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You have walked from the car park with a tent on your back, a crate of drinks cutting into your fingers and a sleeping bag that keeps slipping out from under your arm. The campsite ahead is already a patchwork of nylon, the path is turning to mud, and your friends are somewhere in it with a phone that has just died. This is the first hour of most first festivals, and it is where a weekend is quietly won or lost.
This guide is written for UK camping festivals, where you live on site for several days. Well-known examples such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Download and the Isle of Wight Festival each have their own rules, so where something changes from event to event, such as ticket conditions, entry rules or what you may bring, read the official festival website before you pack and again just before you travel.
Tickets, registration and getting through the gate
The rule is short: buy only from the official ticket seller, or from the official resale scheme if the festival names one on its own website. Anything else is a gamble.
How resale scams work
Scammers know that big festivals sell out fast and that people panic afterwards. The usual pattern is a post on social media or in a group chat offering a ticket at face value, with a story about a friend who cannot go. The seller asks for a bank transfer, sends a convincing screenshot and disappears. Sometimes one genuine ticket is sold to several people, and only the first to reach the gate gets in.
- Never pay a stranger for a ticket by bank transfer. You will have almost no way to get the money back.
- Many large festivals print the buyer's name, and sometimes a photo, on the ticket. A ticket in someone else's name may simply be refused.
Registration and photo ID
Some festivals require you to register before you can buy. Glastonbury is a well-known example: each ticket is linked to a registered person with a photo, which is checked at the gate. Others ask for photo ID at entry, especially for age checks at bars and for under-18s. Check on the official website which ID is accepted and what under-16s need, carry the original document in a zipped pocket or waterproof pouch, and do not hand it to anyone outside the official entrance.
At the gate
Expect a bag search. Glass, fireworks, flares and smoke bombs, and anything that could be used as a weapon are banned at most UK festivals, and many also restrict gazebos, large gas canisters, open fires and sound systems. Each festival publishes its own banned items list, and anything confiscated is gone for the weekend. You will usually swap your ticket for a wristband here. Fit it snugly enough that it cannot slip over your hand, and do not cut it off until you are home, because you cannot re-enter without it.
Getting there and hauling your kit
A festival journey ends in a field, and the last part is always on foot. That one fact should shape how you travel and how much you take.
Coach, shuttle or car
Many large festivals run or approve official coaches from towns around the country, and many offer shuttle buses from the nearest railway station. These drop you close to the entrance and spare you driving home tired. Return departures run to fixed times, so check yours and treat it as a deadline.
Driving gives you more room for kit, but car parks at big sites can be a long walk from the campsites across uneven ground, and leaving at the end can mean a slow queue to get out of the field. Some festivals require a parking ticket bought in advance. When you park, photograph the row marker and drop a pin on your phone map while you still have signal. Searching for one car among thousands at the end of the weekend is a classic beginner's ordeal.
Each site has its own logistics. The Isle of Wight Festival adds a ferry crossing, so plan the ferry and onward transport as one trip. Glastonbury, at Worthy Farm in Somerset, is so large that walking between areas takes real time.
Trolleys, rucksacks and the one-trip rule
Pack so that you can carry everything in one trip. A second run to the car takes a long time and can cost you the pitch you were saving. The usual combination is a large rucksack for clothes and a folding trolley for the tent, sleeping kit and water. Small wheels sink in mud and jam on grass, so wide wheels are worth it, and some festivals limit trolley size, so check. Strap everything down, because loose items fall off at the first rut. Every extra chair and crate of cans is something you drag uphill.
Pitching your tent: where, when and how to find it again
Where you pitch decides how well you sleep, how dry you stay and how often you get lost.
Arrival timing
Arriving soon after the campsites open gives you the widest choice and the chance to set up in daylight. Arrive late and you take what is left, which is often beside a path, on a slope or far from everything. If your group travels separately, the first arrivals can save some space, but taping off a huge area for friends who turn up much later is a common cause of arguments.
Choosing a pitch
- Away from main paths. Paths carry people all night, and tents beside them get tripped over and leaned on.
- Not right next to the toilets. Convenient on the first afternoon, but by the last day the smell, queues and night-time traffic make it the worst spot in the field.
- Not at the bottom of a slope. Rain collects in dips. Darker, softer grass often marks where water gathers.
- With space between tents. A gap lets people pass without catching guy ropes, and makes it harder for a fire to spread.
