Lost Lands Festival
Essentials Guide
Let the countdown begin! As Lost Lands Festival approaches ever so quickly. So does my FOMO, sad to say I wont be joining you at Lost Lands this year. But I will be living vicariously through Couch Lands.
If I am there or not I want you to have the best time ever! Legend Valley is a magical and exciting place. But it has its downsides. My first year, I was wildly under prepared and I don’t want that for you. I want to share the best ways to get through the weekend with only positive memories.
Here is my short list of festival essential items that make camping at Legend Valley easier. I have done my best to find a free alternative to each item. But if you decide to add these items to your Amazon cart and check out before Lost Lands. You will share a small amount with me, this helps me keep RaveHackers alive!
Who knows if you all LOVE me enough, I may be able to join you at Lost Lands this year!
A girl can dream right?!
1. Festival Gear
Camping for Lost Lands Festival is magical but presents its challenges. Legend Valley typically cant support the number of campers. So camping space is tight. Don’t expect to be able to sprawl out unless you get there early!
Being a valley, it gets chilly at night and if you are camping in mainstream tent like I do. You will likely wake up with condensation build up along the inside of your tent.
Electronics also dislike the cold and if you are not proactive, you will have dead electronics in the morning even if they had charge the night before.
A tent dehumidifier is not necessary to purchase. You can always DIY a tent dehumidifier. Its also a good idea to leave your tent vents and tent door open enough to allow airflow. This should prevent a lot of condensation build up. But personally I am a fan of the hanging DampRid bags, they smell great and really do help with keeping my pillow, bed, and cloths dry and warm.
If you don’t want to buy a portable charger you can likely bum one, use the public charging stations or your car. You can even get chargers from Lost Lands Festival directly when you rent a locker. I have found the the cheapest and easiest long term solution to keep 2 phones, 2 watches, and an action camera charged all weekend is by getting a portable charger with a min of 10,000mAh. This Anker is a great option, its affordable and if you wreak it in the valley. Anker will send you a new one for free!
The main reason I LOVE Lost Lands Festival- THE WUBIES! Every year they seem to add metric rave ton of speakers to the stages. That being said, don’t be a rave baby! Take care of your ears so that you can enjoy the festivals to come. These earplugs are awesome! Comfortable, yet affective. With these you can ride the rail all weekend and not have ringing ears for the weeks to follow. Speaking form experience with this one haha.
2. Apparel & Accessories
Legend Valley in September can be HOT in the dead of day and COLD later at night. It can also be WET! You will want to be prepared for anything.
One pro tip is to pack in layers and – if you can – get a locker inside of the venue! It saves you the trip back to camp site, lightens the load, and you can get more in through security in one go. Saving you the hassle of going through security checks multiple times a day.
When it comes to your outfits. Think breathable, trendy, and comfortable clothing. If you throw in some Dino or Excision themes you will get bonus points. Don’t forget to bring sun glasses and a hat. Like I said, it gets HOT!
You will be walking walking walking and as the weekend progresses the Valley goes from green and lush to dusty to muddy and slippery. So make sure you have comfy shoes that you don’t care to get messy. Or wear your favorite shoes and get clear glowing shoe covers – my new favorite shoe hack.
Without fail, every year I have been to Lost Lands Festival, it has rained. A little or a lot having a poncho or lightweight rain jacket is so clutch. Shove it in the hydro pack or locker and hope you don’t need it.
If you plan on getting Lost Lands merch. Make sure to get it as early as you can. The good things sell out quickly.
Learn more about Lost Land Outfits from my outfit guide.
Hydration hydration hydration. If you can only get one item for Lost Lands Festival. A hydration pack is the move. This hydration pack is the same cost as three water bottles in the venue. In 90 degree weather you don’t want to get dehydrated. Personally I have camel back but how freaking cute is this! This bag has 4.6k reviews and everyone loves them!
Being silicone, these will make it through the weekend but they are not the most durable. But in black light they glow and since you can see through them you still get a chance to show off your kicks without destroying them. Shuffling in these will grab everyone’s eye. Even walking around I get. compliments on mine. Too bad I cant shuffle haha!
Like I said, every time I have been to Lost Lands Festival…its rained! This is light weight, has buttons along the front. So its easy to put on. It has a drawstring hoodie so you can protect your hair. This is one of those thing that you want to have. Throw this in the hydration pack and hope that you don’t need it!
