Governors Ball Survival Guide

On Saturday, June 2nd, 2018, I attended day two of the popular New York City music festival, Governors Ball, alongside my sister and two of her friends. Gov Ball is held every summer on Randall’s Island Park. The festival mainly draws in young people, most likely between the ages of 17-25, so I definitely felt right at home.

The festival features artists from a wide variety of genres, so there is definitely something for everyone. This year’s festival featured big names such as Travis Scott, Halsey, Pusha T and 2 Chainz, while also giving exposure to lesser known artists such as LANY (one of my personal favorites), Mikky Ekko and The Spencer Lee Band.

As someone that had never attended Gov Ball before, I really did not have any idea what to expect. There was one thing that I did not know though — that I would be exhausted at the end of the day. But in the end, I am pretty sure that I came prepared. With this in mind, follow my 5 survival tips for Governors Ball and you should be good as gold.

Dress comfortably.

Given the fact that you’ll be on your feet all day, wear comfortable shoes and clothing. I went with a bodysuit, flow-y shorts and sneakers for my Governor’s Ball outfit — I wanted to look put together, but wanted to still feel free to move around.

I purchased my black bodysuit from American Apparel (you can get a similar one here!), my shorts from Tobi, my purple sneakers are Supergas and my mirrored sunglasses are Ray Bans.

Stay hydrated.

It’s hot out there, friends, and passing out from dehydration unfortunately is all too common during the summer. Gov Ball allows guests to bring in reusable water bottles, so do so if you want to be environmentally friendly. Otherwise, I advise everyone to drink water every few hours — trust me, the $4 price tag is worth every penny if it keeps you from fainting. They also offer free fill-up stations, so you can refill your empty water bottle without having to pay again.

Bring a portable charger.

We arrived at Gov Ball at around 1 PM and left the show around 11:30 PM. You can do the math and assume that your phone battery will not last the entire day. And while the festival did offer complimentary charging stations to guests, investing in a portable charger to keep in your purse or backpack to charge your phone up would be a great idea.

Protect yourself!

From the sun, that is. As someone who burns easily, I am always the one to bring along a bottle or can of spray sunscreen with me. At a music festival, the entire day is being spent in the sun, so definitely be sure to protect yourself from the sun’s powerful rays to avoid a nasty sunburn.

Avoid the mosh pits.

Ahh, no music festival would be complete without a moshpit. To avoid an injury, stay away from the area right at the front of the stage, as that is mainly where mosh pits tend to congregate — we learned this one the hard way during Travis Scott’s set.