Surviving All Good Music Festival

The All Good Music and Arts Festival has a long-standing tradition of being a badass event hosting many killer bands and wonderful people. If you are attending this festival, here are some tricks to make your experience awesome.

The All Good festival is held in West Virginia on Marvin’s Mountaintop. This venue is amazing but has some challenges you should be prepared for. For example, with the unreal mountaintop view comes unreal mountaintop winds. If you are camping on the top of the mountain be sure to bring extra supplies to anchor down your tent and other belongings. I have seen people come back from the show to find their tent “missing”, when in fact it is about 20 feet away on top of someone’s car. This goes for any tarps, tables, chairs, etc you may have around.

Try to arrive at this festival early because setting up camp in the dark is especially challenging here because of these winds. Also, make sure you have set up your tent at least once before arrival so that you are not trying to figure it out in the middle of the night with no light and challenging weather. Arriving early is also beneficial because only one entrance is available for access to the entire mountain so the line can sometimes be rather long to enter.

On that note, before arrival take the opportunity to hit up the nearest gas station. Make sure you have plenty of gas before getting to the mountain, I can’t tell you how many cars I have seen stall out waiting in line on the steep hills leading up to the grounds. Also, take that opportunity to go to the bathroom one last time before getting to the line. The festival is as efficient as possible, however, the wait can still be over an hour at times so you don’t want to start out your weekend uncomfortably.

Once your campsite is set up it’s time to hit up the shows!  The best part of All Good is that there are no overlapping shows. Two stages are set up right next to each other so as soon as one show ends the other begins. This is awesome because you can go to the stages and literally stay in the same spot all day and miss nothing. This is a rare occasion at festivals so there are a few things to do to prepare yourself for the long day ahead. Security allows unopened water bottles so pack a few in your book bag along with some small snacks. If the weather looks iffy also pack a poncho or raincoat. Bring whatever you can with you into the show to avoid missing anything because of frequent trips back to camp. As mentioned the site is on a mountain so excessive walking can really wear you out. Steep hills are everywhere! Golf cart taxies are usually available though, so if you can spare the three bucks it’s pretty nice, especially at the end of a long party filled day.

Since All Good is held in July the weather is generally very pleasant during the day, warm to sometimes hot. It can sometimes get a little chilly so carrying a light long sleeve or jacket during the day is advised. Once the sun goes down it can get pretty cold. Some years it has been in the mid 50’s but others it has gotten down into the low 40’s so pack for the coldest you can handle just to be safe.

Make sure to check out All Good’s website before you head off to the festival and get acquainted with the festivals specific rules and regulations to make sure you know what to expect. For example, they do not allow anything that moves you faster than walking, so leave the bike at home. Also like most festivals, they do not allow glass bottles or campfires, so don’t bother packing firewood and such. For some good karma, All Good usually has some sort of can food drive or other good will charity you can contribute to. This is an easy way to get some good vibes going from the start.

The Work Exchange Team also provides volunteers with tickets to this festival, so sign up for a free festival or just stop by the tent and say hello to those festy-loving freaks.

For general festival survival information explore the rest of this site for more tips and tricks to help you out. Have a good show!