7 Reasons to Stay Sober at Music Festivals ...

1. Remembering Your Experience

When you stay sober at music festivals, you actually get to accomplish what you set out to do, which is enjoying and remembering your experience. Overdoing it by drinking and taking legal or illegal drugs inhibits you from fully taking in your entire experience. But more importantly being able to remember what you did and what happened the next day would be reason enough for anyone spending the kind of money some of these tickets cost. I can’t understand why people spend so much money to hear live music just to end up losing their inability to be mindful of the event.

2. Looking Normal in Photos

Since we’re living in the golden age of social media, more than likely there will be plenty of photos taken during your day at the festival, and most, if not all will end up online. Precautionary measures to edit your security preferences and keep mom, dad and future employers off your Facebook can only do so much. Even so, no one likes seeing a hot mess on their newsfeed so make the choice to save yourself from basking in your immaturity and embarrassing yourself all over social media by opting to stay sober at music festivals. We can’t all look amazing in every photo we take, but I know I’d like to at least look like a normal, sound, human being, just having a good time with my friends, as opposed to a cheap, Girls Gone Wild knock-off with my tongue hanging out. Just another reason to say no to drugs, and know your limits when it comes to alcohol!

3. Not Texting under the Influence

What goes hand in hand with social media and constantly being connected to the world around us in one form or another, naturally includes texting. If you decide not to stay sober at music festivals, you could end up losing your phone and any safety net you had as far as rides home and what not. But regardless, getting messed up with drugs and alcohol at these events may seem like fun at first, but before you know it you could be sexting your ex or even your parents and not even realize it. It’s so important to stay sober at music festivals and if you’re skeptical, at least lay off the drugs since you never know what you could end up taking.

4. Less Chance of Getting Dehydrated

Deciding to stay sober at music festivals can have multiple overall benefits for your well-being. Everyone knows excess amounts of alcohol inevitably dries out your skin and dehydrates you. Since many of these festivals take place during the heat of summer, it’s vital that you stay hydrated and stay in the shade when you can. Drinking too much alcohol especially combined with any recreational drug you choose to take, can jeopardize your health. After all, no one has a good time doing anything when they’re sick, especially standing for hours in the hot sun with a headache and dry, sore throat.

5. Keeping Your Bearings

When you opt to stay sober at music festivals you make the conscious, healthy, and safe choice to protect yourself by doing everything you can to be mindful of your experience. Now I’m not saying getting drunk and high at your next music festival will ruin your life; you could very well do these things and be perfectly fine. But chances are you won’t be, you’ll be putting yourself in danger in a crowded public place where safety isn’t a priority for most people. Being aware of pick-pockets and just plain out of control crazy people is important if you want to stay safe. Being drunk or high will compromise your ability to do this, so think twice before you choose to overdo it.

6. Overall Safety

Like being aware of your surroundings, your overall safety becomes comprised if you don’t stay sober at music festivals. Though safety and danger isn’t gender specific, most people would agree that women just aren’t physically built like men, so fighting off a 250-pound drunken guy when you’re a petite 97 lbs is a fight you just cannot win. So don’t take your chances of losing your wits, possibly getting lost in these huge crowds, getting separated from your friends, getting sick or worse getting lost going home. You’re going to have a good time, not lose control and end up in the hospital or worse, the local precinct. And don’t forget that date-rape drugs are rampant, so if you do decide to drink, keeping that drink with you at all times is an absolute must.

7. No Hangover

This one seems like the no-brainer benefit when you decide to stay sober at music festivals. In fact, staying sober in general guarantees you will never see another Monday morning hangover again. For me, I can’t stand any kind of aches, pain and migraines, so why would I want to do anything that just signs me up for all of these without my consent? No one is saying you can’t have fun and have a beer or two, but going overboard is just a recipe for disaster particularly at music festivals. With marijuana legalization spreading throughout the U.S. you’ll probably come across plenty of it at your next music festival. But if you think of drinking liquor, smoking weed, and taking molly and/or some other kind of hard drug, sadly like the three kids at EZOO, it could be the last music festival you ever attend. So don’t take that chance and stay sober, I promise you will still have fun.

Have you ever made the choice to stay sober at a music festival and had an amazing time? Or conversely have you ever gotten so out-of-control drunk and high that you had the worst experience of your life? By the same token, have you ever had friends that made either choice? What were their experiences? Please feel free to share your thoughts! Though this can be a sensitive subject, it’s important to spread awareness about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse at music festivals, so you don’t end up as just another statistic!