[pinkmichk]

going v in august and its my first festival i dont really know what to expect any tips from those who have been festivals

[Lauren]

Bring surplus towels and wet wipes! Random tip lol

[CarlyBunny]

Bring your own toilet roll! There's rarely ever any left in the toilets. My best advice would be don't go.. lol I freakin hate festivals. The only one I go to is the one near me, so i can go home and sleep in my own bed at the end of it all.

[pinkmichk]

toilet roll and wet wipes are pretty much a norm in my bag anyway but will make sure i put in extra

[Mrluvaluva]

Welllingtons?

[John.]

Originally posted by pinkmichk
going v in august and its my first festival i dont really know what to expect any tips from those who have been festivals

I went to the Isle of Wight Festival this year, that was my first festival, and next year I'm going back, aswell as hopefully going to Glastonbury.

[warning] THIS IS LONG (BUT IT REALLY HELPED ME GET ORGANISED) [/warning]



BEFORE:

1. When should I start planning?

Start planning as early as possible, there's a lot to get ready. The main thing is money; festivals can cost a lot of money and you have to be prepared for this. £1 a day throughout the year will pay for your ticket, travel expenses and spending money. Even £5 a week will be enough. Work out how you are going to finance the festival and give yourself a limit.

2. How do I plan for a festival?

Start with the absolute basics, write a list of the absolute bare minimum you can take with you, be strict with this as will help later. Keep this list for future festivals and use it as the essentials list you take to every festival, then personalise the list for each festival you go to. Include bare minimums for clothing etc. as well so it is a well rounded but small list.

A good list may be:

General:
* Small 2 Man Tent
* Sleeping Bag
* Toilet Roll
* Baby Wipes
* Bum Bag

Clothing:
* Varies from person to person but be strict, 1 T-Shirt for each day, trousers/skirt, socks, underwear, coat.

Food/Drink:
* Tinned food that can be eaten cold. (Rice Pudding is the best I have found, tasty, filling and only 12p a can)
* Tin Opener
* Spoon
* Bottle of Water (refillable)

Using this method you can be packed and ready to leave in 10 minutes with a trip to the supermarket on the way there.

3. What should I take with me?

Make sure you take Toilet Roll and Baby Wipes, these are two things that a festival goer should never be without.
The bum bag is the festival goers best friend, buy a good one, not a flimsy one that will fall off. A good one would cost around £20 - £30. This way you can keep all your essential daily items in one safe place and know where everything is. Mobile Phone, spare battery, cigarettes, lighters, money, timetable, sunglasses etc.
Lighters. Even if you don't smoke, take a lighter or two. It's always a good way to start or join in a conversation if someone asks for a light.

One thing that will greatly help you is a fold up trolley/sack lifter/wheelbarrow etc. These can be picked up from many camping and outdoors shops as well as garden centres for around £20 for a cheap one up to £70-£100 for a very strong, very durable one. I'd recommend going for the strongest you can afford, they are an investment well worth having and you don't want it breaking on you half way there.

4. What shouldn't I take with me?

Never take beer in glass bottles, always buy cans.

Try to avoid taking any glass bottles, transferring contents into plastic containers at home. This will save time when you arrive and if the bottles are labelled it will avoid confusion about which bottle is which (Vodka vs. Sambuca, Whisky vs. Brandy etc.)

Don't over pack, I'm a culprit of this myself and have found myself turning up to festivals with far, far too much stuff. Limit yourself and remember that just because there is a space in the car for something, doesn't mean you have to fill it. Be sensible whilst packing and run through what you WILL need for each day rather than what you MIGHT need.

If you pick something up at home and think "Hmm, that might come in useful", it invariably will not do.
Don't bring anything that could be considered a weapon, it won't be allowed in. A small blade on a pen knife may be allowed but a kitchen knife will not. Use a rubber headed mallet for your tent instead of a claw hammer. It's common sense really but weapons are not permitted, and may result in exclusion from the festival without a refund. DON'T TAKE RISKS!

5. How do I make my festival cheap?

There are many ways to save money on festivals. Much of it involves cutting down on luxuries, but there are some very practical tips that may help.

NEVER leave your tent at a festival or buy a tent for £20 that you know will get trashed. A decent tent can last you for years. Buy a good quality small 2 man tent for around £60 - £80 and make sure you put it up and take it down correctly each time you use it, Take good care of the tent and it will last for a long time. If it's wet when you take it down, put it up in the garden or a field when you get home and dry it out, this will stop mildew and mould from affecting your tent. Clear the tent of any moths, bugs and insects before storing as they can burrow through the tent to survive and dead bugs can cause the tent to smell next time you use it.

