EDM Festivals 2024: What Standards Should Every Festival Maintain?

EDM Festivals 2024: What Standards Should Every Festival Maintain?

After visiting some of the biggest music festivals in the U.S., we’ve discovered what’s led to success, and what’s seriously lacking.

Accessible Hydration Stations

Clean, plentiful, accessible, free-of-charge water. It seems obvious that water should be readily available at events charging hundreds of dollars per ticket, yet some festivals still seem to struggle with getting the formula down right.

It’s pretty simple to us—every festival should have a multitude of easy-to-find, clean, and free-of-charge water stations available to their patrons all over the festival and camping grounds. With festival goers staying outside all day, dancing profusely, sweating non-stop, and often drinking alcohol and/or taking questionable substances…accessible water should be a no-brainer. And because water stations significantly reduce the risk of dehydration and heatstroke among attendees, festivals with insufficient hydration points are often the quickest to be criticized (and, frankly, we agree).

Harm Reduction & Drug Checking Service

While festivals are becoming more and more aware of just how important harm reduction resources are in reducing overdose, drug-related injury, and even fatality, drug testing and harm reduction entities are still not welcome with open arms at many of these events. Even some of the biggest festivals in the U.S. do not provide harm reduction resources, and explicitly prohibit open drug checking services of any kind.

While our reception as a harm reduction entity has improved vastly over the years, we still struggle with providing our services as openly as we would like. Comparatively, in Europe, events like Boom Festival in Portugal, and the Netherlands’ Mysteryland have led the way in harm reduction, offering drug checking services where attendees can have their substances tested for dangerous adulterants without the threat of legal repercussions.

Until harm reduction entities and drug test kits are available at every music festival around the world, we consider this a major problem in the festival industry.

Psychedelic Support

When festivals offer dedicated spaces for individuals facing overwhelming psychedelic experiences, dangerous situations can be mitigated, and patrons can enjoy the event more easily.

Organizations like Zendo Project offer a calm, welcoming environment for those needing a friend or a chat, with support from trained volunteers who specialize in psychedelic harm reduction. When festivals neglect to provide this resource, dangerous and unpredictable situations have the chance to prosper, leading to injury and chaos in the main festival spaces. Alternatively, festivals that do provide this resource are often highly praised—showcasing their knowledge of the community, and their care for providing a safe, supportive space.

Informed & Available Medical Staff

Another necessity at any festival or event is a plentiful source of highly informed, prepared, and skilled medical staff. So why does this seem to be so hard to ensure? Whether seemingly unprepared for the challenges of patrons taking drugs or drinking large amounts of alcohol, or being totally overworked due to stations being understaffed (or expected to service the entire festival)—well-equipped medical care is often lacking at festivals, too.

Events such as Glastonbury in the UK have been praised for their comprehensive medical services, including on-site hospitals staffed with doctors, nurses, and paramedics ready to handle a wide range of medical issues. On the flip side, many festivals have been critiqued for their lack of visible and accessible medical personnel, leading to delays in medical attention that can exacerbate health issues among attendees.

Clean Facilities to Avoid Biohazard Concerns

While attending a music festival, no one’s expecting luxurious or immaculate bathroom facilities, but well-maintained porta-potties that are emptied out and cleaned every few hours should be possible…right? Unfortunately, this does not always seem to be the case.

When porta-potties are leaking, overflowing, or completely unusable, it can quickly become a biohazard risk for festival goers. Similarly, inadequate sanitation facilities and trash management can result in unsanitary conditions, detracting from the festival experience and even endangering public health for attendees.

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Festival Promoters or Event Organizers with a Bad Rep

When a festival’s promoters or organizers have a track record of consistent issues at their events, this should be taken as a serious red flag. This could look like abrupt cancellations, failing to pay artists, complaints about out-of-control crowds, reports of bad acoustics at stages, or not delivering on promised amenities and lineups. Before buying tickets for any upcoming festivals, it’s a good idea to research the organizers’ past events and look for comments or reviews detailing these issues.

Too-Good to Be True Accommodation Options

Who could forget FYRE Festival’s promised “high-end glamping” and “gourmet dining experiences” that turned out to be shotty tents and cheese sandwiches? There are few festival realities that turned out quite as bad as FYRE, but there are plenty of instances of festivals over-hyping luxury glamping options and VIP experiences. This has ranged from poorly constructed tents, lack of promised amenities (like power outlets or Wi-Fi), to insufficient facilities, and unimpressive VIP spaces. To avoid paying ridiculous prices for a relatively average experience, check out reviews online from previous years, look for photos or videos showcasing the actual spaces, and verify the credibility of the festival’s promises before committing to high-priced packages.

