strangers at festivals came much more easily than in the “outside world” and it’s actually one of my favorite parts of the experience. I rarely come away from a show without having made a new connection, no matter the size of the event. Making that connection can be as straightforward as going up to a group and asking if you can link up with them …whenever I’m at a festival with a squad, a solo raver or two will usually join my group at some point or another, and I’ve even done it myself! Nine times out of ten people are very open to this. It’s a rare (and odd) occasion that someone should react differently, and that’s their loss.

Trading Kandi

Whether it’s commenting on a cool outfit or totem you see, trading kandi, getting a light show or just talking about the music, you can use lots of little “ice breakers” to approach people in a crowd. Trading kandi is perhaps the most tried and true of these. I personally love making and trading kandi, it’s one of the most long-standing traditions of rave culture and it’s perhaps the tradition that most embraces the core values of the scene. For those of you who are newer to the scene or are not familiar with kandi, be sure to check out music festival content creator Emma Kapotes’ video on trading kandi here:

The pieces you collect also make wonderful event souvenirs for whatever festivals you go to, and the more you collect, the more you’ll have to trade at your next show!

Flow

Light shows are my next favorite go-to for meeting people. If you haven’t discovered the magic of a good light show yet, it’s worth the experience regardless of whether it turns into socializing or not! This is when someone uses some kind of light prop ( a hoop, LED gloves, poi, etc.) in sync with the music to create a performance. Since I entered the scene, I’ve always found myself drawn to flow artists, mesmerized by their ability to give the music a visual and physical dimension. Most flow artists are happy to give light shows if you ask!

Most flow artists are also happy to receive appreciation for their art, as are dancers like shufflers or anyone busting out a move you liked! Going up to them and saying “hey, that was really cool!” or even offering a simple “thanks” can be a great segue into making conversation. If they don’t seem interested in talking, honestly, they’re probably just enjoying vibing in their own zone--as a flow artist and shuffler myself, 90% of the time that's the main reason I’ll even turn down a conversation. It’s nothing personal, and you can always try again with someone else!

Flow is also a great activity you can enjoy as a solo festie-goer yourself, and I highly encourage you to give one form of flow or another a try. Not only is it a great way to connect to the music, having something to “do” helps me not feel awkward when I’m alone in a crowd. Don’t worry about not “being good enough” if performing in public scares you…it’s not about doing it right, it’s about creating a connection to the music and to your mind and body, and if you see another flow artist, it’s a great reason to approach them—ask them to teach you!

Safety

Of course, I can’t skip over talking about safety. I’ll emphasize again that music festivals are very safe places to be alone (with a few exceptions…I see you Astroworld). Even so, it’s always a good idea to stay aware of your surroundings and to have a plan. I always share my location with multiple people and make sure they know where I’m staying, how I’m planning to get around, and what dates I’m planning to travel. Before the event, I set up emergency contacts and I typically share my location in real time directly from my phone— you can also use apps like the FindMyFriends app or enable location sharing on Snapchat as other options. I keep my phone charged at all times and carry an extra portable battery pack. Most festivals offer rental lockers to stash valuables and extra gear which comes in handy if you don’t want to carry everything with you.

It’s also a good idea to find someone to walk with you to your car or transportation pickup spot if you’re going to be walking a ways. I typically ask one or two people in a group I link up with to walk with me near the end of the show. Another tip I’d emphasize is arriving a little early so you have a chance to get your bearings and figure out where important resources like medical and security are located. The resources are there for a reason so don’t hesitate to use them if you feel the need to!

Staying Healthy

Raving 101 rules apply as much here as in any situation if not more: Stay hydrated, take breaks, and make sure you’re getting enough to eat! I always pack an extra layer plus a blanket or a scarf/pashmina to cover up with if needed. Make sure to stay aware of your surroundings and that you feel comfortable with the layout of the grounds. If you’re going to drink or indulge in other “favors”, I suggest maybe taking it easier than you typically would in a group setting. Basically, use your best judgment to determine what you need to do to stay aware and still have a good time!

Pulling the trigger and deciding you’re doing a festival solo is a big decision. I used to think anyone who did so had to either be crazy, stupid, or incredibly brave and something in between, but I’ve been proven wrong time and time again (although yes, it does take a little bravery)!

The solo festival experience will become a wonderful adventure so long as you go into it with a plan and good mindset. I hope this guide leaves you feeling encouraged and excited to jump into it!

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About me:

I write about all things edm and share insights from my personal life journey so I can inspire others in this beloved community and beyond. Find more of my writings and follow me on social media by checking out my home page!

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