Go with a group of friends and organise shared equipment between you, this can cut down on cost and space and can be an effective way of enjoying your festival as a social event. Work together, help each other out, look out for each other.

Take your own food! This is vitally important. The food vans at the festival are expensive and are not value for money. Taking your own food is an essential for a cheap festival. Buy the supermarket own brand goods and things like pasta and sauces. Top off with a few cans of Chicken Curry, Rice Pudding, Soup and other stuff that can be eaten cold from the tin as a quick snack between bands. Don't take perishable goods like Salad or Raw Meat as these will wither or rot in hot weather, especially in the tent and will go off very quickly.

If you run out of food quickly, don't worry. Don't go rushing to the food vans. At a festival you are never very far away from civilisation, take a look at a map of the local area before you leave and find the nearest Shop. If you drive, offer to do a Co-op/Tesco/Morrisons run and go with a friend or two and get stuff for a group of people. Even strangers would be willing to help out if it meant eating a pizza for 50p rather than £6.

Take a refillable water bottle with you and fill it up at the taps, there is always a tap spare somewhere even if there are queues. Don't worry about queues at water taps, depending on the water stations there is usually a queue for a couple of the faster flowing taps and the rest are readily available. Walking for 2 minutes to fill up a 2 litre bottle is preferable to paying £1.50 - £2 for 500ml.

If you have to visit the food vans at the festival, shop around. I cannot give this too much emphasise, SHOP AROUND! You will be amazed at the difference in prices around the camp and knowing exactly where to buy your food and drink is a valuable resource. Noodle Bars are a good example, at first they seem fairly expensive, averaging around £5 a portion of noodles and £2 for 2 spring rolls, but when you think how filling this is compared to the other stalls. One meal from a Noodle Bar will fill you for the rest of the day and it is freshly cooked in front of you. The Crepe Bar is another example, averaging between £2.50 - £3 for a crepe. These are filling, tasty and come in both savoury and sweet, cooked in front of you and are some of the cheapest meals on the site, although from experience I would not recommend their Crepe Suzette, especially for breakfast. Shop around, find the bargains, look at what other people are buying from the stalls, the sizes of the portions and buy accordingly. The Ice Cream vans, although expensive for Ice Cream can be cheaper for drinks.

6. How do I know if I'm getting a good bargain?

As said above it's all about value for money and most of this at festivals is learned through trail and error. Most people who go to festivals learn not to trust the good old burger although it can be too good to resist sometimes. A good bargain can be anything from food to your ticket price and sometimes the cheapest option is not always the best bargain.

Take your tent for example, if you buy a cheap tent for £20 and throw it away at the end of a festival, if you go to 2 festivals a year you are spending £40 a year on tents, over 10 years that is £400 and 2 festivals a year is hardly anything considering how many there are. If you buy a decent tent for around £60 - £80 and keep it after every festival, no matter how many festivals you go to over the same 10 years you will only spend the £60 - £80 one the one tent. Tents when packed away don't take any space and can easily be stored, there is no reason to throw it away. Even if poles split they can easily be gaffa taped together and a roll of Gaffa for £1.50 is better than a new tent for £20 - £80. There is also a pole repair kit you can buy if any poles break beyond the capabilities of Gaffa or if any go missing.

Haggle at the market places. Festival traders are used to people haggling and mark up their prices for this reason. I am talking about trinket and side stalls here, not the food vans. When buying souvenirs or presents for people you can usually mark down the price by about 15% from the asked price at the trading stalls. Be courteous and socialise with the traders and they will favour your request. Simply saying "I'm not paying that" or thrusting a lesser amount into their hands is not going to work. Haggling for ANYTHING is perfectly acceptable in the UK however it is not widely practised.

7. How should I pack?

Pack so that you know where everything is at a moments notice. Pack all similar items together, all the food in one place, clothes in another, so on and so forth. Put your tent up before you leave so you know what goes where and how to put it down again afterwards. Be familiar with your tent as the bags are spaciously deceptive. Make sure you know where and how to fold it so that it goes back in the bag.

One thing I have found with my small 2 man tent is that you can take it down with the inner tent still attached to the flysheet. It still fits into the same space and when you come to use it the next time it takes half the time to erect and take down. This practice may work with your tent, try it out, it can save up to 10 minutes when erecting a tent which is very handy if it's windy or raining on the day.

This is all common sense stuff really but it can be handy to have a reminder, even for the seasoned festival goer packing can be one of the most tricky parts of the adventure.

