Festival Survival Guide
Gracie Leader
As school draws to a close and summer begins, it can only mean one thing: festival season is finally upon us! From V Festival to Love Box to Glastonbury, there's a festival for everyone and anyone. Festivals can be the best thing to do in the summer months but tickets can be expensive and to make sure you get the most out of every penny here are some quick tips.
What to bring
For some festivals such as Wireless, you only go for the day while you could spend a week at Reading. However long you're going for, you will need to pack the essentials without bringing your entire DofE rucksack so what do you take?
There are several things you should tick off your to-do list during the build-up to the festival to have the best time possible.
Travel: whether you're driving up there, catching a train or getting a lift make sure your journey and route is planned and your tickets (if you're getting public transport) are bought ahead of the weekend.
Music: look on the festival website and find out who's performing at what time and on what stage. Then decide who you want to see most and prioritize them to ensure you don’t miss anyone.
Friends: once you get to the festival find a met up point and agree it with your friends so you don’t spend the entire weekend wandering around looking for your mates.
Spending: once you get there it can be exciting and overwhelming but think carefully. Don’t go buying things as souvenirs unless you really think you will still want it after the weekend is over. Also, food can be overpriced at events like this so when you first get there have a look at all the stands to see which food is reasonable otherwise you will end up spending £7.50 on one burger. This might be the most important advice I give in this article and if you don’t believe me, my friend managed to spend £200 in one day at Community Fest this month, so remember that cautionary tale when you think you want that plastic gold poncho for £25.
Outfit inspiration
For me the first thing I start planning once I’ve bought my ticket is my outfit. This can take hours and hours of online shopping to even come close to decide what you're going to wear but, to make it easier for you, I've found some of the best shops and lines for festival wear.
Look for the festival section: of course the best place to start is the festival and summer sections of shops. My favourites are Missguided's, Pretty Little Thing's and Boohoo's collections.
Shoes: No English festival is complete without muddy wet fields so dress accordingly; welly boots or old trainers are the best option.
Go wild: festivals are the one time you can be as sparkly as you like so wear that rainbow tie dye skirt, cover your hair or face (or both) in glitter, dress how you like and feel as happy and confident as you can.
So with my helpful advice I hope you all have a great summer and a fun experience at whatever festivals you’re attending.
What to bring
For some festivals such as Wireless, you only go for the day while you could spend a week at Reading. However long you're going for, you will need to pack the essentials without bringing your entire DofE rucksack so what do you take?
- Water: Food and drink at festivals can be expensive so you don’t want to be spending a fiver on a little bottle once you get there.
- Sunglasses: You don’t want to be squinting at the stage to see your favourite acts!
- A portable charger: You don’t want to be stuck in a crowd looking for your friend or missing the last train at the end of the night and realising your phone is on 3%.
- Baby wipes: unfortunately dirty portaloos are just part of the experience but make sure you don’t catch too many germs by having a packet of wipes handy.
There are several things you should tick off your to-do list during the build-up to the festival to have the best time possible.
Travel: whether you're driving up there, catching a train or getting a lift make sure your journey and route is planned and your tickets (if you're getting public transport) are bought ahead of the weekend.
Music: look on the festival website and find out who's performing at what time and on what stage. Then decide who you want to see most and prioritize them to ensure you don’t miss anyone.
Friends: once you get to the festival find a met up point and agree it with your friends so you don’t spend the entire weekend wandering around looking for your mates.
Spending: once you get there it can be exciting and overwhelming but think carefully. Don’t go buying things as souvenirs unless you really think you will still want it after the weekend is over. Also, food can be overpriced at events like this so when you first get there have a look at all the stands to see which food is reasonable otherwise you will end up spending £7.50 on one burger. This might be the most important advice I give in this article and if you don’t believe me, my friend managed to spend £200 in one day at Community Fest this month, so remember that cautionary tale when you think you want that plastic gold poncho for £25.
Outfit inspiration
For me the first thing I start planning once I’ve bought my ticket is my outfit. This can take hours and hours of online shopping to even come close to decide what you're going to wear but, to make it easier for you, I've found some of the best shops and lines for festival wear.
Look for the festival section: of course the best place to start is the festival and summer sections of shops. My favourites are Missguided's, Pretty Little Thing's and Boohoo's collections.
Shoes: No English festival is complete without muddy wet fields so dress accordingly; welly boots or old trainers are the best option.
Go wild: festivals are the one time you can be as sparkly as you like so wear that rainbow tie dye skirt, cover your hair or face (or both) in glitter, dress how you like and feel as happy and confident as you can.
So with my helpful advice I hope you all have a great summer and a fun experience at whatever festivals you’re attending.