It’s that amazing time of the year again – festival season. I went to my first festival at 16, and have gone every year since. The atmosphere is amazing, the brands are amazing and the whole experience is just incredible. That being said, I have learnt the hard way that there are some essentials you need in order to survive festivals! The weather, the hangovers and the dodgy food can mean that you might not find a festival as enjoyable if you don’t have the right gear.
Here are the top 10 essentials I would take to a festival, complete with some cringey pictures of me and my friends at festivals!
1. A GOOD tent
This might seem obvious, but the amount of people with pop up tents at festivals is insane. Me and my friend skimped out once, bought a ‘waterproof’ pop up tent and then spent the whole weekend sleeping in a puddle. The tent let in so much water that even our clothes in our bags were wet, and we had to put wet PJs on each night. Nightmare.
2. Babywipes
These are your toilet roll, your showers, your fresheners. Almost everything at a festival can be solved with baby wipes. Get the biggest, cheapest packs you can find and take a handful around with you all the time.
3. Food
Festival food does not fill you up in the latest, and the prices are ridiculous – with meals coming in around £7, it’s too expensive to eat out all the time so having a range of snacks such as cereal bars, nachos and fruit help keep you going during the day.
4. A lock and key
People have no problem rummaging through your tent and stealing your stuff, both when you’re out and when you’re asleep. Keep the tent locked during the day and the night if you want your stuff to be slightly safer.
5. Hand sanitizer
Two words – festival toilets. Take about one bottle of hand sanitizer a day, you’ll be lathering it on every hour.
6. Painkillers
Resolve, Andrew salts and Ibruprofen all help to combat the hangovers, alongside with gallons of water. And a cheeky cider.
7. Jumpers and hats
I know, I know, festivals are all about denims shorts and gorgeous crop tops, but it gets freezing in the evening and overnight so a big jumper is completely necessary. A jumper teamed with shorts, thick socks and wellies is a cute combination anyway so don’t worry, and a hat can hide bed hair while keeping your ears warm.
8. A rain coat
Parkha’s are too heavy for festivals, once they are wet they just won’t dry. You’re better off with a lightweight mac. Primark do the thin ones you can wear over your jumpers for about a tenner, or you can go classy with Topshop ones that average around £60 but are gorgeous.
9. Dry shampoo, hair bands and Kirby grips.
You do not want to use the festival showers, and sleeping in a sweaty tent and being outside braving the elements all day can mean your hair quickly loses any style. Dry shampoo and a messy topknot are festival go-ers saviours.
10. A bum bag
Bum bags are the only really safe way to carry your phone, cash, keys and everything around with you. Although they used to be very uncool, they are such a huge thing for festivals nowadays and you can get some cute embellished ones in most shops around festival season.
Of course, you do need a lot more stuff than this but these are the bare essentials. With each festival I’ve been to, I’ve become a little bit more savvy. At Reading, I took loads of food and drink that was so heavy on the walk that I ditched everything except alcohol. I then knew for Isle of Wight to only bring light weight foods, and lived off Sainsbury’s basic nachos. Leeds festival, we took a car and left barbeque stuff that we could go back and get for food on the first night, and we bought a trolley and a wheel barrow so that we could make the journey in one go. Chairs or matts make the campsite a lot comfier, and bin bags stop it getting so messy. Sun cream is always useful as well!
The most important thing to go with is friends who you really love. Even when me and my best friend were shivering, wearing every single item of damp clothing we owned in our flooded tent, we were laughing. We made films of the rain coming through the tent to text to everyone.
What are your favourite festival memories? Going to any this year? My dream festival is Coachella, that’s the dream! Oh, and what are your festival essentials?
