We’ve flirted briefly with this subject in our festival top 10 tips article but it does probably merit its own mention.
The importance of looking after yourself at a festival definitely shouldn’t be underestimated. For those who take it super seriously the prep starts well in advance of the festival and it’s viewed up there with marathon planning. No-one wants their once in a lifetime / annual highlight ruined because they didn’t prepare and they peaked / crashed on day one.
Extreme preparation – if you’re in this camp then you’ll be ensuring peak fitness well in advance of the event itself. At Glastonbury in particular there is a LOT of walking and a fair bit of stamina required. If you’ve not prepared you could find yourself struggling on day 1 and, if you make it through day 1, you might not be in the best condition on day 2. Repeat for 5 days. If you’ve arrived on the Wednesday then you could potentially peak before the festival even gets going. We’ve seen it many many times and no-one wants this.
If you’ve been on the sedentary side, and who hasn’t been working from home all these months, then it’s a good idea to start building up your steps gradually from, we’d suggest, April. Spring will have sprung and it’ll be all the more enjoyable. It’s good to do it for a purpose and there’s no better one than Glastonbury.
If you’ve seen our advice in our top tips article on ‘sensible walking shoes’ being the smart choice then make sure that they’re worn in (or reworn in). I’ve been known, with boots / shoes that I’m unsure of, to wear a preventative plaster because you know what they say about prevention…. Wellies feel like a good choice in extreme mud but they’re not usually a good choice to cover long distances in. Blisters won’t start to feel better until you’re long home. Fact.
Packing is another area we touched on in our top tips article. In short, prepare for all [weather] eventualities and not just for the day you pack. Extreme wet and extreme heat are the top 2 you should prepare for. If not then your festival experience could, again, be compromised before it’s even begun. Dry bags are a great idea and so is a sunhat and high factor sunscreen. There’s very little shade on the festival site – guests at The Pop-Up Hotel usually stay on the hotel site longer in ’extreme’ years which is lovely for us as we get to chat with them longer.
A small, well thought out first aid kit is a must too. We’ve covered plasters but antiseptic cream, antihistamines, paracetamol and remedies for upset stomachs are all things that you’ll be glad you packed unnecessarily – if you know what I mean.
Another key ‘looking after yourself’ issue is getting a good nights sleep. If you’re not in a proper bed here with us at The Pop-Up Hotel then make sure your temporary bed and bedding is up to the task. Don’t risk your 15 year old air bed on the basis that it was fine last time you used it on your Duke of Edinburgh award trip. If in doubt buy a new one and test it beforehand. Sleeping on the hard floor is not fun – it’s up there with blisters. On the subject of sleep – always take earplugs. The people around you, known or otherwise, might have different sleeping patterns to you. Failing to get a good nights sleep for x nights on the trot will seriously affect your festival experience particularly if you end up falling out with friends at the same time.
The final bits of advice are to pace yourself and keep yourself fed and watered. It’s easy to get carried away and think that you’re too cool for all this ‘self care’ malarkey but, if you don’t look after yourself then you won’t have the best time possible and that, after all, if the main priority. If you’ve got any top tops that you’d like to share then please do – we love to chat.
