TACOS.

TACOS.

TACOS! and so much DANCING.

Our decision to go to North Coast was extremely spur of the moment, mostly because we were heading into a deep depression after coming home to regular life after Euroganza 2016 – Our epic Tomorrowland/European Vacation. Fortunately, we were able to snag an amazing Airbnb at short notice, this one – Amy’s Halloween & Tequila Loft. We had not spent as much as planned on our big vacation, so we had enough to grab quick flights, tickets, and Uber’d our way around.

The costs:

$681 for our Airbnb (Sept 1- Sept 5)

$385.98 for two tickets to North Coast

$742.10 on two tickets from PDX-CHI-PDX

$182 on the worst wine I’ve ever had. (more on this later)

$320 on food

$100 on Uber rides

$2411.08 on 5 Days in Chicago – 3 of which were Festival Days. Obviously, we could have saved money if we had not decided two weeks prior to go to this festival. With more time we would have probably stayed with friends instead of the Airbnb, and most likely could have found cheaper tickets to the festival, and to Chicago itself. All in all, not horrible, but not ideal.

THIS “wine”. The worst booze I’ve ever willingly imbibed. It was this or crappy beer. Choices were made. We are not proud.

North Coast was honestly not an “immersive experience” festival (I put Electric Forest, What the Fest, Tomorrowland, into that category), and that’s totally fine. The lineup was FIRE, and it was fun to explore Chicago a bit and drop in to the festival later in the day when our fav’s were playing. There was an art gallery and a few seating spots. Mostly it felt like the stages were too close together, but they seemed to try a schedule the big draw acts at opposite times, so they wouldn’t overpower each other. They allowed totems, and we saw some really fantastic ones – overall the crowd was lovely and willing to share space and whatever they had. We felt very at home and part of the community.

We are checking out Spring Awakening in 2017, and may go to North Coast again in 2017, because Labor Day in Chicago + a killer lineup music festival = a great time.

PACKING LIST:

• vibedration pack
• sunscreen
• face wipes (it gets super dusty)
• something to sit on if you’re going to stick around between sets
• snacks – food was pricey and not great. We went to Pilsen every night after the festival and gorged ourselves on early morning tacos and tamales.