Festival Know How

Around the world and especially in the UK, US, and Europe the festival has become one of the pleasures of life, again.  Traditionally this was exactly how different societies got together for many reasons.  It was a time of trade and music as well as arts and crafts.  The more that people attend festivals means that music lovers can have festivals specifically dedicated to their favourite genre.  It is possible to have a festival for rock, dance, jazz, blues, classical, ethnic or any kind of music that exists.  Those who thrive on variety can attend festivals that offer a variety.  Most festivals started small and grew and grew over the years.  There are festivals that started with less than a hundred participants and are now huge international events attracting tens of thousand of people. 

If you go to a festival it is more than likely you will have to go without the comforts of home.  Festivals are all about getting out and away from it all.  This is easily accomplished if you enjoy camping. Going to a festival with a crowd of mates is a lot of fun.  All you need is a couple of tents and if you don’t want to be bothered with cooking then buy ready cooked food.  But as you attend more and more festivals, you become more skilled at making your festival time more comfortable.  It does make the whole experience a better one if you have a comfortable sleeping bag and a hot shower.  If the festival is in the UK there is always the chance that you will have rain.  And yes, with the rain there is always mud.  You do need a decent shower or some means of cleaning up.  The days of making like a hippie in a river are long gone.

A really good tip is to get to the festival as early as you can.  If you can get to the site the day before it starts, so much the better.  It is also important that you realise that camping at a festival is entirely different from camping at a campsite.  If you get there early, there will be loads of space.  But as people arrive and the place fills up you will find people pitch their tents really close to one another.  Here’s another good tip.  If you are in a crowd and have more than one tent then pitch them facing one another.  To keep strangers from walking between your tents put up a ‘fence’ or rope around your area.  Going to a festival in a crowd is also a lot safer than going as a single or a couple.