We’ve all been there. The sun is shining, you’re happily enjoying the festival with your friends and chatting about how lovely and hot it is, then there’s a storm overnight. You wake up to chaos and floods. You sprint to the stalls and find yourself in a 200 long person queue, in the pouring rain, praying that the shop doesn’t sell out of wellies before you get to the front.
All music festivals are different, so you might not need everything here, but this festival checklist aims to be exhaustive enough to cover all the essentials and any extras alongside, to ensure you don’t end up [literally] stuck in the mud. Also check out our summer 2010 festival suggestions. Anything missing? Feel free to make suggestions in the comments!
ESSENTIALS • Travel & Festival Tickets • Identification • Directions / Maps • Cash & Cards • Keys • CLOTHING • Raincoat & Waterproofs • Wellies • Sunglasses • Headgear • Clothes & Shoes • LUGGAGE • Camera • Phone • Torch • Umbrella • Tent • Sleeping Bag / Pillow / Mat • Chargers / Batteries • Books / Magazines • MP3 Player • Bin Liners & Laundry bag • TOILETRIES • Toothbrush & Toothpaste • Deodorant / Anti-persperant • Brush / Comb • Towel & Cloth • Soap • Shampoo / Conditioner • Tissues / Wipes • Mirror • Contraception • MEDICATION • Prescriptions • First aid kit • Paracetamol • Sunscreen • Insect Repellent • Glasses / Contacts & Solution • EXTRAS • Lighter / Matches • Gaffa Tape • Penknife • Bottle & Tin Openers • Cutlery • Cooking Equipment • Flag • Picnic Blanket • Food & Drink
- Tickets – You won’t just need the obvious festival tickets, but also your bus / tram / train tickets, too. Book travel tickets in advance, so they can arrive in time. Leaving it until the last minute runs the risk on not getting a seat, paying extra and getting stuck in queues. You’ll need them for the return journey too, so keep them safe.
- ID – If you’re travelling abroad, you’ll have your passport anyway, but for domestic festivals having a driving license or other form of ID is often a requirement to get in. Glastonbury, for example, doesn’t let you in if your ID doesn’t match the name on the ticket! Check the festival terms and conditions beforehand.
- Directions / Maps – If you’re driving, get organised and plan a proper route, even if it’s just making sure your satellite navigation knows where to go. Those using the trains and buses, make sure you know the correct stations and where to go when you arrive. When you arrive, grab a map of the site and mark on it exactly where your tent is located and where your car is parked if you’ve brought one.
- Cash & Cards – Festival cash machines tend to charge you for use and also have large queues. To save wasting time once you’ve arrive, it’s best to get cash out before you go, but keep it safe and split it up into a few chucks in different bags and pockets.
- Keys – An obvious one, but easily forgotten and it’s not particularly nice to get home from a festival and find yourself locked out. Leave a spare pair with your neighbour, if you don’t trust yourself to remember.
- Raincoat / Waterproofs – A must for British festivals, you never know what’s going to happen with the weather. Venues are likely to sell ponchos anyway, but they can be thin, poorly made and expensive, so it’s better to take your own.
- Wellies – Navigating huge mud marshes is harder than it looks and you will ruin your shoes or trainers, if you don’t take a pair. Again, they can be bought on site, but they tend to go very quickly. Save yourself the bother of hunting around for a pair all day.
- Sunnies – Keep your eyes happy. Outdoor stages can often be in front of the sun, leaving you blinded as you try to watch.
- Headgear – A cap, bandana or winter hat, depending on the weather, is always useful.
- Spare Clothes & Shoes – Take enough clothing for each day of the festival, enough for changing after muddy mishaps and clean pairs of everything for trip home. Going all the way home wet and caked in mud is horrible for everyone involved. Combat trousers are best if your planning on carry a lot around with you.
- Camera – Make sure you’ve got a case and strap for it, as they’re easy to drop and lose in crowded environments. You also might want to check you’ve got plenty of room on it before leaving and take an extra memory stick or film if necessary.
- Phone – Fully charged and primed with all your friends’ digits. It’s likely to run out if you use it a lot, so try and stick to texts and leave it switched off while you sleep to save those vital bars.
- Torch – Navigating back to your tent after an entire day of drinking is likely to end in disaster without light. It’s also essential for fiddling about in your tent at night, as you desperately try to take your contacts out and get into your sleeping bag.
- Umbrella – Just don’t go using it while you’re watching bands, it’s hugely annoying to the people behind you and don’t be surprised if things get thrown in your general direction. It’s best for keeping rain off your morning barbecue or keeping dry as you wait in the food queues.
