I’ve been to other large scale music festivals before — a few years ago I attended Bumbershoot in Seattle and loved it. When I saw that Austin City Limits began the day after Flash Forward Austin then saw the lineup of amazing bands, I jumped at the chance to attend at least the first day and bought a ticket.

Then I got wrapped up in the trip, the conference, all the work I’m supposed to be doing and didn’t think twice about preparing for an all-day festival in the Texas heat. And I regretted it.

Here is my list of things to remember next time:

• My Ticket – Yes, I left my ticket at home and had to have it mailed to the hotel 2nd day air for $18. Thanks Barb.
• Leave the SLR at home – I didn’t read the rules before I got there and apparently no removable lens cameras (SLRs) are allowed. I pulled out my best plea and talked the gate girl into letting me in with it, but all the photos I shot had to be on the down low.
• Sunscreen – Many friendly people we’re willing to share with me and actually offered me when they saw how white I am and how red I was getting.
• A hat – For some reason I didn’t even think about it when I packed. Good thing I picked up a sweet one at the festival.
• Show up around 3:00 – Unless there is an act I can’t miss before this time or unless the temperature is less than 85 degrees.
• Plan and Pace yourself – I spent way too much energy walking around looking for shade, water, a hat, food, etc.
• Don’t work out and sit in the jacuzzi before heading over

I got there around 1:00 and was pretty much spent by 4:00. But I hung tough and enjoyed what I could from the little shade I could find. The food there is amazing, Austin is known for great food and many fine restaurants have booths with samples of their food.

Guster, Wolf Parade, Gnarles Barkley all sounded great. John Mayer was fun and I was pretty close, but with SO MANY people it was not as great of a performance as a more intimate setting.

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My ACL photos on Flickr