Festival season is just round the corner and if you’ve already bought your tickets, you’re probably getting pretty excited by now. But the key to a fun and stress-free festival is preparation and a little bit of sensible thinking. So to help you survive the festival season and enjoy every second, we’ve put together a survival guide to ensure you don’t forget any of those all important essentials.
Plan ahead
Once you’ve booked your tickets it’s a good idea to get the logistics in place right away. This means deciding where you’ll be staying if it’s a weekend event, and planning how you’re getting to and from the festival and even possibly sending your baggage ahead. If you’re going to be camping, make sure you have a tent or motorhome and any other essentials you’ll need for a comfortable weekend. If you’re not a camper, you might want to find some accommodation nearby instead.
Next you need to decide how you’ll be getting there. Will someone be driving and how many cars will you need? Lift sharing is always a good idea as you may have to pay for a parking spot for the duration of the festival, plus you can split the cost of petrol.
Alternatively, you might be planning on getting the train or a lift from a kind volunteer. If the festival is abroad, you’ll need to book flights and accommodation right away to ensure you don’t miss out!
Shop the festival look
Each year as the festival season approaches, retailers begin stocking the latest festival fashion. That’s why the first step is to fill your backpack with festival favourites so you’ll look great all weekend. Think glitter, transfer tattoos, denim shorts, wellies and of course, plenty of jewellery! You aren’t festival ready until you’re wearing the right jewellery. Each year new trends will emerge, but you cant go wrong with multiple rings, layered bracelets, statement earrings or even a body necklace.
Pack the essentials
Now you’ve got the perfect outfit for each day, it’s vital to remember to put the other essentials in your backpack. Just because you’ll be living in a tent for four days, it doesn’t mean you can totally bypass personal hygiene. The key to survival at any festival is dry shampoo, a big pack of baby wipes, deodorant and of course, don’t forget your toothbrush!
Be prepared for all weathers
You never know what the Great British weather has in store for you, so you need to be prepared for all eventualities. Make sure to pack suncream in case it gets hot. The last thing you want is to get sunstroke or spend your weekend with lobster-red skin (it doesn’t look good in your Instagram photos). But you should also pack a rain coat and maybe even an umbrella if you’ve got room, just to make sure the rain doesn’t dampen your spirit.
Make sure you bring (and drink) plenty of water
While there is often restrictions on the food and drink you can take into a festival, and particularly into the arena where the bands will be playing, you will be allowed to take in sealed bottles of water. If you can’t take it in, it’s likely that they’ll be water stations or that you’ll be able to ask for cups of water from food and drink stands. So make sure you have plenty of liquid, especially if it’s going to be a hot weekend.
And don’t fall into the trap of drinking nothing but beer, this will only leave you feeling unwell and drained by day two. It’s OK and expected that you’ll have a few drinks, but make sure you rehydrate with plenty of water in between. This will keep you feeling fresh and festival ready all weekend.
Buy a programme
It can often feel like an additional cost you don’t want to make, but buying the programmes and itineraries will stop you from missing out on any of your favourite bands. If you’re with a group of friends you can always share these, but it’s a good idea to make sure you have a few amongst you. This will help you plan out your days, when to get to the arena and who you want to see. The last thing you want is to pay all that money for your weekend, only to miss out on the acts you really wanted to see.
Agree on a meeting point
Though it’s easier nowadays with portable charging banks and phone charging stations, phone batteries don’t always last long when you’re snapping pictures for Instagram all day! As such, it’s a good idea to agree on a meeting place with all your friends just in case you get separated and can’t get hold of each other. Particularly because signal can be bad at these events and you don’t want to spend the whole day wondering around by yourself trying to find someone you know.
Be savvy with your money
Festivals can be expensive! By the time you’ve bought your ticket, paid for transportation and bought your killer festival outfits, you could well have paid enough to go on holiday! So it’s a good idea to be savvy with your money while you’re there. If you can take food in with you to your camping ground, make some lunch before going into the music arena. This can save you spending lots of money on food while you’re in there. Alternatively, if you are staying overnight elsewhere, set yourself up with a good breakfast and lunch before your day at the festival begins.
Keep your belongings with you
Don’t leave your phone or wallet in your tent while you’re not there. It’s a good idea not to take anything too valuable to a festival with you as sadly you never know what might happen. Get yourself a small side bag or a jacket with deep zip-up pockets, so you can keep your phone and wallet close by at all times, and try to avoid taking too much money with you in the first place. It’s likely they’ll be ATMs in the festival so you can draw out cash if you need to, or just stick to using your card as most places will accept this form of payment nowadays.
Are you ready for the festival season? Hopefully now you will be and you now where to come for your festival fashion jewellery!