Don't over pack, take what you need, not what you think you will need, discipline yourself to be strict when packing, a festival is not a home from home.

The weather will hugely affect what you pack, always take warm clothes because even in a hottest of weather, the nights can still be deceptively cold, you can find yourself very cold very quickly. The change in weather can have a huge affect on your health and well being so keep an eye out on each other and if you see anyone shivering uncontrollably, offer them a coat/blanket, same with sunstroke and heat exhaustion, offer them a drink and a sit down and a chat and most importantly get them out of the sun.

Shared resources can be a huge help for groups of people going, it means that if you have four people in your group you don't need 4 camping stoves for example.

Have a trial run with your tent in the back garden at least two weeks before you go to the festival, check you have the right number of pegs, spray the seams (yes I know in theory modern tents don't need it, but better to be safe than sorry), if you are in a group make sure at least two of you know how to put the tent up (in case of inebriation).

8. Any tips on how to be organised and keep organised?

Lists. Lists of everything you need. Make many tick lists and follow them strictly.

A good way is to follow 3 main lists:

1. Bare Essentials, this is a list of everything you will need for any festival you go to, see above for an example list.

2. Customised Festivals List, this is usually a different list for each festival you go to, dependant on type of festival, distance, how long you will be there etc. For example, for some festivals you may wish to take a bigger tent than just a small 2 man, or even more than one tent for some festivals.

3. Luxuries, this is a list of stuff you will take if you have space, things to spoil yourself with while you are there.
Be strict with each list and don't wander round the house saying "That might come in useful, I'll take that" and throw it in a bag. It won't be useful and you'll wonder why you brought it.

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DURING:

9. When should I get there?

As early as you can. At the major festivals there are up to 80,000 people converging on one field there are always long queues, tailbacks and unforeseen circumstances that happen on the day the festival starts. When I say the day the festival starts I mean the day the site opens, Wednesday.

It's really up to you when you arrive at the festival but if you want to make the most of it, arrive as early as possible.

10. What should I do when I arrive?

When you arrive be prepared for a LOT of waiting around. The queues and directions can be confusing and the security are not always able to help with the queries you have. Remember that on the Thursday when most people arrive, especially first thing at midday the festival site is not yet set up and vehicles are still rushing round the Village and Camp-sites getting things ready. The temporary roads and paths are still being laid down and the finishing touches are still being placed. Also the security are still being briefed and updated at every event and it is the busiest and most stressful time for everyone involved in the festival, from the Productions Office to the Grounds Staff, from Back Stage to Traffic Control, everyone is on edge, adrenaline is running high and expectations are through the roof, this goes for you as well, The Punter.

Do not expect everyone and everything to be at your beckoned call, the more frustrated you are with people the more frustrated they are back. Put on a happy face, don't let people and things get to you and it will not seem so stressful.

A few good tips for relieving and preventing stress throughout this period are:

* Don't drink too heavily early on, stay sober until you have sorted your gear out, got set up fully and can sit down and relax.

* Be prepared. Prepare yourself in a way so you don't have to rummage through bags for things, keep your car parking tickets at hand when first arrive and you gate tickets with you AT ALL TIMES.

* Keep yourself hydrated, drink lots of water and eat lots of sustaining food.

* Wear comfortable footwear and ladies, you may regret wearing that whalebone corset when you are standing in a queue for a few hours. Comfort over style I'm afraid.

* Keep an eye on what's going on around you, don't listen to rumours and only take information from officials, people will always spread rumours from the front that there are further delays and such.

* Realise that you will have to queue when you arrive. Some people seem to expect to get there, put their tent up and start drinking, it's not that simple. Law and common sense states that they have to go through these checks of your baggage, let them. Don't kick up a fuss about it.

11. Mobile phone tips?

Mobile phones are always a problem at festivals, getting signal, keeping signal, batteries running out of charge etc. The best tip with mobiles is to take some spare FULL batteries with you. You can buy these from any phone shop or from 2nd hand shops and car boot sales. eBay is also a good place. Get about 3 spares. This way you will always have a full battery to hand to replace the dead one. Don't change the battery until the old one is totally dead and charge it as soon as possible. You could even go as far as to label them 1 to 4 and change them in order so you know which ones need charging. There is a charge station at the festival and queues may vary in size year to year. Take your own car charger and plug-in charger with you if you have a rare phone or one which is not widely supported, e.g.. 3, LG, Orange SPV, PalmPilot etc. This will stop disappointment when you get to the charging station.

