Lesson 14 - Choosing and preparing for a festival

Going to festivals in those long summer holidays is an integral part of university life for some people. Festivals are a unique experience to share with friends, and something you'll remember forever.

You need to pick your festival first. One thing that's amazing about living in the UK is the amount of festivals that go on in the summertime. Whether you're into pop, rock, dub, grime, house, dance, hiphop or just want an all-out hippy experience, you'll find a festival for you with a decent amount of research. You can also decide whether or not you want to camp at a festival, or just get day passes/go to a one-day indoor festival.

You could, alternatively, choose to go further afield and check out a festival abroad. If you've got serious money to burn, Coachella festival takes place in California, and tends to kick off the international festival season. Closer to home, Benicassim festival is hosted in Spain every July. Remember, if you go for a festival abroad, you're going to have to factor in travel costs such as flights and transfers.

As I've only graced Worthy Farm with my presence, this lesson (and the other festival-related lessons) is based around attendees of the legendary Glastonbury festival! However, there are some basic "festival-etiquette" rules that are applicable wherever you choose to go. 

Your preparation for any festival is key. Make sure you have a tent that is going to keep you warm and dry. Getting into a damp tent is going to do nothing for your mood when you're tired and unwashed. Similarly, check that your sleeping bag hasn't got mould growing in it and pack wellies and a waterproof coat.

You also need an adaptable festival wardrobe that can cope with sunshine as well as the somewhat inevitable showers. A pair of trousers, a pair of shorts and then vest tops with a hoody to chuck on the top is a pretty winning combination. Make sure you don't take anything away that you would mind getting ruined, especially shorts/trousers. I chucked my jeans away at Glastonbury. They were muddy, ripped and would not have been socially acceptable anywhere but at Glasto. As well as this, pack toilet roll and wet wipes galore. The "festival wet wipe wash". It's not nice, but it's a necessary evil. Make sure you've got some sun cream as well.

It's up to you how much money you decide to take to your festival of choice. This amount will hinge on whether you're buying all of your food and alcohol at the festival and whether you want to buy souvenirs and so on. We normally buy just one hot meal a day and bring bread rolls, crisps and spready cheese for lunch. We also haul alcohol there, so end up taking about a tenner a day to live on, just to be on the safe side.

Queuing in '09. Tough times.

Getting to Glastonbury is by far the most stressful part of the festival. Transport links are really good, and the organisers have recently introduced "Green Traveller" lanyards, which give those who travel to the festival by public transport certain benefits. However, you've got to be prepared to walk a fair distance with all your festival baggage. The same applies to driving to Glastonbury. The car parks are, on average, a half an hour walk away from the centre of the site. You've also got to be prepared to queue to get into the gates. The first time my housies and I went to Glasto, we sat in a queue for a good couple of hours before chancing it and diverting down some tiny country lanes.

Lesson 15 - Surviving a festival COMING SOON!