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Kandi and the Festival Bag Policy

  • Before you go
  • 5 min read

Wear it in, do not pack it in. Typical clear-bag and clutch sizes, why loose beads and scissors are the real gate problem, and how to check current rules.

The bag question comes up every season and the answer is boring: kandi on your body is fine, kandi supplies in a bag are the part that gets attention.

US festivals mostly converged on the same shape of rule — a clear bag up to a stated size, or a small non-clear clutch, plus a hydration pack with a limited number of compartments that has to be empty when you walk through. The exact dimensions differ by promoter and get revised, so the number that matters is the one on the event’s own page for the year you are going. Every guide in our festivals section links to it.

What actually causes trouble is the toolkit. Scissors are a prohibited item almost everywhere. A large container of loose beads looks like exactly what it is — a container of small unidentifiable items — and it slows the line down for everybody behind you. String before you go, restock at camp, and carry finished pieces on your arms.

One more thing worth knowing: some events ban gas masks outright, and a full-face beaded piece can read the same way from three feet. Mouth-panel masks are the common form, and they are also the ones you can actually breathe in — see a mask you can see and breathe in.

How it goes

  1. 1
    Wear the stack in

    Bracelets and cuffs already on your arms are not what slows a security line down. Nobody has ever been stopped for wearing kandi. Load both arms before you leave the car.

  2. 2
    Know the two bag sizes

    Across the big US promoters the pattern is a clear bag up to about 12" x 6" x 12", or a small non-clear clutch around 6" x 9". Some events also allow a hydration pack with no more than two main compartments and one smaller one, empty on entry. Individual festivals differ — Lost Lands, for instance, publishes a 12" x 12" single-compartment limit on its festival grounds.

  3. 3
    Read the current page, not last year's

    Every event publishes an allowed-and-prohibited-items page and revises it between editions. Our festival guides link straight to it. Nothing on this site is a substitute for that page, and a policy you got from a friend is two years old.

  4. 4
    Leave the toolkit at home

    Scissors, glue, a bead board and a shoebox of loose pony beads are the combination that gets a bag searched. If you want to string on site, do it at camp or at the hotel and walk in wearing the results.

  5. 5
    Do not build anything that looks like prohibited gear

    Gas masks are explicitly banned at some events. A beaded piece that covers your whole face reads to a security officer as a mask, not as craft. Panel masks that sit over the mouth are the common form for a reason — check the event's rules if you are unsure.

  6. 6
    Plan for what you carry out

    You will leave with more than you arrived with. Keep a zip bag in your clutch for the pieces you receive so they are not loose in a pocket by the shuttle.

Next

Stretch Cord, Sizing and Fit — Why kandi is strung on 0.8 to 1mm stretch cord and not craft lace, how to size a single that clears your hand, and when a breakaway clasp is the safer call.