The festival lineup conversation always starts in the wrong place.

Everyone argues about headliners and the most recognizable mid-tier names. But the festival experience at an indie-scale event is almost entirely determined by the lower tier — the acts playing the small stage at 2pm on day one, the local opener who you've never heard of, the weird experimental set scheduled in the tent with the bad sound system.

The best festival discovery I ever had was exactly this: someone I'd never heard of on the smallest stage, third act of the day, playing to maybe 80 people. I stood there for 45 minutes and missed the set I'd actually planned to see. The headliner that evening was fine. That 2pm set is still something I think about.

How do you approach festival discovery at indie-scale events? Do you plan everything or leave room to wander?