9 replies to this topic

[katienash]

Hiya Guys

Me and my hubby are first timers to all things festival and it seems many of you on here are festival veterans so am hoping for some useful advice!!

I'd am probably thinking about everything WAAAAYYY to much but heh, I cant help it!!

So, can you let me know your thoughts on.......

Taking food.....should we bother?  Was thinking of taking stuff for breakfast at least??!

Trying to smuggle alcohol - is it REALLY worth it?

Where do we find out whats on when?

We've got some camping stools...should we bother taking them into the arena?

Ok, so thats it for now!  Any other ideas would be appreciated....see you all there....I am sure once I'm there with a cider in my hand I wont give two hoots about anything!!!

Katie & Ashley

[philius1975]

katienash, on 05 July 2010 - 10:30 AM, said:

Hiya Guys

Me and my hubby are first timers to all things festival and it seems many of you on here are festival veterans so am hoping for some useful advice!!

I'd am probably thinking about everything WAAAAYYY to much but heh, I cant help it!!

So, can you let me know your thoughts on.......

Taking food.....should we bother?  Was thinking of taking stuff for breakfast at least??!

Trying to smuggle alcohol - is it REALLY worth it?

Where do we find out whats on when?

We've got some camping stools...should we bother taking them into the arena?

Ok, so thats it for now!  Any other ideas would be appreciated....see you all there....I am sure once I'm there with a cider in my hand I wont give two hoots about anything!!!

Katie & Ashley

personally i dont bother with food, it means you have more weight to carry into the campsite that you cvould use for booze instead, and a bacon butty from a van will suffice and their pretty cheap

booze is tricky to smuggle into the arena, but a good way is to use one of those hydration back packs, that you can fill with vodka

dont worry about camping stools in the arena either, as you wont use them that much if its dry.

my main tip would be take a head torch, much easier to use than a normal torch and you have both hands free, you may look silly, but it also means you wont drop your torch down a toilet when in the loo in the dark (which I've done)

[Vogue]

Food- I'd say yes, take cereal or snacks for breakfast, so you can eat in your tent before the arena opens at 12pm, then buy other meals in the arena. There's a nice food area with lots of choice but it is very expensive! I'm going to take a small camping stove this year too, just to boil water for coffee or maybe pasta, hot drinks are about £2.50 so hopefully I'll save some money there.
Alcohol- No harm in trying, they do have a quick look in your bag when you enter the arena, but I found last year that there were so many people trying to push through the gate that it wouldn't have been too difficult to have something buried at the bottom of a rucksack.
Stage times- You can buy a little booklet for £10 when you enter the festival. Really expensive but kind of essential because I don't think there's any other way to find out what's going on other than to ask someone else. It's worth it to avoid missing an act you really wanted to see.
Camping stools- I wouldn't bother. You'll most likely be in the arena for almost 12 hours a day, walking between stages so you'll have to carry your stools around. And if you sit down during a performance, you won't see a thing so I doubt you'd use them! Unless it's just to have a rest which I suppose would be useful if it's raining as there's not really anywhere to sit, but I'd definitely still say no.
I hope this has helped!

[katienash]

Thank you both so much, as a complete novice I had all these questions and had no idea where to find the answers!!!  Vogue, I am going to bring a small camping stove...I cant function without a couple of coffees in me so its a MUST!

Am definately going to ditch the stools so thanks for that!

See you all there.  We are planning on camping in green so if you see a couple arguing about how to put the tent up on friday then that'll be us :-)

xxxx

[indie-rocknroll]

I dont take anything food wise, the less to carrry the better as the car park to camp can be a bit of a treck, the food is not too everally priced and I get my coffee's from the vans as well, there is one at the entrance to all camp sites.

I dont bother with torches etc.. and have never understod this the camping area's are all pretty lit and I usually just leave my pj's under the pillow before I go off for the day.

I dont carry chairs I always go halves with someone and buy a biy comfy inflatable double sofa thing when I get there, already inflated and then lease it there.  I think the important thing is to travel light, everything is there is you brake something, loose something or forget something

Booze is worth trying to smuggle, the ques for the bars are a joke, I have succesfully smuggled every year until my bag of wine came undon from my waist in front of security and fell on the floor.

