It’s that time of year again… time to channel your inner Kate Moss, ditch your sandals and don your wellies, plait your hair to make it crinkly like you used to do when you were 7 and stick plastic flowers in said crinkly hair to complete the look. That’s right, it’s festival season. There is an art to preparing for festival season that only seasoned festival goers will know. For everyone else out there, we’ve prepared the following festival survival guide. We hope it helps!
This blog post is to accompany our ‘Festigraphic’, comparing 33 different festivals this year.
You may think it’s all about comfort when you’re going on a two or three day festival trip, right? Wrong. There is a strict dress code to be followed in order to achieve the ‘festival chic’ look. This will involve wearing a lot of denim, floral patterns, bohemian sundresses, floppy hats, sunnies, lots of clunky jewellery and vital to the attire is of course a pair of Hunter wellies. If purchasing new wellies, it is advisable to get them a little mucky before arriving on the festival scene, you don’t want to seem like a festival virgin – clean wellies are a sure giveaway. On a serious note though, pack some rain gear, this is the UK and Ireland not Coachella, it will rain at least once over the course of the weekend. Barbour is obviously the preferred brand of festival fashionistas. Clean underwear and socks are vital too. Wet socks are not fun. Fellas, we know you’ve probably skipped right past the fashion section but please do us all a favour and take heed to these points too. No not the bohemian sundress part, the part about rain gear, clean underwear and dry socks, and maybe even pack a change of clothes?
Now that you are wardrobe ready, let’s talk about hygiene. Granted, it is not easy to keep clean when you’re camping in a field for 2 or 3 days but you have to at least try. The first item you need to pack are baby wipes. Baby wipes are going to be your best friend this festival season. Baby wipes will clean ketchup spills, mud splatters and the very little make up left on your face at the end of a long day and night. Deodorant is obviously a must bring too. Nobody likes a smelly person. Moisturiser – your skin will thank you for it later. Dry shampoo – while a lot of festivals have showers on site, they can be rather nasty so dry shampoo can be a great back-up. Toilet paper – you queue for an hour to finally get into a disgusting portaloo only to discover there is no toilet paper. It’s enough to push some people over the edge. But not you, because you are prepared, you brought your own, you are #winning. Tooth-paste and tooth-brush – because nobody likes waking up with to morning breath. Sun cream – you never know the sun might like the acts too and come out to play and you don’t want to get burnt if it does. Guys, I’m going to summarise this section for you too, your must-brings are as follows: deodorant, toilet paper, tooth paste and tooth-brush and sun cream. How simple it must be to be a bloke.
Know what bands are on where and when to make sure you don’t miss any of your favourite acts. Expect traffic jams if you’re commuting by car and make the journey a bit more bearable by travelling with a few friends, packing lots of treats to stuff yourselves with and get excited by listening to some of the music you’re about to see live this weekend! Are you a boy scout? No? Then do yourself a favour and invest in a pop-up tent. Save yourself hours of fighting with tent poles and spend more time enjoying yourself. Most of us can hardly go a day without a phone let alone a whole weekend so if you can get your hands on a portable phone charger you 100% should bring this along too. I mean, how are you going to make your friends at home jealous if you can’t access Instagram? Most festivals won’t have ATMs and some food vendors will not accept cards so make sure to bring cash with you. Last, but not least it’s a festival so arrive with a festival attitude. Expect rain, queues and traffic jams but stay calm and enjoy the vibes man.
Early Sunday afternoon crowd at the Pyramid by Paul Holloway / Creative Commons
And with that you are now festival ready. For a look at what’s happening around the UK this summer, check out our Summer Festival Guide 2015. If the thoughts of slumming it in a field for a weekend somewhere sends shivers down your back, fear not. Our Summer Festival Guide not only provides info on weekend music festivals but also food and drink festivals, film festivals, book festivals, art festivals and family festivals too. If you are travelling to a summer festival this year, check out Leonardo Hotel's for somewhere to rest your head at the end of the day. Trust us when we say, our beds are much comfier than a tent!
Main image: Music Festival by Eva Rinaldi / Creative Commons
