Pitchfork Music Festival: The heat is on

Beginning Sunday, a mass of hot air arrives in Chicago — and we don’t mean all the pundits debating the worth of Odd Future.

It’s going to be hot, hot, hot — the start of possibly the biggest heat wave here since 2006. The National Weather Service calls the impending heat “massive.”

The forecast highs on Sunday are in the mid- to low-90s, but with humidity the heat index will make it feel near or over 100 degrees.

The heat will be around all week, but right now we care about Sunday in Union Park (and other festivals around town).

At the Pitchfork Music Festival …

— There is at least one CTA cooling bus on the grounds, parked at the end of Flatstock, and if needed, there will be an additional cooling bus at Ashland and Washington.

— The first 6,000 attendees through the gate each day will get a free bottle of water.

— On Saturday, the festival hooked up some free water fountains, the better for you to keep your water bottle filled. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Do as these folks were doing on Saturday: Fill up your water bottles

at the free water fountains. (Thomas Conner/Sun-Times)Another rock writer and festival veteran taught me a nifty trick for these things: a wet washcloth in a Ziploc bag. Add a little cool water here and there, wring it out, wipe your face, neck, arms. Or, as one of the Pitchfork publicists was doing Saturday, simply wear it on your head.