It’s just a matter of weeks until my favorite time of the year…Austin City Limits, one of Austin’s biggest events. ACL brings thousands of music lovers to the “Live Music Capital of the World.” This year ACL will be on one but two weekends, Oct. 4-6 and Oct 11-13. Just a note, the first weekend is the last day of the 1^st 6 weeks and that Saturday is also the SAT.

I went last year and had a blast and made sure that I got tickets as fast as I could this year. I feel like I did ACL amazingly last year. I saw all the bands I wanted to see and was at the front for five concerts, including the Black Keys and Florence + the Machine, so I thought I would give you guys a guide to doing ACL right.

1)      Make sure your school work is done! –  This one is kind of a given. If you are missing school on either of the Fridays make sure you have finished and handed in all homework/class work that will be due that day and the next class day. Your teachers are quite intelligent, they will probably know why you are not in class.

2)      Get a good night’s sleep – This is a big one, sleep is your best friend when it comes to ACL. You will be on your feet all day long, if you want to get to all your concerts you won’t have time to sit down and rest. If you want to do ACL right go to sleep early, get up early, drink your coffee go have fun and rinse and repeat for the whole weekend.

3)      Be prepared – This is a big one! It’s Texas. It will be hot. You will be on your feet all day. Bring water. I’d recommend packing a bag with some snacks, a couple plastic bottles of water and a refillable water bottle. Last year they had a free water refill station, but it was always a long line. If you have enough water with you it won’t drain your time.

4)      Eat a good breakfast! – As I’ve said before, you will be up and on the go all day, you are going to need fuel. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it is. Last year I went out for breakfast in the morning and ate at Magnolia Café, I had two breakfast tacos and a cup of coffee before ACL started and I didn’t need any more food until about 6pm. You may think that skipping breakfast will save you time, but eating breakfast can save you money.

5)      Money is kind of a big deal! – Your tickets for ACL cost you at least $250. If you paid less then you were one of the lucky Early Bird buyers. Spending doesn’t stop there though. You are going to need plenty of money for food (The Austin Eats at ACL are great, but very pricey) and merchandise (a T-shirt is going to cost you around $25-30). Make sure you have plenty of money with you.

6)      Plan your day – Know who you want to see before you get in the park, if you have a plan and a schedule then you can’t go wrong. Look up what stage the band is on and what time and think logically, “Can I make it all the way to the other side of Zilker in five minutes?”

7)      ACL Fest App – Download the ACL Festival app so you can know what’s going on, where everything is and how to get there. The App does not need an internet connection to work and it has a map of the park, a list of all the bands and times, an ACL social network feed, a store guide and a tool that lets you build your own schedule.

That’s all I have to offer you. I hope you all enjoy your weekend of festivities and see all the bands you want to see. Remember to stay hydrated and have fun!!!