Going to a music festival is a fantastic experience that is unique to each and every person who attends.
You can enjoy yourself in so many different ways!
However, if it’s your first time, you may not know what to do there.
And some people may not know what NOT to do there.
In this handy, quick guide, I will go through the top five things to absolutely do at festivals, and the top five things to never do!
First, let’s start with the positive. Here are the things you absolutely must do at every festival!
Do’s
1. See The Bands
This really confuses me, but there are people who go to music festivals and don’t watch the bands!
Now, I like hanging out in a field and day-drinking as much as the next guy, but I can drink in a field for free!
Go see the bands!
However, don’t just see the bands you bought a ticket for: go see new music.
Check out that alternative stage.
That band with the funny name? See if they’re any good!
You never know, you may just discover your new favourite band!
2. Take Photos
Festivals go by quickly!
The wait and the queuing will take ages, but then you’re there, and before you know it, you’re going home again and you don’t know where the time went!
So take photos!
Of your camp, of the arena, of random drunks you meet and make friends with. The festival will only last for a few days, but your memories will last forever, and photos will help!
Just be mindful of taking too many photos when watching the bands, as this can be distracting to those around you and impact their experience.
Photos are great, but be considerate!
For more advice on this, check out my blog ‘When To Take a Photo At a Gig‘.
3. Make Friends
If you’re going to a music festival, you will be camping with thousands of people with similar interests to you.
In other words: thousands of potential friends!
Talk to the people camped next to you. You’ll be neighbours for a few days, so it makes sense to be friends with them.
Plus you can start a little neighbourhood watch going: if they’re at camp and you’re not and they see someone going into your tent, they will notice and may help to stop opportunist thievery.
4. Take Care of Your Friends
Now, I am sure you wouldn’t do this!
However, I have heard stories of people getting drunk at camp and being ditched at the medical tent by their ‘friends’ as they go off and have a good time.
People who do this are awful.
Don’t let your get into that state to start with, but if they do: take care of them!
You would want them to do the same for you.
5. Experience Everything!
It may be advertised as a ‘Music Festival’ but nowadays they offer so much more than just music.
Many music festivals now offer a lot of side attractions:
- Stalls & booths
- Cinemas
- Fairgrounds
- Fun events
So do some research before you go, find out what’s on and give it a go!
(But maybe don’t go on a roller coaster after visiting the Jäger tent)
Don’t’s:
1. Take a Pop-Up Tent
I would strongly advise against taking a pop up tent.
It may be the cheaper option, but honestly you are better off going for a better quality tent, even if it is a little more pricey.
It also means you can reuse it and save money by not forking out for another pop up tent the following year, as many people opt to leave them at the festival, because they were so cheap.
Pop up tents are fragile and can be taken by the smallest gusts of wind.
There’s also no chance they’ll withstand a rainstorm.
Bear in mind that this is your home for 5 days and will be keeping all of your stuff safe and dry!
Note: Yes, I know that you can get double skin pop-up tents, but I still think that a quality real tent is a much better investment.
2. Record The Bands
You have gone to a festival to enjoy the experience and create memories.
You have NOT gone to record that experience and give other people memories. (Unless you’re making YouTube videos or reviewing the festival.)
But, I make YouTube festival videos and I don’t record the bands.
My point is: if you record a band’s set at a festival, what is it for?
- You are unlikely to ever watch it again.
- If you send it to someone over snapchat, I guarantee they will skip past it.
- If you want to watch the set again, it’s probably being recorded by professionals and will be available online.
If you are recording the set, you aren’t really there, enjoying the gig.
You’re there, annoying the people behind you who now have an obstructed view.
3. Be ‘That Guy’
No-one likes that guy. You know what I mean.
THAT guy.
- The person who gets blackout drunk and ruins other peoples good time.
- The person who crowd-surfs at the back of the audience.
- The person who still thinks it’s funny to jump into random tents.
Seriously, that guy is the worst, and you may not realise you are being that guy until you’ve crossed the line and have no friends left.
On the flip side of this, if your friend is being ‘that guy’, take them to the side and tell them! It may get them to take it down a notch.
As the almighty Ice Cube said: check yourself before you wreck yourself.
4. Take Glass
A glass bottle can do some serious damage if thrown, even when empty.
Most festivals don’t even allow glass in now, so if you take it, you also risking having your spirits taken off you at the gate.
Don’t risk it. Decant your spirits into plastic before the festival.
And don’t try to hide the glass so it doesn’t get taken off of you, because then you cross into ‘THAT guy’ territory, and we’ve already covered that.
5. Take Knives Or Weapons
There is no reason you should be taking anything like this. If you’re cooking, take plastic cutlery. Even if you need to cut up bread or something, do not take a knife!
You never know what will happen. If it goes missing, you’ll just be on edge all weekend, worried that your knife has gone walkabouts.
If your festival has a fancy dress day, or you want to cosplay, thats great!
I fully endorse people expressing themselves exactly the way they want at a festival.
If you want to go as Lara Croft or Doom Guy (I have no idea who people cos-play as), have fun, but be sure to leave the weapons behind.
You know they’re fake weapons, but no-one else does.
Yeah it’s a cool costume, but leave the swords at home.
Wrap up
Festivals are a fantastic place to cut loose and have a good time, and whichever festival you go to, I am sure you will have a great time.
If you following these dos and donts of music festivals however, I can pretty much guarantee that your experience will be 10x better!
