First off, on the day of the actual event, pray for no rain.

That being said, here are a few more tips.

Wear lots of sunscreen. I mean, lots of it. There aren't many things more miserable that burning in the first few hours of the first day, then spending the rest of the weekend in pain during the day, in pain during the night, and scrubbing a sunburn clean every afternoon.

You can choose to wear minimal clothes, or go for the idea of coverage. I spent my first years wearing minimal clothes, and have found that I last much better over the course of the weekend wearing things that cover me. I have less to worry about cleaning every evening, less exposure to the sun so no burns to worry about, and clothing tends to hold the moisture into your body much better (though you still need to drink lots of water!) so you are less likely to get sunsickness or dehydrated.

Take it easy in the middle of the day, when the heat is the worst. The best hours to work are the morning, and then the afternoon to evening. In summer, when it is light till 8 or 9 pm (depending on your latitude), many of the artists' preferred hours are the evening.

Putting your painting on the ground - there are several ways to do it. First off (and most frightening for many) is drawing it freehand. A number of artists use a "drawing stick"...a 3 or 4 foot long piece of 3/8" dowling. Just tape a piece of chalk at the end of it and draw away. It is a great way to see what you are doing a bit better, so you can keep your proportions correct.

A second way to transfer your drawing to the ground is to grid it out and blow it up, kind of like you see elementary school kids doing. You take your small copy and break it up into equal measurements that are the same as what you need to blow it up to. An example of this would be to take a 10x12" drawing, and break it into 1" squares. Each square would correspond with a one foot square on the ground if you were doing a 10x12 foot painting. Whatever measurements your final painting will be, it's easiest to divide your small copy into a square size that will be the same amount of squares as your one foot increments on your large painting - whether they be squares that are 4/3" each, or 1 1/2" each or whatever on the small copy. To grid out the big area for your painting, just run a tape measure down and mark off one foot increments. Now take one of those construction chalk snap lines (you can get them at any decent hardware store or Home Depot) and just snap lines down for each measurement. Voila! you have a giant grid that should match your small grid on your small copy. Now it is merely a matter of copying square to square, what you have in the small copy to the asphalt. Sounds simple, huh?

A third way of transferring your drawing is to make a pattern - called a pounce pattern (Not sure if I'm spelling that right). You draw out your design ahead of time onto cheap large paper, such as butcher paper. You can use an overhead projector to do this, or whatever works for you. After the drawing is on the paper, you use a small pattern wheel which is basically a metal wheel, approximately 1" in diameter, with metal teeth all the way around it. Running the pattern wheel over any lines in your design, it will punch small holes through the paper. Once you get to the festival you can lay the paper down and take loose powder chalk which you rub through the holes of the pattern. Traditionally what you would do is fill a piece of material with that chalk and basically beat the pattern with the chalk filled pounce, which forces the chalk through the holes. After you lift the pattern, you can go over the lines made with pastel sticks so they last better over the weekend as you work.

One thing of great importance at a festival is to remember that you are working around other people and the public. Try to contain your belongings in as small of an area as possible - keep walkways clear. Don't have open drinks at your painting - if you need to have a drink around, get a sports bottle or something similar where you can shut the top off when you aren't drinking. Watch what you are saying - there are usually kids around. Minimize the dust you create whenever possible, and when you do have dust, don't blow it on other people's paintings. Many artists use dustbusters to suck up their extra dust. Some people get very particular about their space - if you need to go into your neighbor's painting space, ask permission first and don't abuse the priviledge. Use the ideas of generosity and respect when you choose how to act around other painters and the public, and you can't really go wrong.

Below is a list of items you might be interested in bringing to a festival: