Secret Festival Survival Tips

Summer Festival Season is upon us, a time to dance to music, whether that be folk, jazz, trance or classical; make merry with some beverages, cider, wine and beer all have their yearly celebrations across the globe or to see live performances. The following information is an essential guide to all things festival; unless it is a Druid Gathering and things may be a little different.

Festivals and shooting trips are the only events where Wellington Boots are deemed de rigueur.

Though, with only a little amount of hindsight, do you want to feel de rigueur at a festival? And is not an association with the hunting set, when one is getting back to nature, rather hyperbolic?

Wellington Boots also give away an awful lot about their owner. Hunters – Fashionistas/ Wannabe fashionistas. Bright pink wellies – borderline clinical childhood regression. Flowery wellingtons - Women’s Institute member or sympathiser. Uggs – lacking the sense they were born with.

Good quality walking boots are the way forward; waterproof, sturdy, and no chaffing on the legs. Do make sure to walk them in though.

Cheap, flat shoes have their place at a festival. Yes, you know the ones. The ones that make your feet smell like a small dead animal has nestled between your toes within ten minutes of wearing them. If the weather is fine, they are great for exploring and can be washed clean of festival detritus, you can even use a bit of bleach to rid that dead vole smell. Given that everyone ends up smelling a little rotten at festivals, you will also be in very good company.

Whether you are a camping or glamping type will very much decide on your clothing but as a general rule of festival thumb: cargo pants are the perfect for a festival, lots of pockets; cotton t-shirts will keep you cool and dry; thermals are great for in the tent at night or just for wearing under clothes in the evenings if it is likely to be cold and never ever wear jeans. If you get wet, you will chaff, chaffing is not good.

Tents come in all shapes and sizes. But don’t whatever you do go for one labelled as a Festie Tent. And also watch out for those which state ‘suitable for festivals’. If it rains, it will become a leaky claustrophobic bag. If it is sunny, it becomes a sweaty claustrophobic bag which quite resembles a sauna. A rule of thumb with tents is you’ll need a two man tent for one person, a three or four person tent for three people and a six person tent for four people. You needn’t spend a fortune, but head room is perhaps a premium worth paying for, particularly if it rains and you don’t want to spend the festival in a leaky sweaty bag.

If there is a group of you, it may be worthwhile clubbing together and getting a really fancy tent, for longer festivals, this is going to be your home, and the outside world may be covered in mud. You may also wish to club together to get a gazebo, to shelter from the rain, or to chill from the harsh sun or just generally soak up the festival atmosphere or recover from soaking up too much festival atmosphere.

Even if your festival is the Food and Drink Festival 2012; or you are at a rave and food and sleep becomes the enemy, you still need to carefully consider your consumables. Most, if not all, festivals offer food, whether that be burger vans or haute cuisine and the type of festival will determine the types of things which you need to take.

Dehydration is no fun. A five litre water carrier is essential at any festival so that you can have a water supply by your tent; if you are going to a rave, take two - a camel rucksack is also a good idea, but don’t fill it with beer. That would just be silly.

It is always a good idea to purchase a camping stove which can be picked up for around $15 to at least make sure that you can make yourself a cup of coffee in the morning; and remember to take some powdered milk or freeze a bottle of milk before you go away to ensure that it stays fresh till the morning.

Indeed, freezing everything you intend to take to eat will mean that it will stay fresh for longer, depending on the weather, even chocolate bars. If you are going to a dance festival, nutritional drinks in cans are the way forward.

Remember a wheel barrow/sledge to cart your things from car to campsite if needed.

Try and arrive super early and try and be the last to leave... less annoying waiting.

Don't expect to shower.