“Leave your valuables at home and stash your cash in a diversion safe."
Music Festival Personal Safety Tips
From pickpockets to sexual assault, you need to be aware of the potential dangers and take steps to protect yourself. With a little preparation, you can have a great time without putting yourself at risk.
Stash Your Cash
Keep Your Drinks Safe and Stay Hydrated
Wear a Bright Colored Shirt or Hat
Connect Your Tribe Beforehand
If you are going anywhere at the festival, always use the buddy system. Your crew should establish a code word or phrase ahead of time to use when you need them to intervene. For example, if you say: “I think I just saw your cousin!” that can mean that you need them to come rescue you from a creep.
It’s worth noting on the topic of code words that most bartenders are aware that if someone orders an “angel shot” it is code and a signal that they need your help escaping a person or situation.
Watch out for each other, never go anywhere alone and stay connected with your tribe because there really is safety in numbers.
“Have a tribe code phrase and use the buddy system.”
Carry Bulletproof Protection and Be Alert
Unfortunately, festivals have been the target of active shooter massacres in the past. The most important thing you can carry with you to any large crowd event is a bulletproof insert. With sizes to fit inside any purse or crossbody bag, you will have something to cover your head, chest, or even your back as you run away from live fire from an active shooter.
In addition to carrying bulletproof protection, you should identify two ways to exit the event quickly and two places to hide quickly if an active shooter crisis unfolds. Establish a rendezvous point with your friends so that you can regroup if an emergency goes down.
Read the article ‘How to Survive an Active Shooter Crisis’ to learn more vital life-saving tips that will prepare you to react in this horrific scenario.
Your Self-Defense Weapon Will Be Prohibited
Leave your stun gun and pepper spray in your tent or in your car. They will not be permitted inside the venue itself and will likely be confiscated at the security check point when they inspect your purse upon entry. With that being said, it doesn’t mean you are entirely defenseless.
Review what you’re wearing that can be used as a weapon. What about that scarf around your neck or the chain link belt hanging around your hips? Some jewelry and hair clips can be used as weapons if they are pointy or sharp. Check out this article for more ideas on How to Defend Yourself with Items You Are Wearing.
If you’re feeling rebellious you can always carry a lipstick knife or a pen knife in your purse and cross your fingers that security doesn’t realize what they are. Both of these knives allow discreet covert carry that doesn’t raise flags. The lipstick knife looks like a tube of lipstick in your purse. When you remove the lipstick cap, a claw blade is concealed inside. On the other hand, the pen knife is an actual black ink pen on one end, but the other end conceals a dagger style blade.
Add a key knife to your keyring and it looks like you just have a regular key hanging on your keychain, but you will be carrying a small concealed folding knife for self-defense protection.
Locate Security and Medical Tents
Familiarize yourself with the festival layout and bookmark the map. This includes knowing where medical tents, water stations, and security stations are. Being familiar with their locations can be save valuable time if someone is having a medical emergency.
Make sure you have quick access to the festival's social media. Links to maps, schedules and guest amenities will all be available there. Any emergency information and updates will also be posted there.
Be Trackable
Yes, you are at a music festival to escape reality for a while and enjoy some amazing music. Tuning out, to tune in. But you can do this and still be locatable to family or friends in case of an emergency. Download a free safety app with them to make sure you are connected. Carry a GPS locator tag on your gear. This GPS tag serves double duty in tracking you and your bag if it gets lost or stolen.
Plan For Delays
Everyone might not arrive to the festival on the same day, but the majority of people will be leaving on the same day when the experience ends. Plan for traffic delays as everyone is heading home at the same time and traffic could bottleneck or be delayed due to an accident.
Make sure that you have a full tank of gas when you enter the festival grounds so that you are not running on empty when a traffic delay occurs. You don’t want to be “that person” who runs out of gas and blocks the road for hundreds of cars behind them.
It’s a good idea to have an auto emergency bag in your car in case a long delay occurs. Also known as a bug out bag, it should include some basic items such as water, granola bars, a flashlight and comfortable walking shoes. The good news is that since you have just left a music festival, you probably already have some of these things packed with you. Check out the article '10 Items Vital to Auto Safety' to see a complete list of items you should keep in your auto emergency safety kit.
Following these helpful music festival safety tips will maximize the fun and minimize the worry so that your tribe enjoys a memorable experience. Watching out for each other, making wise choices and staying connected goes a long way towards your security while you dance your heart out to the thundering drums and shredding guitar solos all weekend long.
Defense Divas® wants you to be equipped to defend yourself not only with a self-defense weapon, but also with the practical knowledge of safety awareness and prevention.
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