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Writer's pictureChimwemwe Chirwa

Guide for Festival Goers



Festival season is upon us and with a week to go until some of the biggest music festivals in the UK such as Reading and Leeds, Creamfields and Cumbria’s very own Solfest, we created this guide to everything you will need for your festival adventure.


1. Clothing


Last year we searched up, down and round the outside of places where you can get some festival garms in Cumbria so we’re giving you a refresher on some of these clothes shops on offer and thrown in some fresh new places for good measure:


Wild Abandon, Kendal: Good for hippy chic, beautiful tapestries to decorate your tent and organic and vegan self care products.


Wild Abandon colourful shop display


Assembly Rooms Emporium, Lancaster: Great for fancy dress, pop culture jewellery and accessories as well as some rave essentials like UV paint, hair dye, glow sticks and more.


Thrift’n’Shout Wavey Garms, Lancaster: A thrift shop providing Vintage Era aesthetics such as YK2 and 90s, also great for grunge, soft boy and blokecore.


The Real North, Carlisle: A new recommendation for 2023 is this Cumbrian themed streetwear shop also offer printing if you really want to stand out from the crowd.


Working Class Heroes, Ulverston: Based on a recommendation from artist Kieran we interviewed a couple months back, new for 2023 is Working Class Heroes, self described by Kieran as: ‘a local unisex streetwear and outdoors clothing shop’.


Working Class Heroes shop front. Photo credit: Working Class Heroes


2. The Bare Necessities


The absolute must have clothing for camping wherever you are going are;


Wellies: you know what the weather in this country is like, don’t risk losing your favourite trainers.


Ponchos: (at least three).


Not fancying a plain plastic poncho, there’s plenty of reusable and novelty ponchos online. Photo credit: Smyla.com

Sliders or sandals: for getting in and out of your tent so that you aren’t treading in dirty trainers.


Sunglasses and a hat: we can dream right?


Bring a load of socks and two pairs of trainers: so that if they get wet during the day you have spares to change into for the night and you're not squelching about for the foreseeable.


3. Hygiene


Festivals are notoriously dirty and if you don’t want to have to pay a premium for access to showers or ‘posh’ loos then this is going to save you money whilst keeping you from getting the dreaded festival flu;


Don’t end up like Lizard Queen Lisa, keep fresh. Photo credit: 20th Century Fox


Toilet roll and hand sanitizer: for when the portaloos have run out.


A big pack of both baby and sanitising wipes: for cleaning yourself and your surroundings.


Deodorant, Body Mist and Dry Shampoo: to keep you smelling fresh.


Toothpaste and chewing gum: (obvs but you never know).


Micellar water and facial wipes: for when you need to get the glitter off from the day before.


Insect and bug spray: festivals are unfortunately the perfect place for midges, wasps and ants to thrive.


Wash Cloth X2: one for body, one for the face


The Essentials of Easy Camping:


In this part of the edit we aren’t going to tell you the bare minimum things you need like a sleeping bag but we will tell you what can make camping life so much easier for you;


Make camping as simple as possible for you. Photo credit: Rooster Teeth


Torches and Fairy Lights: At some point your phone will die and you’ll need to traverse your way through a sea of tents in the dark…


That doesn’t sound ideal but if you attach fairy lights to the outside of your tent and have a torch handy you probably won’t end up tripping over a million tent guides!

Power Bank: Okay so if your phone dying in that last made up scenario made you panic it’s probs best if you bring a power bank to keep your phone charged up.


Ear defenders: Festivals can get super noisy at night so ear defenders/plugs may help you get a better night sleep or not break your eardrums if you're a baseline junkie.


Reusable Cups, Water Bottles: Many festivals won’t allow you into the main arena with glass or cans but they will allow you to bring reusable cups that you have decanted your drinks into.


Better yet depending on what festival you go to, some vendors give out boiling water for free so if you're anything like us and need a coffee in the morning but don’t want to pay extortionate prices just buy some 2 in 1 coffees and ask for hot water in your cup.


The humble water bottle will be not only your saviour for thirst but also is needed for hygiene reasons like brushing your teeth and washing your body, bring one or you’ll pay the hefty £3+ price tag for a measly 330ml bottle of water.


Reusable cups are an absolute life and planet saver. Photo credit: Green Goblet


A Sharpie: Now you might be thinking why would I need a pen? Well if you and your mates have the same taste in drinks and you have the same bottle it might be an idea to Sharpie it up so you know who's who's.


You could get an autograph opp, write down phone numbers incase your phone does die and you need to contact your mates and it’s good for making signs!


Bin Bags: They are important for keeping your camp area tidy, tie one to your tent and use something slightly weighted to keep the rubbish from flying everywhere!


Travel sized games: When you're chilling at your campsite you might want a football, deck of cards or other travel sized games to pass the time with your friends or family!


Chippy chips from a festival what more could you ask for? Photo credit: Mini Adventures


Food: Only you know what your favourite scran is but we recommend bringing foods that are high in protein like nuts and breakfast bars, fruit to help keep your vitamins up and some sugary snacks to keep your energy up like chocolate, fruit bars etc.


Vitamins are great to bring to festivals as well and remember to bring foods that don’t perish easily.


Whatever camping festival you go to, have fun and stay safe!


Have we missed anything that you always bring camping, let us know in the comments.

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