3. Glow and Light-up Items
Some of my favorite moments at Lost Lands Festival were playing with and or watching the LED flow toys.
Some people get SO GOOD at it. But I could never find the time to try practice. I got a pixel whip. Easy to flow with and super fun. I would recommend getting extra lubricant for the whip itself. You cant ever have to much.
Another solid with for festivals are glow sticks. They have so many use cases. Strap them to your bag to make it easy to find. Throw them into the crowd when the base drops. Or my personal favorite. Outline your spot with them and watch all the happy people skirt around your “claimed area”. Another really fun thing to do is to make a walk path outline with the glow sticks. Even if the filed is wide open you will be surprised how many people walk the outlined path.
All in all, stay away from the cheap $20 led toy bundle bundle. They are not worth it, made from non-recyclable plastics, and usually break within a few hours of using them. Its much better to get one or a few of these items and share the PLUR.
I LOVE my Pixel Whip! I got mine from GloFX and its really great quality but the replacement components are super pricey. Taking this to a festival its going to get dirty. I wish I got one that was more inexpensive so it didn’t hurt so much to see it get USED! One thing to note about a whip is that you really do want to get fiber lube. otherwise the LED fibers are will be scratch you and not flow.
Glow sticks are a festival staple. Not only can you use them for all the reasons mentioned above. But if you get a pack like this one you can make bracelets, glasses, glow toys, and much much more! Get some for you and some for your rave fam. Its an inexpensive item that will bring you lots of joy.
This hula hoop has really great reviews and comes pre-programmed. You can upload other programs or program your own as well. One thing to be careful with is to make sure you don’t overcharge it. If you do though they have great customer service with a 1 year warranty. This is a fun toy to use and a fun toy to share. Its also a great option
4. Health & Wellness
Not trying to be your rave mom.
Please please please take care of yourself! Its a lot of fun, a lot of time in the sun, and a lot of physical exertion. If you are like me, working a desk job. It can be a shock to the system.
We all love to go hard and enjoy ourselves, there are plenty of items out there that can help you maintain a healthy body while doing so. There are also some items out there that promise to help but are total garbage.
I am by no means a nutritionist and I don’t know all the ins and outs of what you should do to maintain perfect help while out here partying it up. But I can tell you what I have found that I can t rave without!
In addition to supplements and vitamins you and or someone in your group should really have a first aid kit. Its another item you hope you wont need, but you are happy you have it if you do. There are a few things that you want make sure are in your kit.
~ HEALTH ~ RAVE ~ PLUR ~
4.1 Vitamin C & Magnesium
THORNE is awesome, it has two really important vitamins for my hard going ravers. Magnesium and vitamin C are going to help you bounce back from the long night.
Liquid I.V. specifically the lemon lime is my go to for staying hydrated! One packet every day is enough to keep me going. I put it in my hydration pack and after the quick rinse thew
A first aid kits is a must have for the festival. If you dont end up using it. One of your fellow ravers likely will. If its blisters, scrapes and bruises, or a sprain. This kit will be all you need to bounce back from it.
5. Travel & Convenience
This section does NOT contain any affiliate content. I want this post to be as beneficial to you as possible. This section is mostly for those of us who don’t want to go camping.
You can take the DINO express shuttles to and from a hotel or hostel and stay with air conditioning and a personal shower. That being said these options book up quickly! So planning your stay smart, will save you lots of money.
Hotel stay, Join others with the headbangers hotel package, or find your own hotel by useing the Lost Lands Festival site to find shuttles that come to your hotel. Use the find shuttles near your hotel button below to use Lost Lands Festival checker for this.
Hostel stay, you can usually the find really cheap stays nearby through hostels or air bnb and sometimes the hosts are festival goers and you can bum a ride into the festival. This is a great way to make new friends and save some cash. It goes without saying, be careful!
Airport shuttles are typically cheaper than using a ride share program. Lost Lands syncs up with Columbus, Chicago, and Cleveland airports. The shuttels also go to and from hotels and nearby airbnbs/ hostels.
