Summer is getting nearer and that means it’s music festival time. Here are some dos and don’ts of festivals, from a true festival connoisseur.

• Bring a Camelbak – Trust me. You will thank me later. The benefits of a Camelbak at a music festival are insurmountable. There is nothing worse than finding yourself in a big crowd of people watching your favorite band and running out of water. Camelbaks allow you to carry water around hands free in huge amounts and give you something you can refill (as most festivals are full of Camelbak refill stations), which means you won’t spend any extra coin on drinks when you’re thirsty.
• Buy all of your merch at the same time – Plan to make one trip to the merch area with all of the necessary cash to make your purchases all at once. That way, you only have to carry it around for one day, instead of having a bit of new merch with you every day. This may only seem to apply to multiple day festivals, but it is still a good idea to get everything you want at once, even at something that only lasts one day.
• Plan your day: know who you want to see – Don’t sit around wasting your time by trying to decide who you want to see after you get there. Get a map and schedule from the festival’s website before you go and map out who you want to see beforehand. This is especially useful at massive festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, where walking is a big time sink, making efficient planning all the more necessary.
• Use a map – Try and get your bearings by familiarizing yourself with a map as soon as you get there, if not beforehand. Big festivals are exactly that, big, which means getting lost can mean the difference between seeing a band and not seeing a band. Don’t let a bad sense of direction cause you to miss your favorite band.
• Don’t rely on your cell phone for anything – In the massive crowds at festivals, the high cell phone concentration almost always clogs the networks, rendering cell phones virtually useless past the front gates. If your group is splitting up at any point during the day, it’s best to plan a meeting place and a time that you can find each other, rather than relying on cell phones. They usually never work (both texting and calling) and they’re hard to hear anyways, amid the craziness of the crowd and constant music.
• Plan a meeting place for people who get lost – This is similar to the cell phone policy. You should immediately establish an exact place to go if any member of your group gets lost. That way, the rest of the group won’t have to waste their time looking for someone when they could otherwise be enjoying themselves. It is the best way to ensure you always know where to find the rest of the group, without using cell phones.

Here is the majority of the summer’s festival lineup. Keep in mind that the bands featured here are, for the most part, a small percentage of the bands at each festival, so check out the respective festival websites for full lineups and schedules.

Coachella (Coachella Valley, CA):

April 13-15, April 20-22

3-Day Pass – $285

Featured artists – Afrojack, Arctic Monkeys, Avicii, Bon Iver, Datsik, David Guetta, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, DJ Shadow, Feed Me, Explosions in the Sky, Florence and the Machine, Gotye, Justice, Kaskade, Manchester Orchestra, Nero, Radiohead, Swedish House Mafia, The Black Keys, The Shins

Last year’s headliners – Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, The Strokes

Edgefest (Frisco, TX):

April 22, 2012

Current Ticket Price: $74-84

Featured artists – The Black Keys, Cake, Garbage, Cage the Elephant, Arctic Monkeys, Switchfoot, Evanescence, Neon Trees, Foxy Shazam

Last year’s headliners – Weezer, Jane’s Addiction, A Day to Remember, Flogging Molly

Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN):

June 7-10, 2012

4-Day Pass – $259.50

Featured artists – Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish, The Beach Boys, Bon Iver, The Avett Brothers, The Shins, Foster the People, Skrillex, The Roots, Alice Cooper, Ludacris, Ben Folds Five, Flogging Molly, The Civil Wars, Young the Giant

Last year’s headliners – Eminem, Lil Wayne, Arcade Fire, Widespread Panic

Electronic Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, NV):

June 8-10, 2012

3-Day Pass – $275

Featured artists –Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Skrillex, Benny Benassi, David Guetta, Kaskade, Steve Aoki, Will.i.am, Excision, Bassnectar, Dada Life, Avicii, Afrojack, Fedde Le Grand, Flux Pavilion, Mt. Eden, Datsik, Headhunterz

Hopeful artists (still negotiating, neither confirmed nor denied) – Deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner, Swedish House Mafia, Crystal Method, Blood Beetroots Death Crew 77, The Glitch Mob, Paul Oakenfold, Infected Mushroom, Sub Focus, Skism

Last year’s headliners – Tiesto, Skrillex, Benny Benassi, David Guetta

Warped Tour (Dallas, TX):

July 3, 2012

Current Ticket Price – $47.33

Featured artists – Taking Back Sunday, The Used, Of Mice And Men, Mayday Parade, All Time Low, We The Kings, Senses Fail, Pierce The Veil, Miss May I, Four Year Strong, Chelsea Grin, Breathe Carolina, Anti Flag

Last year’s headliners – A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, The Devil Wears Prada, Paramore, Enter Shikari, Of Mice & Men

Mayhem Festival (Dallas, TX):

July 10, 2012

Current Ticket Price: $40-$90, depending on seating

Featured artists – Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, As I Lay Dying, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, White Chapel, High On Fire

Last year’s headliners – Disturbed, Megadeth, Godsmack, In Flames, Suicide Silence, Machine Head

Lollapalooza (Chicago, IL):

August 3-5, 2012

3-Day Pass – $230

Featured artists – Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, Black Sabbath, Jack White, Florence & the Machine, At The Drive-In, Bassnectar, Avicii, The Shins, Justice, Passion Pit, Kaskade, The Weeknd, Sigur Ros, Nero

Last year’s headliners – Eminem, Coldplay, Muse, Foo Fighters, Deadmau5

Austin City Limits (Austin, TX):

October 12-14, 2012

3-Day Pass – $200

Featured artists – TBA (usually announced early summer)

Last year’s headliners – Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Kanye West