It’ll be fun, they said. You’ll have the time of your life, they said. And they were right… whoever “they” are, BottleRock might just be the most fun Memorial Day Weekend you’ll ever have. But there are some tips and tricks you should know going in. And lucky for you, I’m basically a veteran of the mosh pit. So here is what I wish I knew before going into my first, second and even third round around the BottleRock-y road.
The real music festival is the friends we made along the way
Music festivals are so much better when you go with your friends or even just one friend. This will have been my third music festival and the first two I did basically alone, and while I still had a great time, I didn’t know what I was missing until Amy tagged along with me to BottleRock 2026. Amongst the chaos of mosh pits, lulls of waiting for shows to start or even just the thrills of being exhausted, it all means so much more when you have someone to share it with; to grab a jump off their portable charger from, borrow someone’s hat to protect yourself from the sun and, my personal favorite, “OMG YOU GOTTA TRY THIS IT TASTES LIKE SHIT!” Even just sitting in the grass after a long day, too tired to say a word can be the best feeling in the world when you’re doing it with a friend. So if you wanna go to BottleRock or any festival for that matter, make sure you have someone to go with, because the real music festival is the friends we made along the way.
Do I really need another app?
I hate apps as much as the next guy. Everything has an app and it just makes everything more complicated. My freaking oven has an app and my microwave for that matter. I can no longer do my laundry at my apartment because the stupid app logged me out and when I try to log back in it says “an account with that email already exists,” yeah cause it’s MY freaking account, just let me wash my undies in peace or SO HELP ME!
Sorry, I’m getting side tracked. But that is all to say, the BottleRock app is actually really intuitive and won’t steal your laundry money. It can create personalized schedules based on which artists you want to see, send you reminders about when they will perform, look at the menus for different vendors and tell you where they are on the map. You can even buy festival merch for a preorder pickup, allowing you to skip the lines and pick up your BottleRock 2026 lineup shirt without missing a beat of your favorite song.
Even though not everything needs an app, especially a freaking washing machine, the BottleRock experience is definitely made more accessible and a joy to navigate with its incorporation.
Backpack backpack
Per festival regulation, all backpacks must be clear — unless it’s a camel bag, then skip this section. But if you do plan on being the pack mule for your friend group, here’s what you gotta bring in. Sunscreen, obviously. Hat and sunglasses, duh. Bandaids; you will be standing around all day and might acquire some gnarly blisters, so just be prepared. A light coverup; despite its peculiarities, Napa is a valley town so while that 80 degree high noon heat will have you sweatin’ like a polar bear in the Mojave, when that sun falls below the mountains, that temperature drops faster than your Uber driver bouncing from rider to rider seeing who has the highest fare. Enough portable chargers to power a small Amish city — for reference, I have three chargers: one primary charger I actually use, a backup portable charger to charge my primary charger and a backup charger for the backup charger just in case. Lastly, since BottleRock has numerous refill stations, bring a reusable water bottle. Quick word of discretion on that one though, if you bring a metal one like I did, it will heat up after staking out the sun-stricken main stage for four hours, so don’t come crying to me about your third degree burns — this is your warning.
But the weather app says it will be 76 and sunny. Why would I wear jeans?
Sun protection, you’ll use less sunscreen and, again, it gets cold at night. In my logic, or lack thereof, I’m gonna be a sweaty mess anyways, so I might as well cut my losses and wear pants, that way I don’t have to worry about my legs getting sunburnt, playing a game of Twister just so I can rub my calves down with sunblock in the minds of a moshpit and, since I’ll already have my hoodie in my clear bag, once the sun says goodnight, I will keep warm easier.
While wearing jeans to a Spring festival may seem odd, it’s the smart play that will keep you protected from both the heat of the sun and chill of the moon.
Sorry, what? I had my earplug in
You want barricade seats for your favorite artist. But if Lorde, AJR or the Foo Fighters are close enough to spit on you, you’re also close enough to the speakers to more than likely cause some permanent hearing damage. So if you want the best seats in the house while minimizing the long term effects, bring some earplugs or just your trusty pair of earbuds — bonus points if they are noise canceling. But even if you do forget to pack this item, BottleRock actually has an Eargasm booth where you can pick up a set for free, though you probably have to sign up for their newsletter or something; a small price to pay if you want to hear past 25.
The ways of the wristband
At BottleRock, you get these really cool, felt wristbands. Just slide up the black plastic piece to tighten and you’re all set. However, once tightened it cannot be loosened — a fact I learned the hard way once and am now reminded of once again. See, I made the mistake of tightening my wristband to a comfortable fit, about a pinkie’s worth of space between my wrists and the fabric. But in my stupidity, I didn’t account for how the band will naturally get tighter as the weekend goes on, just naturally ripping against people in mosh pits, swollen wrists from dehydration and baking in the sun like a potato chip; another reason the wrist band will naturally get tighter, an increased intake of salty foods. So now, not only is my wristband a bit too tight, but the only way to remove it is to cut it off and sever my memento of 2026 Memorial Day Weekend.
So when you get your wristband, don’t be me and tighten it all the way, leave at least two- to three-fingers worth of room between your wrists and the band.
Don’t tip your waitresses
Reading it allowed this to sound terrible BUT HEAR ME OUT. In everyday life, you should always tip your waitress, fellas. But this isn’t everyday life, this is BottleRock where even the volunteers at the merch tent ask for 18% gratuity for grabbing you a T-shirt and even Diet Coke has a 500% markup. When every meal is around 23 clams and the Toast machine’s auto tip only goes down to 18%, that already pricy burrito that is already not worth the money will run ya close to 30 bucks.
While it may seem harsh, for this weekend only, don’t tip your waitresses, fellas.
