How to Conquer the Entire Weekend of the ACL Music Festival
The average person walks four to 10 miles during any given day at the ACL Music Festival. If you’re going to make it until the very last band Mumford & Sons on Sunday evening, you’ll need to treat your body right. Here’s our list of tips, food, and drinks that will keep you going.
Hydration Stations
It’s forecasted to be 90+ degrees outside and there’s really not a lot of shade in the general admission area. It’s a music festival, we get it, you want to party. However, one of the most common things we see are people feeling ill because of dehydration. While beer quenches your thirst, it’s dehydrating. Bring in an empty water bottle or bladder with you into the festival and immediately find a CamelBak water station. The lines move quickly as they have expert water filler-uppers ready to top off your container.
Don’t Crash and Burn
ACL offers these general admission food options, but if you want to fuel your body with food that won’t bring you down to a crashing halt at the end of the night, here are a few to consider.
Blenders & Bowls offers delicious, frozen acai bowls and smoothies that are perfect for a reprieve from the heat.
Healthy carnivores will be happy about this one and so are we. Ranch Hand’s philosophy centers around protein-rich, healthy food.
The only time pro athletes can juice legally is when they’re drinking JuiceLand. Since 2001, they have been serving fresh juice and superfood smoothies in Austin.
For your kids (or the kid in you), GoodPop offers all-natural flavored pops made with the best non-GMO, Fair Trade Certified, rBST-free, organic and locally sourced ingredients.
They’re called East Side King, but during ACL they’ll be our West Side King serving up Japanese-style dishes made with all-natural pork, 100 percent vegetarian-fed pigs raised without antibiotics, hormones, or crates of any kind.
Bring Your Dancing Shoes
There’s nothing more that blisters love than a hot, humid, sweaty day of walking. Be fashionable, but be careful of how many toe or ankle straps your sandals offer. You’ll be thanking us later.
Don’t Forget to Wear Protection
Ear plugs, you sick thugs. Do you have a friend that arrives late, grabs your hand like a vise and pulls you through the crowd until they get to the very front? You may want to bring ear plugs. You not only won’t hear the disgruntled fans behind you that have been standing there all day, but also so you’ll be able to hear later in life — if we make it to 2050.
Explore
There’s so many activations and vendors to see during your time at ACL. When you have a break in the day, walk through the groves and check out some artisan shops that have hand-crafted apparel. Bonus, it’s located under lots of tree shade.
If All Else Fails
And you didn’t follow any of these guidelines and are feeling the after effects of a long ACL weekend, book an appointment with the folks at MSW Lounge to get a vitamin IV or vitamin hydration to bring you back to normal before your first day back at work. Enjoy!