12. Help, I'm lost! (Getting your bearings)

Festival sites can be confusing places, so how can you get to know your way around? It's actually surprisingly easy to do. When you pitch your tent look at who's around you, what flags are around, where you are in relation to the walkways etc. When you have set up and are ready to venture out into the unknown walk to the nearest path. Turn around, walk back to your tent. Carry on walking to the next path and walk back. Now walk to the first path again and follow it until you have formed a triangle and can walk back to your tent. Now you know your way around your camp-site. Make sure you know which camp-site you are on and a vague sense of where it is in relation to everything else, then just go for a wander. You will be surprised at how well your feet do the navigating and you will pretty much always find yourself either at the main gates where you started from or back at your tent.

Talk to people, sit down at people's tents and have a chat, getting your bearings isn't only knowing where you are but knowing who's around you. People will always be friendly and will often offer you a drink if you are friendly back. never rely on handouts and always be courteous to people who come over and talk to you. Help people put up their tents and triangulate yourself to where your friends are camped as you did with your own.

13. Money; How to get it and where to spend it.

There is one very important thing with this question. Don't rely on ATM machines at festivals! This is such an important point, I'll say it again, DO NOT rely on ATM machines at festivals. Take a lump sum of money with you that you will spend over the weekend and limit yourself to that amount. This is good both from a money saving and time saving point of view so you won't be standing at a cash point queue while your favourite band is playing. As for where to spend it, spend it where you like really, but be sensible and keep money aside for emergencies. You can never account on everything at a festival, something will always happen out of place, something will always catch your eye and something unforeseen will always turn up, so long as you keep some money aside for these cases you should be ok.

14. These festival things are expensive, any tips on lowering the cost while I'm there?

Quite simply, don't pay for anything you don't have to. This is mainly food and drink. If you take your own food and some refillable bottles with you there should be no reason to wander up to a food van at all. Fill bottles up at the taps, eat a decent breakfast, hydrate yourself constantly and eat well in the afternoon/evening.

15. Festival Woes: Toilets, Water, Food and Security.

There is no easy or polite way to put this. At a festival you will smell and see other peoples faeses and urine, especially in standard camping at major festivals. Be prepared and desensitise yourself to it because there is no real getting away from it. The toilets are one of the worst parts of going to a major festival. However you will be glad to hear that there are ways to lesser your problems. Use the Arena toilets.

People will queue for miles for water. Needlessly. There are always taps free at the end of the queue that people do not use. Don't take water queues at face value and if you see a tap that no-one is using, use it if you need to. Keep hydrated all the time, don't let yourself dehydrate, it's the worst thing you can do at a festival.

Security is usually a sore point at festivals because they are the easy target. They are the visible force of the festival, the visible authority that tells you where to walk and how to act and so on. If you take the time to talk to the security guards you will find that they are human after all and only really get annoyed at people for real reasons. Being ****y and abusive to the security will only increase tension. Talk to the patrols on their rounds, they are usually interested in what's going on and where you are from and will never say no to a free drink. Just be sensible and you'll get on fine with them.

16. Weather Conditions.

The weather changes the festival drastically. If the weather is too hot then it can be very uncomfortable, too wet and it can be as equally as uncomfortable to sit in a field. Pack for the extremes, make sure you take sun tan lotion, it is VERY expensive from the festival shops on site. Look out for each other and if you see anyone in trouble, help them. It's a good idea to have some knowledge of first aid, or at least what to do in the case of sunstroke, dehydration and exhaustion. In hot weather, drink twice to three times as much water as you usually would to keep yourself fresh and keep moving around. Keep under shade as much as possible, even if it's just an umbrella. In the rain the grass can turn to mud very quickly and it is equally important to keep an eye on people, help out anyone who's in trouble.

17. Safety around the festival.

This means keeping yourself safe, your possessions safe and keeping an eye out for the people around you. There is a great community feel to festivals, one which is not found anywhere else. Look out for each other, help each other out, support each other and work with each other. If you see an opportunity to help out a fellow festival goer, take it, they will do the same for you when you are in need. This goes for the people running the festival as well. If you think you can help the stewards or the organisers, do so. Equally so, if you see anything out of the ordinary, people acting suspicious around tents or going into a tent that you suspect isn't theirs then tell people around you. Ask if anyone knows who's tent that is and whether that person should be there.

There is a dark side to festivals that a few people take advantage of the situation and loot tents. Never leave you valuables in your tent. Keep your money on you at all times and keep you phone on silent. Don't flash around large amounts of cash or posh phones, expensive jewellery or car keys. Keep these things in a bum bag and if you can, sleep wearing the bum bag. At night you are most vulnerable and people have been known to have their tents broken into while they sleep inside. Just be sensible with your belongings and it should hopefully be ok.

