Who’s ready to dance?

Music festival season is in full swing, and Medtronic Ambassador Maya recently attended EDC in Las Vegas and has the inside scoop! From diabetes supply kit items and hypo snacks to safety precautions and personal recommendations – continue reading for all the details!

Who's ready to dance?!
 

One of my favorite hobbies is attending concerts and music festivals. Recently, I went to Electric Daisy Carnival, also known as EDC, in Las Vegas. For those not familiar with this event, it’s a huge electronic dance music festival. I was a little nervous at first, because of how large the event was. I had never been to an event of this size before. What was making me the most nervous was what to pack, considering I would be at the event from 7pm -6am. It’s a lot of dancing, walking, and being out of my normal routine and schedule. I had to make sure I planned everything accordingly. 

I’ve discovered some tips that I will be using when I go to my next festival and hopefully these ideas are helpful for anyone who may be attending a festival or large concert in the future!

Time to prep!
 

The first thing I had to do was find a reliable backpack. It needed to be compact, have lots of storage, and have a built-in water pack. Based on reviews, I ended up purchasing one with plenty of storage space for supplies, snacks, 2L water pouch, and anti-theft zipper features.

Diabetes supplies
 

In my backpack, I was able to pack and carry extra infusion sets, syringes, lots of alcohol swabs, tons of Skingrip tape, batteries, and a glucose meter. Even though I was using my insulin pump and CGM, I wanted to make sure I had a bit of everything in case there were any issues – you can never be too prepared! Medtronic also has a Travel Loaner program (for US customers only) that allows you to take a “back-up” insulin pump, if this is something you’d be interested in doing as well.

Hypo treats & snacks
 

For my hypo treats I packed some fruit snacks, among other things. I found the easiest snacks to pack were granola bars and protein bars. I knew these items would be easy to grab and eat while walking. There were tons of food vendors available, but the food lines were long. That’s why I found it important to carry lots of hypo treats and snacks.

Safety precautions
 

I used my CGM and all its features to my advantage! I set a temp target the entire time and that was extremely helpful with keeping me as close to range as possible. There were also certain features of the festival that made me feel extra secure in case of any emergencies.

One of these features was the huge medical tent area. The festival had hundreds of medical professionals working the medical tent and walking around the festival. This safety precaution allowed me to feel more at ease and able to enjoy the event. Another thing I would recommend is finding out the ADA guidelines for any festival. EDC was very accommodating and quick to respond to any medical questions I had prior to the festival. They reassured me that I was able to bring any medical supplies and food that I needed and requested I keep the items in their original containers with the RX information visible. They also let me know that I could get an ADA wristband if I wanted. This wristband allowed certain accommodations, such as separate bathroom lines, and seating areas.

I will say, one thing that helped me out the most prior to the event was social media! I was able to connect with fellow friends living with diabetes who had gone to these events in the past. They all helped so much with figuring out logistics and providing tips from their past experiences. This made me feel reassured and confident going into the event. I am extremely happy with my decision to attend this festival.

I had such an amazing time and felt very confident with my overall diabetes management that weekend. – Medtronic Ambassador, Maya 

Maya has been living with diabetes for 29 years and using Medtronic devices for 19 years. Have any questions or your own festival recommendations? Leave them in the comments below or feel free to connect with Maya and other Ambassadors.

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