What to take to Glastonbury festival

Or any other festival for that matter.

Glastonbury Festival last year is up there in my top five favourite things I've ever done. I can't put into words how utterly significant it was to me as an experience but the place has this magic to it that I'm certain can't  be replicated elsewhere. If you're going this year, I am incredibly envious - you're going to have an absolute ball - and here's a list of things I think you would benefit from taking. I'm no expert and you can buy pretty much anything you could possibly need at the festival itself, but I would recommend taking the following....

The essentials

• your festival ticket and any associated parking permits etc
• ID
• a tent :: if you haven't put it up before, do a test-run at home! Make sure somebody in your group brings a mallet/enough pegs etc
• sleeping bag
• a roll mat (unless you're taking an air bed)
• sun-cream/after-sun
• a bag for all of your stuff :: make sure you can carry it yourself and think about investing in some sort of carrying device in your group, but one that won't get its wheels stuck in mud!
• a backpack/small bag for daily use
• medication
• money

To wear

• enough clothes for the festival
• warm layers for sleeping
• clean clothes for home-time
• socks (more than you think you'll need)
• wellies
• trainers/a pair of comfortable shoes
• undies
• something to cover your hair :: a hat, headscarf, flowers etc
• hair ties
• sunglasses
• something waterproof :: trust me.

For hygiene purposes

• deodorant
• wet wipes and face wipes (millions of them) :: never has a damp cloth felt so refreshing
• dry shampoo
• hand gel
• a she-wee :: extremely clever contraption to avoid sitting and squatting!
• toilet roll
• packets of tissues
• if you plan to shower (hmm...), soap/shampoo/towel
• period equipment, ladies...
• hair brush/comb :: to minimise the knotty, tangled mess you're going to have to rectify come Monday

Other helpful bits

• bin bags :: loads of them for rubbish obviously, resting muddy things on inside the tent and all sorts of other unspecified purposes
• duct tape :: for fixing most things
• an air bed (+ pump) :: worth carrying for the extra comfort and warmth of being a little further away from the ground
• a phone that you don't care about loads :: I did take my iPhone and a portable charger (thanks gadget Dad!) but this only lasted 3 days or so in total and after that I was phone-less. You won't need a phone really but it is helpful for organising meeting friends etc so perhaps think about getting a cheap, temporary one with a little bit of credit for emergencies.
• some food that keeps okay in a tent :: breakfast bars, crisps, dried fruit, biscuits, sweets, chewing gum etc - there is plenty of food to try and I would recommend this as part of the experience as it is mostly delicious and good value, but you'll want to save some money bringing your own snacks.
• a big bottle of water :: to keep in your tent so you can always hydrate 
• small bottles to fill up around the site
• any alcohol you want and are able to carry :: but not glass
• torch (+ batteries)
• plasters, including those handy blister plasters as you will be on your feet a lot
• a watch :: to ensure you don't miss your favourites

Let me know if you think of anything else, or if you've got any other festival tips and I'll add them to the list :)

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Glastonbury Festival

I definitely should have mentioned this earlier but Glastonbury Festival was an incredible experience. It is one of the world's biggest festivals and I was seriously stunned by the sheer vastness of the site and the overwhelming variety of entertainment.

Yes, it's true that there were brilliant headlining acts (Arctic Monkeys yes yes yes) in addition to a fantastic line-up in general, but what makes the festival so flipping amazing is the down-to-earth nature of it, the ethics and values governing its organisation and the fact that there is literally something for everybody. I hadn't realised what a family-friendly event it is - I thought it would be a real palaver taking children to a festival but people had taken young children with them so the age range was literally from a few months old to about 70, I reckon! It was so nice to see so many like-minded people come together for one long weekend, away from the real world and revelling in the relaxed yet manically busy atmosphere that the festival has to offer.

Over the course of the weekend, I listened to some of the best live music I have ever heard - the sound at the Pyramid stage is insanely good....we could hear the Rolling Stones crystal clear from about half a mile away - danced, chatted to countless strangers, signed a petition, watched comedy, discovered new and inspiring music which has caused me to change the way I think, attended a talk about feminism, tried yummy food including Creole and Thai dishes, learnt about Permaculture (see below) and smiled an awful lot :)

Here are two bands who I really enjoyed discovering one night at two little tents in a completely dark field. In the first, we saw Aussie band, The Formidable Vegetable Sound System, who sang about Permaculture. There was no light bar a few candles on stage and fairy lights so that the bar wasn't invisible! The sound system was powered by audience members pedalling a stationary bike in return for a free cup of tea :) 

The second, The Undercover Hippy, impressed me so much I actually bought their EP as soon as their set finished. This song made me laugh :)

Here are a few snaps from the weekend:

This banoffee pie cake was AMAZING.

I know I looked a bit silly by day 5 but one of my favourite things about the weekend was not looking in a mirror once, not caring what I looked like and just feeling the most comfortable I have done in any public place pretty much ever.

I love how the whole thing challenges conventional societal norms and injects a strain of sense and morality. I am actually craving the whole experience and wish that everyday life could be more like Glastonbury!

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Sunday roundup and Glastonbury excitement

Hello!

This week was a quiet period of rest mostly but there were some sparkly moments as highlighted below! :)

1. Beautiful flower arranging by mummy for my cousin 

2. I spent a day watching Gossip Girl episodes for the first time and then decided I needed to be productive so made this picture for my sister :)

3. A delicious super food salad from Zizzi involving lentils, butternut squash, goats cheese, salad leaves and dough sticks. I need to make this at home too because it looked really easy to do so. The chocolate melt dessert was also absolutely amazingggg!

4. I loveeee this quotation and found it on Pinterest.

5. At Dirty Martini in London with two close friends from uni, one of whom is leaving for Australia :( :( this was a surprise goodbye event!

6. This was from last weekend but when I was in hospital my mummy kindly brought me lots of treats and this was one naughty little combination :)

7. Packing for Glastonbury! I love this little backpack :)

8. My daddy and I being silly and snapchatting my sisters, one of whom is currently on the opposite side of the country and the other is on the other side of the world! Come back soon both of you!!

9. Another snap from Dirty Martini. The cocktails were SO well made here :)

Things I am excited about occurring next week:

- Glastonbury festival!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- that's pretty much all I have on my mind at the moment!! Have you been and if so, any tips? I am a first-timer! I was told when I bought my tent that we should do a test run in the garden before we go, especially as I haven't actually ever put up a tent before myself. Mike and I attempted this the other evening which was the most hilarious experience as not only could we successfully pitch it in my garden because of the tent's vast size, but packing it up was pretty much impossible! We just couldn't get it into the carrier it came in!! I stamped on it, sat on it, poked at it from different angles but it is still not done so if anybody has a solution please let me know! Lesson learnt: observe how something is folded as you unfold it at the beginning!

(Found on weheartit.com)

Hope you've all had a happy week :)

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