- In a quiet campsite, if sleep matters. Many festivals have quieter, family or accessible camping areas with their own rules.
Pitching it properly
Practise putting your tent up at home. Discovering a missing pole in the dark is a miserable start. Lay a footprint, a groundsheet cut to the tent's size, underneath to protect the floor and keep damp out, but tuck it in so it does not stick out beyond the flysheet, or it will catch rain and channel it under you. Peg every guy rope tight, since a slack tent flaps in wind and leaks where the flysheet touches the inner. Bring spare pegs and a mallet, because a summer field can be rock hard or soft enough to lose pegs in.
Finding it again
At night a campsite of similar tents looks like one endless field. Give your pitch something that stands out, such as a tall flag on a pole or a distinctive string of lights, and learn its position against fixed things: a lighting tower, a numbered sign, a particular tree or a gap in a hedge. Take a photo looking back at your tent from the nearest path. Do not rely on a neighbour's gazebo, which may be gone by the next morning.
Write your name and a phone number inside the tent, and keep nothing valuable in it, since tents are easy to open and campsite thefts happen. Many large festivals offer lockers for phones, cash and car keys.
UK weather and mud: dress for both
A British summer festival can bring hot sun and heavy rain in the same afternoon. Beginners pack for one and get the other, so pack for both every time, whatever the forecast said a week earlier.
Mud
Once ground is churned by thousands of feet, it can stay muddy for days after the rain stops, and Glastonbury in particular is known for deep mud in wet years.
- Wellies that fit well enough to walk in all day. Loose or rubbing wellies give you blisters by the first evening.
- A second pair of dry shoes kept in a plastic bag in the tent.
- Plenty of thick socks. Wet socks lead to sore, damaged feet, so change them often.
- Bin bags for muddy clothes and for keeping dry ones dry.
In mud, take short steps, avoid the deepest churned patches at the edges of paths, and allow far longer to get between stages. Trolleys become almost useless, another reason to carry less.
Rain and cold nights
A poncho or light waterproof that covers your bag beats an umbrella, which is awkward in crowds and unwelcome in front of stages. Nights in a field feel much colder than the days, even in summer, so bring a warm layer, a warm hat and a sleeping bag rated for cool nights. Cotton stays wet for hours, so synthetic or wool layers are better in rain.
Sun
Sunburn catches out festival-goers in every kind of summer, because you spend hours outside with little shade, often under thin cloud. Use high-factor sunscreen and reapply it, wear a hat and cover your shoulders in the middle of the day. Heat exhaustion builds gradually, so drink water steadily rather than waiting until you are thirsty.
The packing list
A good packing list is short, because you carry everything in and out. For wider ideas on summer trips, Summer Holiday Packing This Year is a useful starting point. Clothes are covered above; this is the rest.
Shelter and sleep
- Tent, pegs, spare pegs, mallet and footprint.
- Sleeping bag for cool nights, and a sleeping mat. The ground is cold and lumpy, and a good mat matters more than people expect.
- Foam earplugs and an eye mask. Campsites are noisy late, and tents get light very early.
- Head torch, so you have both hands free at night.
Health and hygiene
- Sunscreen and lip balm.
- Wet wipes, hand sanitiser and toilet roll, since festival toilets often run out.
- Regular medication for the whole trip plus a little extra, in its original packaging.
- Plasters, blister plasters and basic painkillers.
- Reusable earplugs for the stages.
Everyday carry
- Phone and a fully charged power bank.
- Photo ID and a bank card in a zipped pocket.
- Refillable water bottle.
- Small day bag for layers, sunscreen and snacks.
Small camping extras can make the weekend noticeably easier. 3 Must Have Accessories when You Go Out Camping covers the essentials, and List of Advantageous Gadgets for Your Camping or Hiking has ideas for lighting and charging in a tent. Be selective, and leave behind glass, jewellery, an air bed with no pump and a tent far bigger than you need.
Water, food, phones and finding your friends
Water and food
Large UK festivals provide free drinking water taps across the campsites and arena, marked on the site map. Bring a refillable bottle and top it up whenever you pass a tap. Some festivals limit sales of single-use plastic bottles, so your own bottle is not optional. A collapsible water carrier at the tent helps with teeth and washing.
Food stalls cover everything from vegan dishes to chips and burgers, and queues peak at mealtimes and before headline sets, so eat a little earlier or later. Many campers bring no-cook breakfasts and snacks such as cereal bars, bread, fruit and nuts. Check the rules on stoves and gas in campsites, and if you have allergies, bring enough safe food, because ingredients are hard to check at a busy stall. Many festivals are now largely cashless, so check how payment works and decide roughly what you will spend each day, since taps on a card are easy to lose track of.
