1. Find all the bands you want to see. Then cross half of them off.
You can’t understand the size of NXNE until you’re standing in a bar you’ve never heard of and your favourite band is playing on the other side of Toronto. The size of the festival combined with the crowds makes it impossible to see half the bands you want. But that’s not so bad. Some shows have more than eight bands playing, sometimes from mismatched genres, making any single venue a hodgepodge of pretty good music.

2. Triple the price of the wristband.
A wristband for the whole festival costs you $50. Transportation, food, drinks, more drinks, merchandise, cab rides home and after-bar food cost three times that much. If you take out some cash on your first right you can try to budget. But staring at your favourite band at 1 a.m. in a dark bar makes you mighty thirsty, so don’t be surprised if your budget dissolves faster than your sense of responsibility.

3. Sleep in.
Some shows keep the music blasting past 2 am. Luckily for you and your friends, shows don’t really begin until 8 p.m. Make the best of the break and sleep the entire time.

4. Grab free stuff.
Younge and Dundas square is half music, half promotion. Last year an energy drink company set up shop and handed out samples of its putrid, sugary-sweet caffeine fix. I filled right up. It was free, what do you expect? There are also some conferences that you’ve technically paid for with your wristband but wouldn’t otherwise attend if I didn’t tell you to. Some are even worth checking out, especially if you’re into the industry side of the music scene.

5. Arrive very, very early.
Once you pick your favourite bands, make sure you actually get to see them. You’ve bought a wristband, but that’s worth pretty much squat if the venue fills up before you arrive. Media and VIP pass-holders get priority, so bouncers might leave some breathing room to let these special folks in. There’s nothing worse than waiting in line for an hour and seeing Jian Ghomeshi waltz right in. When this happened to me, my friends and I sulked quietly and fled to nearby bar where some lesser-known bands played to a spotty, dejected crowd. Ah, NXNE.