When it comes to buying tickets for a music festival, things are typically a lot less complicated than they are for heading out to your typical concert. However, this can also be confusing for a lot of people since they are expecting one-size-fits-all tickets, and this isn’t always what festivals have available.
Here, we’ll talk about the most common ticket experiences that you’re likely to find when you are headed out to a festival.
General admission tickets, or some sort of variation on this name, is the most common kind of festival ticket that you will find. This is exactly what you would expect from a festival—you get through the gate and you have access to all of the shows that are going on. Sometimes you will have multiple stages to choose from and some festivals are a lot bigger than others, but a general admission pass gets you access to all of the basic stuff that you go to a festival for. These passes can be for the entire festival or just one day. Making sure that you get the right pass for the amount of time that you’ll be there is an important first step. Also, make sure that the bands that you want to see will be playing on the day that you’re buying passes for. This is an easy mistake to make.
Get What You Want
There are a few other types of concert tickets to take into account. For example, a lot of festivals will have exclusive VIP style tickets that get you closer to the main stage. Some festivals will even schedule a meet and greet for these ticket holders so that you can get to meet some of the musicians that will be performing at the festival. Each festival is a little different, so be sure to check out the specifics for the event that you’re interested in so that you don’t miss out on any of the special things that you might be interested in.
Some festivals also have backstage passes available. These are similar to the VIP tickets and offer many of the same perks but under a different name. Again, each festival is different, so knowing what you’re paying for and what you’re hoping to get out of your tickets will ensure that you get precisely the tickets that you want.
Depending on the festival, you might need to purchase upgraded tickets if there are multiple stages. This is rare, but you might run into it at the bigger festivals. For example, if you want to see a few different bands play while you’re out, you may need a separate ticket if the bands are playing in different parts of the festival. Check out what the festival rules are before you purchase anything so you can be sure to get exactly what you want and have the experience that you’re looking forward to.
Other Things to Consider
Many music festivals also will have parking passes and camping passes that you need to purchase separately. Buying these online through the same site that you bought your original concert tickets from can be a good way to save time and money—especially if that means that you won’t need to worry about these things on the day of the festival. Further, a lot of times prices for these things will go up if you wait until the day of the event to purchase them. This way, you can eliminate the stress of not being one hundred percent sure what your accommodations will be when the festival arrives and maybe even save some money in the process.