burnaby blues and roots

How to Prepare for an Outdoor Music Festival: the One-Day Festival

With Megan off in San Francisco at the Outside Lands Music Festival for the weekend, and Rob Jones, Erica, Alyzee and I all heading for the Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival tomorrow, I have music festivals on the brain tonight, along with what I need to do to prep for tomorrow. So given that, c I thought I’d write a post on preparing for the outdoor music festival, specifically focused on the one-day festival. Hopefully, Megan will give us a similar post, at a later date on the multi-day festival.

Photographed by Liz Kearsley

Now first off all, you want to check out the festival rules ~ what’s allowed in and what’s not. In the case of Burnaby Blues & Roots that means:

no alcohol from off-site
no musical instruments
no glass containers or cans
no professional cameras
no umbrellas
no tents or tarps
no banners
no frisbees / throwing objects
no hoola hoops
no knives or weapons
no laser pointers

This is all pretty standard for festivals. So knowing what is not allowed, the big question is what is, especially considering we are talking an all weather event.

Photographed by Liz Kearsley

So for me this means, I want to bring:

water – or at least a bottle to fill at the re-fill stations – sealed / empty plastic bottles are allowed
a sun hat
sunscreen
rain gear
a sweat shirt (in case it gets cold)
blankets / low-back lawn chairs
cell phone & charger
camera (charged) & charger
ID – for my beer tent wrist band
cash (& bank card for the bank machine) – for food, beer & the artisans vendors
snacks (fruit & veggies are usually the most popular, if it’s a hot day)
a cooler to keep the food appealing

Photographed by Liz Kearsley

Next you want to get an idea of the set-up of the festival. In the case of the Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival, there are two stages and eight-acts throughout the day, so our plan typically is to get there early and set-up a blanket by each stage, in addition to a few chairs and the cooler on top of the hill between each stage. This way we can wander back and forth between the stages with ease. Plus it makes it easier to find your friends when we all inevitably end up separated.

Finally, figure out if you’re taking transit or driving, and if so, where the parking is (as it’s generally limited), and plan for extra time in getting there, as it generally takes longer at a festival. Plus if any friends are arriving late, be sure to warn them of what time the gates close.

And last, but not least, have a blast!

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

Birthday Celebrations & Travel Inspiration, Thanks to the Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival

We have a long standing summer tradition at Ahimsa Media to celebrate our summer birthdays with those of us that happen to be in Vancouver at the time. You see three of our main team – myself, Alyzee Lakhani and Erica Hargreave all have summer birthdays, and often one of our seasonal storytellers also has a summer birthdays, like Hannia Curi this summer. Back in the old days this meant legendary parties in Erica’s backyard, hanging out by the fire pit and drinking fresh fruit margaritas with an eclectic mix of people, that often ended in great stories, including weddings. When Erica moved into a townhouse, these epic birthday celebrations nearly died, and they might have had it not been to the fabulous people at Burnaby Culture. You see for the past 4 years our summer birthday celebrations have moved to the Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival, and a damn good new birthday celebration this has become. Something we look forward to each summer.

With Erica’s actually birthday tomorrow (July 27th), I thought I’d share a bit of tease with her and you on what to expect at this year’s festival. Sharing this particular tease here as opposed to on Being Emme, as this couple of music videos by Amadous & Miriam also act as great travel videos of Mali.

Oh Amadou from their album Folio, featuring Bertrand Cantat, directed by Jessy Nottola.

Sénégal Fast Food from their album Dimanche à Bamako, produced by Manu Chao.

To learn more about Amadous & Miriam and their version of the blues, read on on this post on Being Emme.

Sweet Summer Night Kisses,

Emme xoxo

PS. In Full Disclosure: As always, the opinions and thoughts shared here are our own and honest ones. We are bought out by no one. In the spirit of disclosure, it should be noted that Burnaby Culture gives us a few Blues & Roots tickets each year, allowing us to celebrate our birthdays in the best possible way.