- Tent – Make sure you know how to put it up and that you’ve got all the right pegs and pieces before leaving. You wouldn’t believe how many people arrive in the dark and discover they don’t actually know how to pitch their brand new tent.
- Sleeping Bag / Pillow / Roll Mat – Camping grounds aren’t particularly comfortable, having a mat and pillow to go with that sleeping bag helps save waking up in agony.
- Chargers / Batteries – You don’t want to run out of digital juice. Some festivals will have charging areas, but the queues get unbearable, so avoid them however you can. If you’re lucky enough to be off to a festival with power and plug sockets, be sure not to forget the charger.
- Travel Fodder – Books, magazines and a fully charged mp3 player for the journey there and back. If you plan on playing at bit of music at your tents, take some portable speakers to hook up your player to.
- Bin Liners / Laundry Bag – You’ll make tons of mess while you’re at the tent, so a bin liner or two for rubbish is really useful. Also, keep those muddy jeans or filthy shoes in their own bag to avoid ruining everything else. Try and get them dry before bagging them up, though else they’ll stink.
- Toothbrush & Toothpaste – You can get those little finger toothbrushes now, which are really handy for saving space and are dispensable, too. It you’re going in a big group, it might make sense to just share things like toothpaste, to save everyone bringing it.
- Deodorant / Anti-persperant – Again, travel-sized sprays are easy to pick up.
- Hair Brush / Comb – You’ll need them for de-tangling if you’ve got long hair, after a not so pleasant wash under a running tap.
- Towel & Cloth – Bring a few if you’ve got the room, in case one doesn’t dry in time. If it’s baking hot, you could hang it up outside your tent afterwards, but if you leave there you run the risk of it getting soaked should the rain come!
- Soap / Shampoo / Conditioner – Washing and showering essentials. Facilities range from festival to festival, but there’s usually enough running water for a quick shower. Get up at dawn to beat the crowds.
- Tissues & Wet Wipes – Toilet roll often runs out, so it’s good to have your own back ups. Wet wipes help you to easily freshen up on the move.
- Small Mirror – For the vain or finding out how muddy your face is.
- Contraception – Because you never know.
- Prescription Medicine – Whether it’s insulin or inhalers, make sure you have everything you need for the duration. Get an appointment with your doctor early enough to be able to get all your required elixor.
- First Aid Kit – Plasters, bandages, sterile wipes and the like are always handy. Especially if you’ve got youngsters with you who are rolling about all over the place.
- Paracetamol – The morning after might be a long way away now, but you’ll be thankful for packing them. Just be aware that drinking again with them in your system is dangerous for your health.
- Sun Lotion – You get burnt quicker than you’d think. Since you’re spending all day in the sun, keep the bottle on you, so you can top up as the day goes on.
- Insect Spray – These kind of repellents aren’t essential but are definitely useful at the more humid International festivals.
- Glasses / Contacts & Solution – Be sure to bring spares if you have them, as once you drop a contact in the mud, there ain’t no getting it back.
- Lighter / Matches – Getting your stove or barbecues lit, or even joining in the nightly vigils with the rest of the crowd.
- Gaffa Tape – If you get a hole if your tent, this is the best and quickest way to patch it up.
- Pen Knife – Handy in ways you never realise until the time comes.
- Bottle & Tin Openers – You don’t want to find yourself resorting to using your teeth to desperately tear into that beer. Get a small key chain opener, if you need to save space. Or bring along a Swiss Army Knife to have all those fiddly instruments in one place.
- Disposable Cutlery – Unless you eat out of tins, using a sausage as a spoon, you’ll need cups, cutlery and plates.
- Cooking Equipment – There’s nothing like a summer festival BBQ. Don’t forget the food! A folding chair is also great for relaxing in as you prod those burgers. And if you’re going to be cooking everyday, perhaps a small stove, a pan, a kettle, a mug and some gas. It’s better to split things like this up amongst a few people to save one person struggling with it all.
- Flag – It’s so easy to lose your tent, even if you know what area it’s in. A big flag to stick in the ground by your base is perfect for finding your way back in both day and night.
- Blanket – For throwing down in front of your tent to sit, picnic and sunbathe on.
- Food & Drink – Remember that glass bottles aren’t allowed at a lot of festivals and will be confiscated at the entrance. So transfer anything you have into plastic ones. Soups and noodles are easy to carry and cook, but also bring some chocolate or energy bars to keep going throughout the day.
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