About To Pop My Cherry

[Manny326]

I was wondering if there are any books/eBooks or well-known guides for 1st time festival goers?

Would be really helpful since I am going to a few festivals in 2012!!!

Manny

[t8yman]

the internet (especially this site/forums) is all you need.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Using this site plus reading the festivals own website thoroughly would suffice.

[grumpyhack]

Prepare well - especially equipment. A decent tent and a good night's sleep can make a lot of difference. I find that the social side of festivals - sitting around the tent with good company and putting the world to rights is every bit as important as the music.

[Capzilla]

Agreed: Internet and friends or acquaintances are your best advisors. Although festivals have a lot in common, each festival has its own rules, customs and need-to-knows, so a generic book will only be of moderate value.

Also, you could try to gain some experience yourself by starting to visit local, single-day festivals. They won't prepare you for camping but at least give you a generic festival feeling. Camping itself is a different discipline for which many more sources exist, although festival camping has its own merits and demerits due to a different availability of facilities compared to regular campings.

Or indeed: just ask around on forums such as this one!

[Spindles]

I ran out of likes for the answers on this thread.

I misread the first post as well.

Ah well, moving along.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Spindles

[Spartacus Mars]

My debut festival equipment was the clothes I happened to have on me (*) a tiny £5 novelty children's tent from Tesco, an ancient sleeping bag - and that's about it. Friends of mine turned up at festivals without the tent and a sleeping bag and either raved till dawn or talked a random into a tent-share.

Everything else is just a luxury. I mean, sure, I travel heavier these days but you don't need the De Luxe on your first few festivals. Let youth, eagerness, cash, and drink & drugs see you through.

(* admittedly that policy did lead to the awful situation of chinos and a shirt to a Northern Green Gathering. Ten minutes around the Tat-4-Tibet stand and I had a threadbare hoodie and gargantuan bright yellow "Sinbad" pantaloons... letting me blend-in nicely!)

[Rufus Gwertigan]

I was thinking of writing "An Idiots Guide to Festivals" but my last book "An Idiots Guide to Abseiling" was not the success I expected. Thankfully though the only copy I sold was laminated and the blood just wiped off.

[Spindles]

lol@rufus

@Mr Mars, yeah, my early festivals were all extremely poorly planned events which resulted in chaos, disorder and a brilliant time. My mates also used to travel without tents and kip in marquees or just stay up all night then get some shut eye in the morning sun.

These days it's like a military campaign in my planning, the equipment I have built up over the years meaning I can live in some comfort and in some ways I miss the simplicity of it, in others not: I couldn't imagine not having an airbed and sleeping bag now, whereas I used to just use my clothes as bedding if it got a little chilly.

My best tip is buy some brand new socks, twice as many pairs as there are days of the festival, they only cost a couple of quid a pack or whatever. Wear 2 pairs of socks and your boots don't rub so you don't get blisters and your socks don't fall down and putting on brand new socks at a festival feels like a shower for your feet.

[abdoujaparov]

the best tip for planning for your first festival is dont do it...

I did no research before my first festival (in the days before the internet), other than working out vaguely how I'd get there. I did my first Glastonbury with the clothes I stood up in an a big bag of speed...and had a shambolically great time

dont read books, dont read this site...just get a ticket, turn up and enjoy yourself

if all else fails, just make sure you've got lots of speed

[Rufus Gwertigan]

I wonder if the OP found a book?

[grumpyhack]

Not being ageist (well actually being ageist) it may depend on how old you are. In my youth I was happy to rough it. In my old age I like my creature comforts.

[Spindles]

Indeed, there is also the thing that if you see your neighbours at a festival getting good use out of something one year, you are more likely to grab the same item in the future. I now take a stove, kettle and all sorts of bits and pieces to make my week more comfortable, so much that I need a trolley. A long shout from the days of walking the last few miles with a cheap dome tent and a binbag with some clothes in

[Rufus Gwertigan]

Indeed, there is also the thing that if you see your neighbours at a festival getting good use out of something one year, you are more likely to grab the same item in the future. I now take a stove, kettle and all sorts of bits and pieces to make my week more comfortable, so much that I need a trolley. A long shout from the days of walking the last few miles with a cheap dome tent and a binbag with some clothes in

[kaosmark2]

Yeah. There's a lot of tricks and habits I've got into now, but ultimately, tent, sleeping bag, tickets and the ability to get there is all you really need. Overplanning can mean you miss out on the joys of discovering something.

[Spartacus Mars]

Is what this site needs is a proper 1-page-guide for festival equipment?

Could we Brain-Storm a list?

I think the biggest one is either don't bother with cans that require a can opener OR bring a can-opener. Nothing but nothing is worse than having a morning hangover, a tin of beans & sausages - and no access to it.

My top-tip is Asian pot noodles from a Chinese supermarket. Not only do they taste fantastic they're lightweight compared to tins of food.

Another is "Nature's Finest" fruit, not tinned fruit it comes in a plastic "jar". Eat the fruit with a fork and then pour rum into the juice for a perfect cocktail.

Another is buy boxes of wine. No glass, huge volume, and you can use the empty bags for pillows.

Final one - the one we're all familiar with - bring both bog roll AND wet-wipes.

- - -

ADDENDUM - Some people recommend clothes with lots of pockets. I like a runner's wristband with a zip pocket on it. Whatever, you don't want to leave your cash/keys/credit card in your tent, and you might/should/will get off your face, so basically find a way of nailing all your valuables so securely to yourself you can't rid yourself of them short of a flame-thrower shower.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Spartacus Mars

[Rufus Gwertigan]

Is what this site needs is a proper 1-page-guide for festival equipment?

Could we Brain-Storm a list?

I think the biggest one is either don't bother with cans that require a can opener OR bring a can-opener. Nothing but nothing is worse than having a morning hangover, a tin of beans & sausages - and no access to it.

My top-tip is Asian pot noodles from a Chinese supermarket. Not only do they taste fantastic they're lightweight compared to tins of food.

Another is "Nature's Finest" fruit, not tinned fruit it comes in a plastic "jar". Eat the fruit with a fork and then pour rum into the juice for a perfect cocktail.

Another is buy boxes of wine. No glass, huge volume, and you can use the empty bags for pillows.

Final one - the one we're all familiar with - bring both bog roll AND wet-wipes.

- - -

ADDENDUM - Some people recommend clothes with lots of pockets. I like a runner's wristband with a zip pocket on it. Whatever, you don't want to leave your cash/keys/credit card in your tent, and you might/should/will get off your face, so basically find a way of nailing all your valuables so securely to yourself you can't rid yourself of them short of a flame-thrower shower.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

if all else fails, just make sure you've got lots of speed

[Spindles]

..and even if it doesn't you will at least believe that it did

There is an ultimate packing thread somewhere in the glasto section that is second to none, I think it's in questions.

@rufus, I recall seeing a pic of you with your rucksack in 2009, it's a mighty beast (with room for puppets) iirc.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

..and even if it doesn't you will at least believe that it did

There is an ultimate packing thread somewhere in the glasto section that is second to none, I think it's in questions.

@rufus, I recall seeing a pic of you with your rucksack in 2009, it's a mighty beast (with room for puppets) iirc.

[abdoujaparov]

This. But with the addition of a supply of mushrooms as well. After that the rest will sort itself out.

[Capzilla]

I was thinking of writing "An Idiots Guide to Festivals"

[kaosmark2]

But do we really want (more) idiots at festivals?

[Rufus Gwertigan]

It's ok, it's not a guide for idiots, it's a guide by an idiot

[kaosmark2]

:-(