Posted: by Pallavi Monday, 7 August 2017 @ 16:09
Every summer, the silent fields across Britain are suddenly
filled with festivals and visitors.
There is a festival to suite everyone’s taste! From music
festivals to carnivals, street parades, foodie festivals, agricultural shows,
art festivals etc. The list goes on…
Many of these festivals are free as well to encourage the
local communities and bring people together with festival spirit.
In 2015 alone, there were 800-1000 festivals organised in
the UK, celebrating everything from music, to science, literature to cooking
and beer.
Visit www.free-events.co.uk to view a full list of free events happening in the UK.
So we have hand-picked top 10 tips to help you make the most
of the festivals this summer.
1. Planning your journey
Try and get on the site as early as possible to get the best
spot in the festival. If you are late, relax and be prepared to enjoy events
from a distance.
Festival websites usually have information on how to get there.
Take a look at how far the commute to the festival is, how you plan to get
there and how much time the commute takes.
By Car
Plan well ahead considering road conditions and closures.
You can refer the AA website for the latest updates. Carry a printed map if you
need to. More often than not there will be long queues to get in and out of the
festival and therefore it’s better to in early.
By Train and Bus
Most of the festivals can be reached by local transport.
Look at the route map and book train/bus tickets in advance.
2. Restricted items
Security at the festivals is very strict.
Avoid being turned
down from the long queue for having a prohibited item. Look at the festival
website for the list of prohibited items.
3. Map your day
Festival websites usually have a map of the grounds, where
events are taking place and their timings. It saves you a lot of time if you
plan your day ahead to accommodate your favourite gigs, lunch and any other
events happening on the day.
4. Where are the toilets?
Look-up on the festival map and make a mental map of the
toilets in the area.
Our top tip is to avoid the toilets near the main stage
areas as there will be thousands of people using them.
5. Hydrate yourself
Festivals can be quite exciting and therefore
you will be requiring a lot more energy than usual. If it’s summer, the heat can make you dehydrated.
Carry your own water bottle to refill or invest in some water bottles and make
sure you drink plenty of water!
6. What’s in your pocket?
Keep all your important things in the same pockets. Even if
you are drunk you’ll always remember where your wallet and phone are. Make sure you don’t put your phone in your top
or back pocket. There is every chance that when you lean over you may drop your
phone.
Don’t carry anything you fear losing. Keep your personal
belongings at all times. Umbrella, wellies, medication, pocket knife, wet wipes
are some of the handy things that will save your day.
7. Take a small backpack
Take a backpack that you don’t mind getting dirty. Put all
your essentials in it. When you move places you can be sure that everything is
in one bag.
8. Getting to the front row
If
you want to reach the front row, approach by the side. Try not to go near the
front barrier as the noise is way too high, lesser space
to do your thing and it’s a big struggle to leave the place and get back.
9. Be present, live in the moment
Disconnect with your phone and connect with new people,
dance your heart out, be in the moment and enjoy every bit of it.
10. Plan your departure
Plan your farewell from the festival. Either leave earlier
than the festival end times or leave after the crowd has numbered down. If you
leave when everyone leaves you will be stuck in a bottleneck traffic where
everyone is trying to get out at once.
