I recently attended a music festival, specifically the Houston Press Music Awards Showcase held downtown this past Sunday. I learned a few things I’d like to share.
First things first, I took advantage of an “early bird” discount. Tickets were $5 if purchased on or before a given date about three weeks prior to the event. (I think it was July 9, but I’d have to double check.) Tickets purchased the day of the event are $10.
The caveat with “early bird” discounts is you must plan further ahead. For large events like this, if one knows one are definitely going, if it is a “can’t miss” event, then the discount is often a good deal.
The format of this event is five live shows from the top of the hour to about a quarter till the next hour, starting in the early evening. There were 50 different bands playing at 10 different venues.
(There was also a VIP portion of the event but I’m not sure of the details on that. Plus, these are higher cost tickets anyway.)
I happened to plan my day such that I only had to change venues twice. The bands I wanted to see were playing at one of two different venues: Martell’s and Isis.
One cannot sit through five hours of music without getting thirsty or hungry. I happened to have had a decent meal before I left, so that pretty much limited my requirements to drink. Sometimes, getting the most bang for your buck involves swallowing a little pride and asking the bartender what the cheapest beer they have is. As it turns out Martell’s had a bottled national-brand beer for $2 per bottle.
By the time I left the second show at Martell’s I was only in the mood for soda. From my previous experience playing a lot of poker in a bar/pub poker league I am used to paying up to $2 per soda at these types of venues. Sometimes one is able to take advantage of free sodas intended primarily for designated drivers and/or a liberal refills policy for sodas. If this is an actual requirement, I officially discourage dishonesty to take advantage of it, but the reality I know of is that few places actually ask.
Finally, if you do plan to purchase merchandise, be sure to factor this into the budget as well. Many bands’ CDs and T-shirts can be purchased online. Another recent event intended primarily to promote one band’s CD release had CDs on sale for that band for about half the usual prices. It may make sense to carry about an extra $10-20 in case such a deal is offered.