Wehn you get there you will be offered time tables thingies, only buy them once you are inside, people sell them for a fiver outside the gates, for the last 3 years they have been wrong, only get the legit ones.

[penny20!!]

hiya
i was a newbie last year 2 V but luckily i went with people who go every year, food wise im taking a disposable bbq, sausages, bacon that kinda thing, defo need a portable kettle stove thingy there fab!!

i took a blanket into the arena with me 2 sit on, but it just annoyed me in the end so im guessing stools would be alot worse.

you would be mad 2 not try n sneak drink in, last year the drink tokens were £4.50 each and im guessing they will go up this year and the queues are a joke. last year i hid 2 cans and a small bottle of vodka (in a water bottle) in my over the shoulder bag and put my coat over it, got in fine... this year though id suggest you go to tkmaxx and look at there hydration drink containers, there small and flat with a release valve straw-tube thing, easy to hide. My friend is taking them orange flavor calipo drinks with her, emptying them and filling them up with vodka, and just buying her coke inside from the food vans. good idea i think as it is flat in your pocket and not bulging out like a bottle or can would.

also last year i didnt bother buying the booklet thats tells you whose on at what time, you can just ask eny1 with them round there necks if u can have a look no1 says no, this year might buy 1 tho because theres a lot of acts i want 2 c so dont want to miss any wheras last year i wasnt 2 bothered who i saw. hope that helps sos iv gone on a bit

[bcfctrev]

katienash, on 05 July 2010 - 10:30 AM, said:

Hiya Guys

Me and my hubby are first timers to all things festival and it seems many of you on here are festival veterans so am hoping for some useful advice!!

I'd am probably thinking about everything WAAAAYYY to much but heh, I cant help it!!

So, can you let me know your thoughts on.......

Taking food.....should we bother?  Was thinking of taking stuff for breakfast at least??!

Trying to smuggle alcohol - is it REALLY worth it?

Where do we find out whats on when?

We've got some camping stools...should we bother taking them into the arena?

Ok, so thats it for now!  Any other ideas would be appreciated....see you all there....I am sure once I'm there with a cider in my hand I wont give two hoots about anything!!!

Katie & Ashley

Was our first time last year...

FOOD
Food, a good idea to take stuff for breakfast, although there's a cafe outside the arena that does all day brekkies for about £5.  There's a load of food outlets in the middle of the arena, which are all burger pizza type places, then there's a couple of posher food outlets in the far corners of the main field, these aren't much more expensive than the burger outlets, and they have seats and a guinness tent (cash bar), plus you can see the 4 music stage from there

SEATS
You wont be allowed to take the camping stools in with you, you could buy one of those inflatable armchairs, and smuggle it in, then blow it up once you're in the arena, you wont be able to use it in either of the 2 tented stages.  

DRINKS
outside the arena, there's a Carling amnesty bar, you take any unopened can of beer (aldi's own very cheap sh*t, and they swap it for a cold can of carling)
inside the arena, you're put under the impression that everywhere is a token bar.  The token bars are the main carling bars, I think there's 3 banks of them in the arena, for these, you need to queue to buy tokens at the token booth, then move and queue to get a drink.
We queued for ages on the friday night, and brought about £200 worth of tokens to last us.  Needn't have bothered, go to the token booths when you get in on the saturday, they're pretty empty, make sure you only buy what you need, as last year, tickets can only be exchanged for cash, on the day of purchase.  So if you buy all your tickets on the friday, you can't swap cash in your leftover tickets on the sunday night (not sure if they're using this stupid rule again)

[bcfctrev]

bcfctrev, on 12 July 2010 - 01:27 PM, said:

Was our first time last year...

FOOD
Food, a good idea to take stuff for breakfast, although there's a cafe outside the arena that does all day brekkies for about £5.  There's a load of food outlets in the middle of the arena, which are all burger pizza type places, then there's a couple of posher food outlets in the far corners of the main field, these aren't much more expensive than the burger outlets, and they have seats and a guinness tent (cash bar), plus you can see the 4 music stage from there

SEATS
You wont be allowed to take the camping stools in with you, you could buy one of those inflatable armchairs, and smuggle it in, then blow it up once you're in the arena, you wont be able to use it in either of the 2 tented stages.  