Never confront anyone who is being suspicious on your own. There's usually someone around that can help you but it can be dangerous to confront someone who is stealing from peoples tents, don't endanger yourself more than you have to to resolve the matter. Tell security about even the smallest misdemeanour's around the site.

18. There's loads of bands I want to see, how can I see them all?

Over the weekend there will be many bands playing so what happens if you want to see them all? The key with this is forward planning. Know what bands you want to see and where and when they are playing. Structure your day so you can see as many of them as possible and make your mind up early and stick to it over the clashes between the bands you want to see. There are always chances to see the bands again. This is a very personal thing to each individual on the field and no-one can tell you who to watch, it's up to you to decide. That said however, don't limit yourself to just the few bands on your list that you definitely want to watch. Expand your musical horizons with new bands, bands you might not have heard before. There is plenty of chance before the festival to listen to the bands songs and get an idea of what they are like and you will know who is playing at the festival with plenty of time to spare.

19. General Tips for enjoying yourself over the festival.

There's loads to do at a festival other than watch bands all day everyday. Talk to people, involve yourself in the activities which are going on. Know a good joke or a funny story? There's so much to do at the festival that it's almost impossible to be bored. Remember to eat well and keep hydrated to keep the stress level down and sleep well at night. Invite people round to your tent for a drink, go to other peoples tents and join in what people are doing. Talk to random festival goers. Make sure you have a look around the craft fair as well, there are some brilliant bargains to be had around the site.

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AFTER:

20. What should I take home with me, what should I leave there?

Take everything with you. There's no real point in leaving anything behind. It just means you'll have to buy it again next time. Make sure you take your tent with you, it takes 10 minutes to put down and is the most vital part of your kit. It's a waste of money to leave it there. Don't burn all your waste, there are designated rubbish points all round the site, take your rubbish to there and leave it there. If your tent is broken and beyond repair (i.e. ripped beyond repair, poles missing etc) then take it down, fold it up and place it in a bin bag and leave by the rubbish collection point. If it is slightly ripped or a pole has split then take it home with you, repair the hole or wrap gaffa tape round the pole and save yourself a lot of money in the future.

21. It won't go back in my car/bag, I've got less stuff than I came with!

The age old problem of getting everything packed away again afterwards. After half an hour of shoving everything in the car and kneading your tent into the bag, you've forgotten to put the poles in or there's a spare peg on the floor. The best way to pack is methodical and on going. Pack away your clothes like you did when you were at home, folding clothes is better than screwing them up and throwing them to the corner of the bag. Your tent should theoretically take less time to take down than it did to put up (dependent on type of tent). Just be methodical with your packing and it should be ok. Try not to throw anything useful away, you'll need it for the next festival you goto, which could be in a few days time.

22. I had a great time at the festival, who should I tell?

Tell everyone. Your friends, family, random people in the street, spread the word around and promote the festival for next year. This is especially true of the smaller festivals that people may not know too much about, all publicity is good publicity so get the word around. Tell the people who run the festival and join the forums of the festival and tell them how good it was.

23. I have some suggestions to make the festival better, who should I tell?

Again, the simple answer to that is everyone. The forums are a great place to start and contact details for all the different people involved in running the festival are available on the website. The forums are a great place to float around ideas and expand upon the ideas you have. Join in and have fun.

24. I had problems at the festival, who should I complain to?

If you do have a complaint, make sure it goes through the right sources. For complaints about security, all the security guards have numbers visible on their hi-res jackets or, like police officers, on their coats. Get the number, the company they work for, a description and if possible a name and report it to the people in charge of the festival who usually have a welfare office somewhere on site. Report it to the Commanding Officer of the Security Company that the Guard worked for. . Know who you are talking to and don't scream blue murder at them, describe what your grievance is in a way they can understand and help you with. Threatening legal action will never work, do not try this.

25. This years festival over, what about next year?

Give your feedback to the festival, positive or negative. All feedback is good feedback and you can help shape the festival to make it bigger and better for next year with your suggestions and queries, even if it seems insignificant to you, it may be something no-one else has thought of. Want to be more involved in the festival? Ask around, there's always something you can help with, even if it's just minor things. Tell people the bands you want to see for next year, tell people what activities you'd like to see and do. Use this forum as a resource to make the festival better for everyone. It's a tough job keeping 60,000 people happy for 4days in a field with only basic facilities to their disposal.