How To Prepare For Your First Dirty Bird
Cover Photo By Get Tiny
By Nikita Mehta
We here at SF Yoga Magazine go to a lot of festivals, Bhakti, Wanderlust, Sedona, Sattva. We know how to prep with our eyes closed for the essentials; 4 pairs of yoga pants, sports bras, your Spiritual Gangster pull over, jewelry.... oh and yeah, your yoga mat and props! A few weeks ago, though, SF Yoga had the crazy idea to go to a festival/ camp out that was way out of our league. But... there was yoga involved! So we packed our trusty festival bag but added in an big tent and sleeping bag for our next adventure.
And when we got back we realized...we were not prepared. And therefore the purpose of this article is to fully prepare you for your next great adventure, your LONG weekend at Dirty Bird (DB) next year.
Sangha: in all actuality, your group always makes or breaks your time at festival, but no other festival is this more important than at DB. Get your team together, forge a bond devoted to a theme and GO ALL OUT. Matching outfits, music, even a choreographed danced; nothing is too much when following through on your DB theme. Our favorite teams who showed up, showed up in style and came ready to share their sparkle with all of those around them.
Totems: Yes, we could have added this into the sangha category, but totems, at least the totems at DB take on a life of their own. Real birds in feather lined cages, eating apples fed to them by tiny little mice. Okay, we are kidding, but that’s the type of creativity that was put into these totems. Heavy, beautiful, theme ridden totems that let you know where your crew was. P.S. There are totally prizes for totems.
Something to share: Apparently patches are a huge thing at DB (going on the whole adult summer camp idea) and we couldn’t be more thrilled. We watched the FB feed blow up for weeks with people talking about their individual patches and how they couldn’t wait to share them with fellow campers. But patches weren’t the only things that campers brought to share, pins, buttons, food, tutus, even a whole pile of take-a-gift/ leave-a-gift... the camper to camper vibe is very much trade economy based. We even got in on the fun by giving away free.... HUGS!
Costume: Remember those amazing costume nights at camp when you were younger? Pajama night, action hero night... etc... take that and multiply it by a million, because that is what you will need for DB. Almost electric forest meets Burning Man but with a Boy Scouts theme to top it all. And just to let you know, costumes were not a just at night thing; they were an all day, all night, in the water necessity.
Your dancing shoes: We did yoga and archery, we rented stand up paddle boards, to so check the views from the middle of the pond, and so by the time we got back to camp and danced till 2 am, we thought we were done. But as we stumbled out of the main gates we hit the REAL party. Renegade parties were everywhere. Some of them were even serving pho! We tried our best to shimmy and shake at as many parties as possible before literally collapsing in our tent at 4am. And then the beat went on.... and on.... and on... and on... and on.... and on. Silent hour began at 7 am, and ended at 8am. So, don’t just bring one pair of dancing shoes, bring them all.
Must have!: Your childhood sense of wonder (and maybe your childhood energy). No but really, remember how you could stay up until 3-4 in the morning with your friends at camp and then go canoeing in the morning? Yep, that’s exactly what this is, adult version.
Oh and don’t forget your fully stocked festival kit. We’ll see you next year as TEAM SFYM!
To learn more about Dirtybird Campout visit: dirtybirdcampout.com.