DRINKS
outside the arena, there's a Carling amnesty bar, you take any unopened can of beer (aldi's own very cheap sh*t, and they swap it for a cold can of carling)
inside the arena, you're put under the impression that everywhere is a token bar.  The token bars are the main carling bars, I think there's 3 banks of them in the arena, for these, you need to queue to buy tokens at the token booth, then move and queue to get a drink.
We queued for ages on the friday night, and brought about £200 worth of tokens to last us.  Needn't have bothered, go to the token booths when you get in on the saturday, they're pretty empty, make sure you only buy what you need, as last year, tickets can only be exchanged for cash, on the day of purchase.  So if you buy all your tickets on the friday, you can't swap cash in your leftover tickets on the sunday night (not sure if they're using this stupid rule again), although we'd spent out by sunday afternoon, and had to buy more

[Suzelou]

Hi I was new last year and got some great tips from the forum.  I parked in the South carpark, the nearest to the Gold campsite, to be directed there I said I was meeting up with 'friends'.  This meant less to carry to the campsite and we could use the boot as storage. There was also a toilet block in the South carpark, which was used less!

Arrive as early as you can on Friday, the campsites fill up quick, by 2pm people were trying to find space, however the green and grey, which I could see in the distance filled up last, I think because they may furthest away from the carparks.

I took some tin foods (hotdogs), camping stove, bottled water and a flask for pot noodles, hot drinks etc. because I went with my two teenage children and it would of been expensive to buy x3 all day.

Have fun

[AiiShotTheDJ]

Hi!

Welcome to the world of festival go-ers! I've been for four years now and wouldn't trade the V weekend for the world! Here's some (hopefully) helpful tips!

1) toilet roll, hand sanitizer (£1 from asda or the like) and a torch (preferably a head torch) are a must!!! There's nothing worse than going to the loo in the middle of the night where you cant see a thing (the toilets WILL overflow with poo at one stage or another!) and having no loo roll or hand sanitizer to clean yourself (they have sanitizer in the toilets but it runs out FAST!) Also, wet wipes are a MUST!! I have never dared venture to the showers although there are some its far easier to just have wet wipes! Also, give your hair a good condition on the friday and it should stay fairly soft until the sunday at least, nothing worse than greasy hair!!!

2) wellies are a must! if the aforementioned happens in the toilet you don't want to get your shoes ruined! Plus if there is the tiniest bit of rain the place turns in to a bog!

3) I always take light snacks, like crisps, biscuits, things that don't weigh much but that you can have a snack throughout the day to save the need to buy 3 meals a day-especially if there's two of you as it can be quite costly!

4) You can smuggle alcohol in to the arena very easily if you're clever about it.  We always mix vodka and coke or archers and lemonade in water/coke bottles.  The only reason they will take a plastic bottle off of you there is if it looks as if it has been tampered with i.e. half drunk (I have had this happen a couple of times and been told to bin it or finish it), but if the bottles look unopened you will get through no problems! Also, make sure you walk through a gate with a male steward if you are female as they cannot touch search you, meaning a quick scan of your bag and you're fine to go.  Never had a problem with getting alcohol in though, you can even go so far as to put bottles in your wellies.  There are so many people there that they don't have time to search anybody really, plus it saves £4.50 for a smirnoff ice!!

5) Don't pack too much! A couple of t-shirts, a hoody, a waterproof and a couple of jeans (plus underwear) will suit you fine.  The first year i went i acted like it was a fashion parade and took wayyyyyy too much as it's a fair old walk.  Rucksacks and sack barrows are the best option as if it has been raining anything you need to drag will get stuck in the mud! I learnt this the hard way when I (stupidly!) took a suitcase!!

The best bit of the whole weekend (at staffs) is the indie disco on the friday night.  It's not advertised so many people don't know that it happens but I think it starts about 7.30/8.00 and goes on for 2-3 hours in the JJB tent (the big blue one!), its well worth a visit!!!!

I hope this helps! And if I think of anything else I will add it!!

Kelly x