Brand New Festivals or Festival Grounds

While brand new festivals often showcase incredible lineups, amenities, and art installations, it’s a good idea to approach their highlight videos and marketing tactics with a bit of skepticism. The first year of any festival is often a learning experience for organizers, which can lead to logistical issues, from transportation hiccups, to inadequate facilities, and unforeseen organizational challenges. Similarly, festival grounds that have not been previously tested might encounter problems with layout, acoustics, or capacity to handle large crowds. While this doesn’t mean you should avoid all new festivals, it can be helpful to set realistic expectations and prepare for potential issues.

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Assume You Need to Be Self-Sufficient

When heading to a festival, it’s a good idea to plan as if you’ll need to be entirely self-sufficient, especially regarding basic necessities. Think food, water, toilet paper, flashlights, and—maybe not quite a “basic necessity”—a power box to charge your phone. Even if the event advertises plenty of vendors and water stations, unexpected issues can arise—long lines, high prices, or supply shortages. Pack non-perishable, energy-rich foods that can withstand the festival environment, bring at least a gallon of water a day (per person) to have back at camp, along with a hydration pack that you can refill throughout the event, and a roll of toilet paper (because porta potties will run out)! And while you’re at it, you’ll thank yourself for throwing in some Liquid-IV or electrolytes to help replenish your body even more.

Test Your Drugs In Advance

Plan to partake in party favors? Testing your drugs in advance—or bringing test kits to test at the fest—is a must if you or your group plans to take any substances over the weekend. While we try to have a presence at quite a few festivals every season, it is important not to rely on the festival itself to ensure harm reduction services are available.

Bringing your own test kits or testing beforehand allows you to ensure the substances you’re planning to take are what you think they are, and that they aren’t cut with anything more dangerous. The Cosmos Spot Kit Package is going to test just about every substance under the sun, and FentKits are a necessity, no matter what you’re taking. If you have a specific drug in mind, check out our substance-specific packages to grab before the event.

Fentanyl test strips spilling out of a FentKit, along with a Bunk Police sticker, and measuring spoons.

Dress for Success

Appropriate attire can truly make or break your festival experience. Prepare to walk nonstop, dance all day, and exist under the sun (and in the midst of a lot of dust) while packing for your trip. This means super comfortable shoes, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, and pashminas that can protect from the sun and dust, and double as a warmer option in cooler evening temperatures. Similarly, being ready for unexpected cold fronts or drops in temperature when the sun goes down is a necessity. Comfort > cuteness—trust us.

Bring Along Some Modern Comforts

While immersing yourself in the grit and grime of camping is certainly part of the experience, bringing along a few modern comforts can offer a nice respite from the elements. Tapestries for sun-cover can be a nice addition to your camp, along with helping to create a personalized space.

Moonmats are great for lounging around, and inflatable couches can be a life-saver when you need to take a load off between sets. A handheld, battery-powered fan can also do wonders in the heat!

What We Learned at the Texas Eclipse Festival

The Bunk Police wanted to have a presence for this epic eclipse occasion, and we learned quite a bit from the pitfalls and the positives at this event. Let’s take a look into a few lessons learned.

Just Because It’s a Popular Festival, Does Not Mean It’ll Be Well Equipped

The Texas Eclipse Festival, while highly anticipated and eagerly awaited, serves as a perfect example that popularity does not necessarily equate to organization, preparedness, or fluidity in a festival. We experienced a range of logistical issues firsthand, from insufficient and difficult-to-locate hydration stations, confused and disorganized staff members, far-and-few-between medical tents, poorly maintained restroom facilities, lack of lighting and mapping of the grounds, and overcrowded stages. When a one-time festival is centered around an exciting occasion, it can sometimes be lacking in other areas. This was seen firsthand and echoed amongst many attendees.

Understanding the Environment Could’ve Made for A Better Experience

When someone goes to Burning Man, they understand that the conditions will undoubtedly be intense. But with this being a first-time fest, most festival goers were unprepared for just how challenging the conditions would be. The terrain of the venue was rough, with an excessive amount of dust, reports of camps covered in fire ants, and universally hilly, rocky, cactus-filled grounds. Due to a lack of proper planning, the campgrounds were extremely spread out (bulldozing wildlife and nature to provide extra, makeshift campgrounds) and the transportation shuttles were ill-equipped for the number of attendees. Paired with the lack of accessible amenities, the altitude of the location, and far distances to the venue grounds, the difficult environment was amplified.

Our Presence was Needed

In realizing Texas Eclipse was quite unprepared, we began to understand just how important our presence was at the festival. Over the weekend, official security and staff often pointed people to our booth to get information about the festival grounds, venue, maps, facilities, and more.

Similarly, because the event was a mix of festival veterans and Eclipse-focused attendees, we were able to educate a wider demographic of festival goers about the importance of drug testing. No event is a wasted effort, and despite the challenges, we believe we were still able to make an impact.

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