Going to Lollapalooza? It's easy to get caught up in the "OMG I need to sprint from the Budweiser stage to the BMI stage in 3 minutes if I want to catch My Dear Disco!" But don't stress to much. This is supposed to be fun, remember?
The lovely folks behind the event at Fresh and Clean Media and C3 shared some important info that you should know before you head out--aside from the obvious (sunscreen! bug spray! comfy shoes!)
And now, tips from festival organizers:
TICKETS: Three-day passes and Single Day tickets are still available and can be purchased online until Sunday at 6pm. Walk-up tickets can be purchased at the Festival Box Office located just north of the main festival entrance at Michigan Avenue and Congress Plaza. Children 10 and under get in FREE with a ticket-holding adult.
EARLY WRISTBAND REDEMPTION: Three-day pass holders can redeem their tickets and Print Passes for weekend wristbands in advance at the Festival Box Office on Wednesday, August 4 and Thursday, August 5 from 3-8pm.
TWO ENTRANCES: In addition to the new location of the Festival's Main Entrance at Michigan Avenue and Congress Plaza, a second North Entrance is located at Columbus and Monroe.
GETTING TO THE EVENT: There are two great, eco-friendly options for getting to Grant Park. For those riding a bicycle, a bike valet is available at Lake Shore and Monroe. For riders of the CTA, there are many routes to Grant Park, and commemorative Lollapalooza farecards are a great keep-sake of the Festival weekend. Purchasing farecards before arriving at Grant Park is recommended to cut down on waiting time.
HYDRATION: Attendees are allowed to bring up to 2 factory sealed bottles of water up to 1 Liter each. Empty Nalgene, Sigg, Klean Kanteen, or similar water bottles are also permitted and free water filling stations are available throughout the park. Lollapalooza's new water sponsor, h2O, is helping to further Festival greening initiatives by selling water packaged in recyclable cartons, greatly reducing the amount of plastic bottles at the event. Water will be sold for $2.
FARMERS MARKET: Lollapalooza's eco-friendly market, Green Street, will now feature an on-site farmers market offering organic, fair trade coffee drinks, organic sweets, and berry smoothies made from locally sourced berries, as well as fresh fruit, noodle dishes, bread, and cheese from local producers.
FOOD: In addition to many returning food vendors, Chicago's award-winning, four-star chef Graham Elliot has recruited more than 15 new restaurants to Lollapalooza's food court. Local favorites like Big Star, Sunda, Kuma's Corner, The Southern, and Lou Malnati's, to name a few, will be serving up their fare at Lollapalooza's Chow Town.
LEDERHOSEN'S BIERGARTEN: Lederhosen's features fine craft-brewed beers such as Becks, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, and Budweiser, plus plenty of shade and popular German fare by Haus of Sausage.
UNCORKED WINE BAR: Uncorked Wine Bar, featuring Estancia Wines, provides a chic place to sip a glass of wine, catch some shade, and watch live performances on big screen TV's.
FREE WIFI: This year, festival-goers have access to FREE WiFi throughout Grant Park, thanks to AOL Lifestream. This access makes it even easier to check schedules and maps, post updates, tweets, and photos, and connect with friends.
iPHONE AND ANDROID APPS: For the first time Lollapalooza's mobile apps offer "Friend Finder" functionality. Users can select from among their Facebook friends to form a private group during the festival. They can then communicate with their friends via their group's "Chat Wall". Users can also plant virtual "flags" for their friends on the Lolla map, based on their GPS-determined location. These features work cross-platform, so Android and iPhone users will be able to communicate.
MOBILE CHARGING STATION: A mobile charging station is also available at the Lifestream Lounge.
KIDZAPALOOZA: Lollapalooza is not just for adults. Children 10 and under get in free when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. Kidzapalooza is an interactive area for families to experience music together. Surprise cameos are often made by Lollapalooza's headliners. Other activities include Rock N Roll karaoke, break dancing workshops, skateboarding workshops, and more.