How to Survive Goldrush Arizona (Or Any Festival) Without Losing Your Friends, Phone, or Dignity
Your complete guide to making it through two nights at a music festival, and “wait, where are you?” texts.
By Stella Speridon-Violet
There is a very specific moment at every music festival when you realize you have made a series of terrible decisions.
Maybe it’s when you realize you’ve been dancing for four hours and haven't had water since 6 p.m.
Maybe it’s when your phone hits 3% and you suddenly remember that you are supposed to meet six people at a stage you cannot remember the name of. Or maybe it's when your friend looks at you and says, “Wait. Where’s my phone?”
And suddenly you are no longer at a music festival. You are in a crisis management simulation.
Goldrush returns to Rawhide in Chandler September 11 and 12, bringing more than 50 artists across multiple stages, including Alesso, deadmau5, GRiZ and Martin Garrix. The festival runs from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., which means you have approximately eight hours per night to dance, wander around, make questionable outfit choices and hopefully return home with all of your belongings.
Here’s how to do it.
1. Accept that you are going to get separated from your friends
You can make all of the excuses in the world. You can make the group chat. You can share your locations. You can pick a meeting spot. You can even buy matching cowboy hats… but, you are still going to lose each other.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, as one of the best parts of a festival is wandering into a set you weren't planning to see and realizing you've accidentally found your new favorite artist.
The problem is when you want to find your friends, and suddenly you're standing in the middle of a crowd of thousands thinking, I should have paid more attention when they told me where they were.
Goldrush actually has a solution for this: the festival FAQ says traditional festival totems will not be allowed, but a wearable Totem Compass is available as an alternative for finding your group without relying on cell service or Wi-Fi.
Or, you know, pick a meeting spot, and actually go there.
2. Charge your phone like your life depends on it
Because, in a way, it does. Your phone is not only your ticket; it’s your camera, map, method of communication, your ride home, and your emergency flashlight.
Goldrush's GA passes are digital NFC tickets that can be added to Apple Wallet or Google Pay, so do yourself a favor and add your ticket before you get to the festival. Don't be the person standing at the entrance with 3% battery, 46 open Safari tabs and a screenshot of a screenshot of a screenshot of your ticket!
And if you know your phone battery is going to die halfway through the night, Goldrush is offering prepaid charging lockers with storage space for your gear.
Your future self will thank you, especially when she needs to call an Uber at 1:57 a.m.
3. Pick your sets before you get there
Goldrush has a lineup that makes this considerably harder than it sounds: Alesso, deadmau5, GRiZ, Martin Garrix, AC Slater, Boogie T., Green Velvet, Sullivan King, Ray Volpe, DJ Pauly D, Midnight Tyrannosaurus, It's murph… and that's only scratching the surface.
There are going to be moments when you look at the schedule and realize you have somehow managed to want to be at three different stages at exactly the same time.
This is when you need to accept something very important: You cannot see everything. I know. Horrible!
But instead of spending your entire night speed-walking across Rawhide because your friend insists you have to see the first 15 minutes of one set before running to another, pick a few must-see artists and leave room for spontaneity.
4. Wear the outfit. Just make sure you can survive in it.
Goldrush is basically an excuse to dress like the coolest version of yourself. Cowboy boots? Obviously. Tiny sunglasses? Sure. Glitter? Required. Something that makes you look like you just walked out of a futuristic Western movie? Ideally.
But remember that you are going to be outside for hours! This is Arizona, and it’s 116 degrees in August.
While September may technically be fall, the desert has never cared about your seasonal wardrobe. Wear shoes you can actually walk and dance in. Bring sunglasses. Consider a hat. And if your outfit requires you to spend the entire night adjusting it, maybe rethink it.
Nobody wants to spend deadmau5's set thinking about whether their top is still attached to their body.
5. Drink water before you think you need water
This is for your 2 a.m. self and your 6 a.m. self who actually wants to make it to the second night of the festival.
You're going to be dancing, outside, surrounded by thousands of people, and you're probably going to sweat through whatever incredibly cute outfit you spent two weeks putting together.
Take care of yourself! This means eating a full meal, taking the time to sit down in between sets, drinking water at every given chance, and especially if you’re planning on drinking alcohol.
The festival has food vendors inside, and vendors accept credit and debit cards, not cash. There will also be no ATMs on-site, which brings us to our next point.
6. Leave your wallet full of cash at home
Goldrush is officially a cashless festival. Credit and debit cards are accepted, and you don't need to link your card to your wristband, so don't show up with $80 in twenties thinking you're about to live out your Coachella 2012 fantasy. You will not be able to use it.
Keep your essentials minimal. Phone, ID, card, whatever you actually need. Everything else is just another thing to lose, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll lose it.
7. Have a plan for getting home
This one is not glamorous, but it might be the most important: Goldrush does not allow overnight parking at Rawhide. Cars left overnight can be towed at the owner's expense.
There is free on-site parking, and premium parking is available for purchase. The festival is also offering round-trip shuttles from Tempe and Glendale, so decide how you're getting home before the first beat drops—not at 1:58 a.m after everyone has already started ordering rides.
Make the plan while you're sober and still capable of using Google Maps, and I highly recommend the shuttles!
8. Don't spend the entire festival filming it
I'm literally telling you this as someone whose job is to document everything, but you do not need a 38-minute Snapchat story of Martin Garrix. You don't need to prove you were there.
Take your pictures, get your little OOTD video, film the song you absolutely love, then put your phone away.
There is something deeply ironic about paying to see one of the biggest electronic festivals in Arizona and spending the entire night looking at it through a six-inch screen.
You are allowed to just experience something!
9. Make one rule with your friends: nobody gets left behind
Have a system! If someone needs to leave the group, tell someone. If someone's phone dies, they should know the meeting point. If someone isn't feeling well, don't abandon them because you want to catch the next set.
And if somebody says, “I'm fine,” while looking like they are absolutely not fine, believe your eyes instead. It’s absolutely paramount that everyone gets home safely.
10. And finally: let yourself enjoy the moment
There will be thousands of people dancing around you, the desert will be completely dark beyond the festival grounds, and the bass will be loud enough to make you forget whatever was stressing you out earlier that week. And for a second, you're not thinking about your job, or your situationship, your unread texts, whether you should have answered that email… you're just there! That's the whole point.
Goldrush takes over Rawhide September 11–12, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and a 2 a.m. curfew. The festival is 18+ and requires a government-issued ID.
So make the group chat, charge your phone, pick your sets, wear the outfit, drink some water, and have a game plan on how to get home.
And when your friend inevitably texts you, “WHERE ARE YOU?”, don't panic.
You probably have a meeting spot. Probably.
And, if you’re looking for a preview of what you’re getting yourself into, Relentless Beats is presenting: Tape B at Rawhide Event Center on August 29 (this Saturday).
See you in the desert!
