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Belts are perfect for festivals. You can carry all your belongings, purse, camera etc and can even attach or hang bottles of drinking water to them. This is a great way of carrying all you belongings around with you but keeping your hands free for dancing! Which, at the end of the day is the whole reason for being there.
You can find them in most hippie type shops. They are also sold at most festivals.
1. Lots of free newspapers are often available. A layer of these under your sleeping bag/mat will help insulate the chill from the ground and soak up water if there are spillages etc.
2. Avoid tent theft: take as little as possible. When you leave the tent, fill the sleeping bag with other possessions and shape as if someone is asleep in it, obscuring where the head would be. Unless it's raining, leave the door a little undone so it looks like someone's home.
A great festival, full of whimsy and silliness. I think everyone should go at least once.
One of the best things about a festival is meeting up with friends you might not get to see all the time. If you're camping together but arriving separately, finding each other can be a challenge. So I recommend creating a tall marker in the centre of your tents with whatever you can get your hands on. We usually duct-tape together a few wooden poles, stick it in the ground, and use twine and stakes to stabilize it. Then at the top place a totem that all your friends will know to look for. In the past we've tried a small silver Christmas tree and a bunch of helium balloons. The added bonus? You can always find your way back to your tent no matter how much you've had to drink!
We loaded our tent and beers onto a heavy duty golf cart. It coped with the mud and was much cheaper then the wagons we looked at in B&Q
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Super fun, original, friendly, alternative and it's on my birthday!
My tips for a festival; take baby wipes, anti-bacterial solution and plenty of spare clothes, wellies even if it looks sunny (this is England after all), plenty of plasters for feet that have been dancing (hopefully lots) and some dressing up clothes, even face paints :)
It's a secret
www.secretgardenparty.com/2009/
Every time I go to a festival it hurts me to see lil ones without ear protection. It's so important for them if you take them close to the bands. I've been taking my toddler to festivals since he was six months old and with some decent ear protection, I haven't had to worry about his well being.
They are also very fashionable, as seen on Apple Martin at Live Aid.
Buy them online
Set on the edge of Wiseman's Bridge bay, on the Pembrokeshire coast, this dog-friendly inn is a great all-year round visit. The large patio area overlooking the beach lends itself perfectly to balmy summer evenings, a cool sea breeze and a glass of something cold - we have also holed up there during the depths of winter, in the snug beamed bar area, where canine pals are also welcomed. The inn serves home-made food/snacks and has a separate dining area though most people opt to spent their time here outside, whatever the weather - the view is lovely!
On the coast road between Saundersfood and Amroth - www.wisemansbridgeinn.co.uk. 01834 813236
Nobody wants a glass of lukewarm white wine on a lovely sunny music day out in the field do we?
Which is why I recommend buying a box of wine of your choice then freezing it prior the festival. Then, just pop it in a cool bag when you are ready to go and you will have chilled white for two days.
When choosing which booze to fuel your festival festivities, forget the heavy warm cans of non-enviromentally friendly lager and instead opt for a box of wine.
"A box of wine?" I hear you say. Trust me, besides feeling a shade more sophisticated than your cider swilling neighbours, when it's empty simply remove the foil inner bag, blow it up through the plastic wine pump and you have a handy pillow!
The wine can be found in any supermarket, the festivals in various fields and the Big Chill at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire
Funky, healthy and bang in the middle of the village. Top prices, great choices. Open till 10pm (There is also a great clothes shop downstairs). Don't miss it!
Uig is a little gem, the countryside around it enchanting and Andi and Vicki are fab hosts. Their B&B oozes coziness, their breakfasts are able to raise one from the dead and if you stay for dinner you won't be disappointed either (pocket or tummy-wise).
They also arrange a lot of outdoor activities but, alas, the weather has to be on your side!
A friendly, family-run, small hotel. Proprietors Rod and Wendy make all their guests very welcome. The hotel is well situated in Shanklin, handy for the beach, shops, a wide choice of restaurants and public transport. Accomodation is spotless and represents excellent value for money. A very good website will do more justice to the place than I can.
www.theappley.com
Address -
13, Queens Road
Shanklin
PO37 6AW
Telephone - 01983 862666
This is genius. I camped next to a family last year at Glastonbury who seemed to have bought everything with them but the kitchen sink: portable loo, mini fridge and enough food to feed the entire site. The first thing they did when they arrived was build a family size dining table out of the fire wood. I don't think they ever left their camp, all they seemed to do was eat and drink. When it came to packing up they pulled out their workmans loading trolley, stacked up all their stuff and wrapped the whole lot up in clingfilm, firmly securing it for the long walk back to the car. The only thing they had to carry was their packed lunch for the journey home. Brilliant!
General festival tips
1. Music can be better appreciated from a great height. Make friends with tall men next to you in the crowd (girls and guys) so they can put you on their shoulders.
2. Try and drink spirits rather than beer if you are deadly keen on getting a decent spot in front of your favourite band. There’s nothing worse than having to leave to pee right before they make their entrance.
3. Construct a timetable of all the bands and acts you want to see before leaving home.
4. Use Spotify to check out and listen to every band playing at the festival. Chances are you’ll be madly in love with at least one band you haven’t already heard of this time next year.
At this unique, glittering boutique festival I recomend you push yourself out of your comfort zone and dress up to the max, chitter chat with many a stranger and try excting new things. Explore and indulge yourself!
If you have to camp on a hill at a festival, try and remember to sleep with your head at the highest point and your body pointing down hill. This will help you sleep better - you may need all the help you can get to achieve a good nights sleep!
I always used to take far too much food to Glastonbury. This was heavy to carry the long distance from the car park to the campsites, and only lasted a day or so. My advice is to take only enough food for the first day and then sample the fab food on offer all around. If you do need to take lots of food and drink, invest in a wheelbarrow or small trolley to help cart it from car to tent.
Finally my festival essetials: very good walking boots (they keep your feet dry, and are better than wellies), wet wipes, and a couple of bottles of water to glug after a heavy cider/Perry session at the Brothers bar. A hat and sunscreen are good to have. And don't forget to have a warm jacket, as the nights can get chilly.
all uk festivals
Take sunscreen with you! Even if it's not so hot you'll be outside for a long time and it's surprising how quickly you can burn. One year I was the only person who brought any suncream, it was really hot and everyone was fighting over that tiny little pot!
Why spectate when you can participate? However small your gesture, whether it's smiling at everyone you walk past, taking an extra bottle of suntan lotion with you for scorched skins, or a few unwanted carrier bags for mud/ wet free wellie-liners - help your fellow festival goer enjoy their experience and I guarantee it will add to your own experience - use the Burning Man festival in Nevada ethos as your guide - leave consumerism and money at the gate and try and give a little something of yourself instead.
Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Southwold, Sunrise Coast,Suffolk
www.latitudefestival.co.uk
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