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How To Pack for a Festival

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Durham chapter.

Summer is fast approaching and every year festivals become bigger and better than ever. Whether it is your first time attending or last time was a total disaster this guide should help you pack exactly what you need for a fun filled, carefree weekend!

Food: Obviously the most important. You must erase the image of grimy food vans oozing with salmonella, festival food is brilliant. They cater everything from ostrich burgers to stone baked pizzas and some even have special designated ‘healthy eating’ areas. You will find you spend around £7 for a main meal and a drink which is reasonable given the standard of food you are served. However, I recommend taking your own breakfast food and snacks for during the day to help save money.

•   Cereal bars – you will find yourself consuming copious amounts of these over the weekend. Easy to pack, cheap and filling, cereal bars will cater for breakfast and as a snack during the day. Take at least two boxes!

•   Fruit – If going three days without a piece of fruit is unthinkable, do take pre-packaged fruit to snack on. Bananas and apples will bruise easily in your backpack and festivals often have supermarket stalls which sell these too.

•   Non-perishables such as crisps, pot noodles and chocolate bars etc are good to have on standby if you get hungry between meals.

Drink: Festivals will not allow you to take glass into the site and no alcohol at all into the main arena. If you want to drink around your tent, dispense it into clear plastic bottles before you go and bury it at the bottom of your backpack! Be aware that the security guards will check water bottles before going into the arena to see if the seal has been broken, they can spot concealed vodka a mile off. Water is essential for the weekend as it can get very hot during the summer both outside and inside your tent. Keep hydrated during the day by taking a bottle around with you at all times, there are drinking water dispensers all around the site to fill them up. It is important to take several bottles with you for over the weekend, brushing your teeth next to your tent with a bottle of water saves trekking to the dodgy looking showers early in the morning.

Clothes: Do check the weather forecast the day before you go but always take a waterproof just in case, this is England at the end of the day. Here is a list of essential clothing items;

•   Wellies (trainers are a bad idea, they will get ruined)

•   Shorts

•   Leggings (for when it cools down at night)

•   A hoodie

•   A dress (incase it gets very hot)

•   2 T-shirts

•   2 tops

•   3-4 pairs of socks

•   3-4 pairs of underwear

•   Pyjamas

•   Hair bobbles

•   Sunglasses

•   Sun hat

•   Plastic poncho (these are life savers)

Toiletries: Camping is not the most hygienic of holidays and festival facilities are rather disgusting. Most have public showers for if you are really desperate but for three days, make up wipes and deodorant will suffice. Festival toilets are something girls just have to get over, yes they smell and are incredibly dirty but with enough hand sanitiser and toilet paper (do take your own), you will survive. Every festival you attend there will always be people wearing a head full of rollers and false eyelashes, but these people are in the minority and look a bit silly. Without being able to properly wash your face for the weekend, try not to overdo it on the make-up.

•   Hand sanitiser

•   Deodorant

•   Make-up wipes

•   Toilet paper

•   Tooth brush and paste

•   Sun cream

•   Plasters (essential)

•   Paracetamol

•   A small towel

•   Dry shampoo

•   Hair brush

Camping gear: As long as you remember your tent, you will be fine. If worse comes to worse and you somehow forget your sleeping bag, festivals tend to have stands which sell duvets and pillows. It does get cold in the night (if you are at a Northern festival) so do take an extra blanket.

•   Tent

•   Sleeping bag

•   Sleeping mat

•   Blanket

•   Pillow

•   Collapsable chair

•   Ear plugs (parties do go on all night)

•   Eye mask (otherwise you will wake up at sunrise)

•   Small torch

Extras:

•   Money

•   Bin bags (for dirty clothes and also to rest wellies on)

•   Watch (so you know when your favourite acts are on)

•   Old phone (the battery will last and it isn’t the end of the world if you lose it)

•   Over the body small bag