Phone battery and signal
Mobile signal at festivals is often patchy or overloaded, especially in the evening, and phones drain fast while searching for it.
- Bring a charged power bank. On-site charging points often have queues and may cost extra.
- Lower the brightness, close apps and use battery-saving or flight mode when you can.
- Save the site map and set times to your phone before you arrive, or carry a paper copy.
Meeting points instead of messages
Do not rely on phones to find each other. On the first day, agree a fixed meeting point that is easy to find and away from the crush, such as a named sign or a structure near the arena entrance, never the area directly in front of a main stage. Add a back-up rule: anyone separated goes to the meeting point on the next hour, or back to the tent. Write a friend's number on your arm or a card in your pocket in case your phone dies.
Staying safe: welfare, spiking, drugs, ears and children
Festivals have large numbers of staff, security and medical teams, and most problems come from heat, exhaustion, alcohol and getting separated. For general advice that applies to any trip, see 5 Tips for a Safe Happy Holiday.
Welfare and medical tents
Find the medical and welfare tents nearest your pitch and the main stage when you arrive. Welfare teams help anyone who feels unwell, upset, overwhelmed or lost, or who just needs somewhere quiet, and you do not need to be badly hurt to ask. If a friend seems very unwell, confused or unresponsive, get a steward or medic straight away.
Drink spiking
Spiking, adding alcohol or drugs to someone's drink without their knowledge, can happen at any event. Keep your drink with you, do not accept drinks from strangers and watch your friends' drinks too. If someone suddenly seems far more drunk than they should be, or feels sick, confused or drowsy, tell a steward, bar staff or welfare immediately and stay with them. Do not let them walk back to the tent alone.
Drugs: an honest note
Illegal drugs are as illegal at a festival as anywhere else in the UK. Bags are searched at the gate, possession can get you removed and handed to the police, and many festivals have amnesty bins at the entrance. The health risks are real too: substances sold at festivals are often of unknown strength or not what the seller claims, and heat, dehydration, lack of sleep and alcohol all make harm more likely. If someone has taken something and is unwell, take them to the medical team and tell the medics honestly what was taken. They need that information to treat people, and their priority is health.
Protect your hearing
Hours near powerful speakers, several days in a row, can cause ringing ears and lasting damage. Reusable musician-style earplugs lower the volume while keeping the sound clear. Stand away from speaker stacks and rest your ears between sets.
Children at festivals
Some festivals welcome families with children's areas and family campsites, while others have strict age limits, so check the rules on ages and accompanying adults before you book. Children need ear defenders near stages. Put a wristband or card with a parent's number on each child, teach them to find a steward and stay put if lost, and find out where the festival takes lost children.
Leaving no trace and getting home
The end of a festival is where many beginners fall down. Tired and keen to beat the queues, people leave tents, chairs and rubbish behind. Glastonbury's "Love the Farm, Leave No Trace" message reflects a problem every festival shares: whatever is left has to be cleared by staff and volunteers, and much of it goes to landfill.
Do not abandon your tent
A tent left behind is not automatically collected and given to charity. Some collection schemes exist, but most abandoned tents are too damaged, wet or dirty to reuse. Bring a tent you are willing to take home. A wet tent travels fine in a bin bag and can be dried out properly later.
Clearing your pitch
- Use the recycling and general waste bins all weekend, not just at the end.
- Collect every peg, can, wrapper and cigarette end. Pegs left in the ground can injure livestock and damage farm machinery.
- Pack up in daylight if you can, so you can see what is on the ground.
The journey home
Leaving can take longer than arriving, with fixed coach times, car park queues and everyone tired. A driver needs a proper night's sleep and no drinking the night before, plus a break on the way. Leaving a little before or after the main rush helps, and clean clothes, water and snacks in the car make the trip easier. If you like the camping but not the crowds, 5 Alternative Holidays To Do In The UK has quieter ideas.
Before you go, walk your pitch one last time with a bin bag, check that nothing of yours is left on the ground, and head home with your tent, your rubbish and your wristband still on.
Official sources and further reading
Opening times, entry rules and prices change, so check them on the official sites before you travel:
- GOV.UK: foreign travel insurance: What travel insurance should cover and how to choose a policy.
