I know it's a long hot weekend and it's easy to get carried away with the summer atmosphere, but believe me, you don't want to wear flip-flops to a festival. If you do, you're just asking for a rather large and over-enthusiastic fan jumping on your little toe right in the middle of Nick Cave. If you manage to make it through that ordeal you'll have to traipse through the indescribable liquid festering around your nearest portaloo. It smells unmentionable and by the third day of the festival it'll be an inch deep (or in footwear terms, 1.5 flip-flops). Trust me, that's the last thing you want to feel between your toes when you're miles/days away from a hot shower!

www.latitudefestival.co.uk/home/

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After Latitude treat yourself to the best fish and chips ever tasted in the Dunwich beach cafe.

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Lay shearling (thin) sheepskins under your sleeping stuff - they insulate beautifully and add a layer of comfort.

Can be found at most country fairs

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Two years ago at the Latitude festival in Suffolk, one of my friends (who is a big Strokes fan) decided it would be a good idea to jump the fence in the Uncut Arena to get a high-five from Albert Hammond Jnr.
He made it to the top of the stage and stood there with his hand reaching up, waiting for his idol to high-five him, but Albert just turned away and carried on playing, leaving my friend looking a bit lost at the front of the stage.
For me, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, but for my friend it was disappointing and embarrassing - even more so because I have photographic evidence.
So, if you're going to a festival this year, remember - rock stars don't appreciate drunk English men trying to gatecrash their set.

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Worth it though festivals are for the money, it's worth volunteering as a steward/marshall/whatever your skill, to see parts that you might not get to otherwise - possibly even backstage if you're lucky! You'll meet others easily and have fun.

On the website, as you book.

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Everyone knows one of the worst things about your favourite festivals are the toilets, right?
One way to avoid the greatest extent of such a problem is to consume an entire block of cheese immediately prior to going to said festival, slowing down certain aspects of the digestive process in such a way as to give you greater toilet freedom.
But this is not for the faint hearted, and is not without its unpleasentness when the chickens come home to roost a few days later. Be cautious!

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You have just about remembered where you camped after an hour of circling strangley similar tents to yours. You crawl inside and slump onto your damp sleeping bag only to hear the folk next door un-ironically playing Phil Collins, loudly. "Oh how will I make it through?" you cry.
The solution is simple; pop in a pair of BioEars silicon ear plugs, twang on a pair of those eyemasks you get given on flights (you can buy these and the BioEars from Boots) and drift off into a Collins-free sleep. The beauty of the BioEars is that they form a perfect seal inside your ear without having to be pushed into the canal like the foam ones and they make the festival fade away completely. The loudest thing you will hear all night will be the sound of your own breathing.
You wake, hot, uncomfortable and ready for a hard days headonism.

Boots is the answer.

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You can use it to carry your food and valuables around for the day. Use a small padlock to hold the zips together though - you don't want everything to fall out while you're moshing!

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