Summer means outdoor concerts and festivals, those marathon music events with mile-long band - and concession - lineups.
I recently rode a ferry packed from stem to stern with music fans, all of us on our way to an all-day music festival on Toronto’s Olympic Island. The forecast had called for rains, but the skies shone sunny and speckled with puffy clouds that cast scant shade across the grassy fields of the island. Humidity hung heavy in the air, and the occasional breeze would cool the pools of sweat on everyone’s backs.
I looked around to notice people dressed in all manner of all-weather attire. Some seemed more suited to the predicted showers - in knee-high rain boots - while others wore layers to fight off any potential island winds come sunset. Many wore little at all, and lots of skin got lots of sun!
At the end of the night, I patted myself on my un-sunburned back for arriving well-outfitted and (mostly) well-equipped to handle the challenges of an hours-long outdoor event. I thought I’d share a few do’s that helped me through it …
> If possible, travel light. This can be hard if you’re toting tots to the festivals. But the most encumbered of the folks I saw were the ones who seemed to have over-prepared and over-packed. Take only what you really need and leave the rest at home and you may avoid the chafing of heat rash beneath heavy backpack and purses. I opted for a fanny pack, and I loved the feeling of freedom from straps (who cares if it’s hip if I can wear it around my hips!)
> Slather it on. Victoria LeGrand of the band Beach House quipped to the crowd, “Thank you for getting suntans.” I don’t know about suntans, but I spotted more than a few necks burned red and sure to hurt the next day. In the past, I’ve let the clammy, greasy feeling of sunscreen be a deterrent to using it. But this time, I packed a travel-size bottle of SPF 30 in my hip-pack. According to this sunscreen guide, you’re supposed to put the stuff on about 15 minutes before you’ll be in the sun and reapply it at least every 2 hours. And if you’re sweating - as I was, in buckets - you will need to reapply it more often.
> Muffle the mega-noise. An adorable sight I saw at the show - little kids and babies wearing child-size protective headphones to shield their tender ears. So cute! And so smart! A rock concert can blast 110-125 decibels into your ears. When the crowd swelled, I got pushed to the periphery of the stage and found myself in front of a bank of enormous speakers - and totally regretted that I forgot to bring earplugs! D’oh!
> Stay hydrated. Sweating in the sun for hours can take a lot outta ya! At the festival, the paramedics had a tent set up to the side to take in the woozy, the drunk, and the faint. I skipped the beer line for a few reasons - the lineup was ridiculous, the beer overpriced, and because alcohol is a diuretic (the lineup to the porta-potties was ridiculous, too) and can contribute to dehydration. If festival rules allow, bring your own water container and fill up at fountains (and, yes, the lineup at the fountains was also ridiculous).
> Shade your eyes. Did you know that your eyes can get sunburn? Aside from wrinkle-enhancing squinting, exposing your eyes to sunshine can also cause photokeratitis, which is basically eye sunburn. Sun exposure can also lead to cataracts and cancer. So, don those shades - here are 8 tips for choosing the right sunglasses - or wear a floppy sunhat to create your own shade when you can’t find any.
Rock on!
Related: Beat the summer heat
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