I just returned from the most amazing weekend ever. I was one of the lucky tens of thousands of people who traveled from all over the world to Indio, Calif., this past weekend to see the Coachella Music Festival. This music and art festival was the best time I’ve ever had. I am definitely going next year and I suggest that everyone who reads this goes, too. If you are fortunate enough to go next year, or to any other music festival in the future, I discovered a few more ways to sneak in alcohol to avoid paying for the expensive and small collection that festivals tend to offer.

Coachella is one of the largest annual music festivals around. It started in 1999 a few months after the disastrous reincarnation of the Woodstock festival. Fortunately, Coachella went a little more smoothly and has since improved each year. This year, the festival offered big names such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Interpol, the Arctic Monkeys, Peaches, Bjšrk, the Arcade Fire, Tiesto, Ratatat, Willie Nelson, the Roots and Rage Against the Machine. There were hundreds of other bands from all types of genres as well.

The festival was not limited to music alone. There was a unique variety of art found throughout the fairgrounds. There were large Tesla coils that shot out bolts of lighting over 30 feet long in all directions. Colorful tunnels, geometric domes and a steam-powered train were also there for amusement. There was even a section where you could ride a bicycle that would charge your cell phone. All the art and music was great, especially because we managed to sneak in a bunch of booze.

It’s not uncommon to find overpriced food and drinks at a festival or theme park. Knowing this, we brainstormed ideas on how to sneak in cheap alcohol to avoid paying for overpriced beer. The only alcohol that could be found at Coachella were a disgusting Bloody Mary for $10, warm Heineken for $7 and something called a Soju for $8. Lucky for us, we packed our cooler with a shit ton of booze. When I began packing at 4 a.m. after a crazy night downtown, I scoured my house for empty water bottles. These can be filled with vodka, rum or any clear liquor you choose. My group decided to go with high class Heritage Vodka, imported from Albertsons. There was some miscommunication and between the group of about 10 of us, we accidentally brought about seven handles of vodka. Of course, all this alcohol was consumed, but a little variety would have been nice.

Next year, I plan on sneaking in some other types of alcohol in juice cartons or jugs. Any container that is not clear will work for sneaking in tequila, Southern Comfort, Captain Morgan or anything else your heart desires. The people inspecting the coolers did not pay close attention. Most of them glanced at the bottles of juice and water and never inspected the seals. I even managed to sneak in cans of beer. Caguama is an up-and-coming beer that is ideal to sneak in. It is kind of like Otra because it is extremely cheap and imported from Mexico. You can buy a 30-pack of Caguama for about $12. The pros are that it tastes way better then most cheap beers, like Natural Light, Keystone, Otra, Coors, etc. It also comes in a strange yellow and blue can with a turtle on it, so it looks just like a soda. The con is that I have only seen Caguama when visiting the San Diego area.

Music festivals are great for everyone. Whether you chose to get drunk and mosh to Rage Against the Machine, smoke weed and chill out to Willie Nelson, roll on some thizz and head to the raves, or drop acid and stare at strange art, there is something for everyone at Coachella. I think you can also go sober, but I’m not sure if that is allowed.