This year Lost Lands Festival has hooked up with 5 nearby hotels. A lot of them are sold out already and you may be able to get a cheaper rate by simply booking with the hotel directly and getting a shuttle pass. But the convenience of having the full package does make a difference. Compare your options, and see what you can find. They GA and VIP packages do include tickets to lost lands and premium transportation to and from the event.
If you are like me and don’t LOVE the camping aspect of festivals a hotel, hostel, or air bnb may be the way to go. Lost Lands Festival website can help you find locations nearby with shuttle services to and from the festival. I have even found smart air bnb hosts that live close enough and are happy to drive you to the festival grounds! There are options for days, start with the Lost Lands options and see if you find anything that works!
The airport shuttle is a great way to save shave some money off your trip if you plan to fly out. Check flight options to Columbus, Chicago, or Cleveland/Akron. Check out the Lost Lands Festival website to get a shuttle ticket. They start at as little as $30 – one way – to shuttle to the festival ground from the airport. I have heard these shuttles are LIT and a great way to meet fellow festival goers and make new friends.
6. Tech & Gadgets
This section is for my rave fam that wants to take their festival experience to the next level. By bringing your comfort to an all time high or leveling up your tech and turning heads.
Nothing in this section is a much have but everything in this section is something that I LOVE THAT I HAVE.
Starting with a neck fan. These things are SO UNDERRATED! If you run hot like I do its worth the 30 buck. They run quiet and feel like you have a constant breeze. Really makes the difference when you are sweating bullets.
Next we have my personal favorite, the INVISIBLE CAMPSITE BEACON. Yes, you read that correctly, invisible campsite beacon. Don’t get me wrong my upside down yellow smiley face flag – from Walmart – is still a great for finding my camp. But recently I got an IR flashlight and strapped it to the totem pole. You cant see this with the naked eye but with a infrared monocular your campsite glows from a distance. Never get lost again! Especially since Lost Lands Festival does not have a way-finding system.
Neck fans are so underrated! Of course you dont NEED this, but after it hits 90 degrees out, you are crazy if you don’t WANT it. The ASNUG is the top rated brand and I have beat mine up, it still works great. I wish I got a darker color because the white one shows how dirty it is. But I will never go to a festival without one of these ever again.
This thing is epic, literal game change. I have this IR flashlight taped to my totem pole and with an infrared monocular or phone camera you can spot it from a mile away. We have all had the oh crap this looks different feeling. Walking back to camp. This eliminates that from every happening again. Plus with the IR camera you get to capture epic pictures of your friends.
These LED lights are gloves. Slide your glove on and rummage through your camping gear, or make your porta potty trip with ease and dexterity. I didn’t think I would like the gloves a first but they are actually way brighter than my phone and easier to carry.
DON’T TAKE YOUR PHONE INTO THE PORTA POTTY!
YOU. WILL. DROP. IT!
7. lost Land Themed Festival Essentials
Outside of getting some little Dino finger puppets. Its always fun to dress the part. Remember Lost Lands Festival throws it WAY back to per-historic times. Where Cave women and Caveman roam amongst the dinosaurs.
Excision ensures that there are always a few per-historic characters running around the valley, join them and have time. Rave the night away on a dinosaur or throw it back to the cave days.
Maybe dressing up isn’t for you! You cant go wrong with Excision merch. They tend to be good quality and really well designed. My personal favorite are his baseball jerseys.
Either way you cant go wrong. Festivals are a place to do you! Whatever that is, its welcomed with open minds and loving hearts.
Cant ever go wrong rocking some Excision merch. You can get these directly from Excisions website or at Lost Lasts from the merch tent.
This is not affiliate content.
I feel like I was a dinosaur in another life. If you do to? This is for you. Its the BEST costume and you along with a select few will have all the eyes. Run around and RAVE your heart out looking like the Raptor queen!
Excision usually has Cavemen and women running around the festival grounds. Living their best cavepeople lives! This costume is breathable, hits the mark with the Lost Land Theme and how much fun would it be to unleash the inner caveman as you run around legend valley.
8. hygiene hacks
I like to be CLEAN, and camping for festivals in the heat is always hard maintain my preferred level of hygiene. But these items really make a difference in my overall experience.
Firstly the public showers – although not bad – do NOT vibe with me. I prefer to take a shorter, semi-cold shower at camp, instead of waiting in line to take what is more or less a public shower.
Don’t get me started with the porta potty, you gotta hit that early after they cleaned it. Then hold it until you can get to a flushable one in the venue! Unless you have a portable or attached pen*s. That makes life better.
Lastly staying clean around the campsite is pretty important too! It is your home for a few days and you don’t want to live in filth. I love to bring compressed wet wipes. Add a little water and they are good enough for a comando shower but also durable enough for campsite cleanup.
~ Stay clean rave babies! Just stay clean. ~
During the day, fill your shower bag with water and leave it on top of your car. It will bake in the sun and warm up. Before you head out for a night of fun, set it up in your shower tent and enjoy a warm private shower. Its free, its clean, its NOT public!
This biodegradable pee funnel aka portable penis is amazing. I will never enter a pota potty again without one. I am not at a festival to work out, I am here to have a good time. So take the squats out of the equation and get yourself a stand and pee.
These are biodegrade which is my favorite part. They are really durable for what they are and you can use them for cleaning yourself or around the tent. Lost Lands is DUSTY so you will want these before you climb into bed. Nobody wants to go to bed feeling dirty and grimy this is the perfect in between while you wait for that morning shower.
9. Security Hacks ~ Car check
Getting through security, whether that’s for car checks or to just get into the venue, you need to make sure you’re prepared. Of course, there are some easy ways to make sure that you are ready for anything that’s thrown your way.
Car Checks:
Make sure to make “check worthy” items easy to reach when you load the car. This means load coolers and camping gear into easily accessible spaces like the trunk or backseat. If you plan on bringing additional booze outside of what’s in your cooler make sure that’s easily accessible for the security group to check out.
Venue Security:
The first key to getting through security quickly is to make sure that you’ve adhered to the bag policy, removed any metal from your body, and empty your hydration packs ahead of time. Another easy way is to pick out the lines that are moving the quickest, this usually means minimal “searching” by security and you’re going to get in quicker.
Having the right cooler is so important when it comes to thriving at festivals. This one i particular is a favorite of mine simply because it has a plethora of space, along with baskets that you can attach to the top that keep items from getting wet when ice melts. Another benefit is that you can create mixed drinks that dispense from the spout on the side which means less drinks you need pack in the cooler. If you’re wanting to use what you already have, consider getting yourself a cooler organizer to keep your food items easy to access! An important note to make is that a hard shell cooler will always work better so it’s easy to pack items around/on/with.
Keeping your car clean and organized is another great way to ease through security! Car organizers are a great way to make this happen with minimal effort on your part. Something that has dedicated pockets is the best way to keep your gear in good order. If you’re not looking to invest in an organizer, although they are great even outside of festivals, you can do something similar to this with plastic bins and cardboard. The key here is to make things look orderly so someone searching your car can just “glance” and move on.
These things are great to keep your personal items safe. I use these my brush to hold my car key and money. Nobody would take a second look at it if they got into my tent and wanted to take my valuables. It also doubles as a great brush to get my squad goals extensions out when I have had enough of them.
10. Rave hackers Lost Lands Festival Rave hacks
It wouldn’t be a Rave Hackers blog post without some Rave Hacks. These ones are specific to Lost Lands Festival. Being an 18+ base event, there will be a lot of first time festival goers. Make sure that you share the P.L.U.R. vibes with everyone and be on the lookout for people who may nee a little help.
Now to the festival hacks!
Travel out there and don’t give any reasons to the public servants to pull you over. Get to the festival early or you will be stuck with a micro campsite super far away from the venue. Lastly bring funtivities, Lost Lands is great but outside of the venue there is not a whole lot to do.
10.1 GET there early!
Get to lost lands as early as you can! The campgrounds fill up super quick. The later you get there the further away you will be from the venue. As well as the lest space you will have for your campsite.
10.2 Drive in like a pro
Cops are looking for cars that are overloaded with no visibility out of the back and sitting low to the ground. They are also looking for your rave squad rolling deep in the caravan. Another thing they keep their eye out for, is writing on windows. If any of these sound like you, then be super careful. Anything you do that may be cause to be pulled over the cops will take it. Make your festival a magical thing by starting with the trip out.
10.3 Bring funtivities
Outside of the venue there is not a whole lot to do. bring fun things to entertain yourself as you prepare for entering the venue. I typically bring board/card games, corn hole, jenga, and sporting goods.
