How to Survive a Music Festival

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I just returned from an amazing time at Splendour in the Grass, complete with handy tips courtesy of a lovely thing known as hindsight. Keep these tips in mind when embarking on your own multi-day music festival to ensure you have the best time possible!

1. Don’t camp.

Seriously, if you’re a girl and like being clean, stay away from the camping (unless the festival offers some form of “glamping”, even then I’m sceptical). My friends and I hired a gorgeous Airbnb house in Mullumbimby, a 15 min drive from the festival grounds. At the end of the day when we felt dirty, grumpy and in need of some peace and quiet, the campers were stuck in mud whilst we were enjoying the novelty of a heated bathroom floor and clean linen.

2. Have a default meeting position at all times.

We generally knew who was seeing what, which meant if we lost anyone we always agreed to meet “at the back left corner, just outside of the tent”. This, surprisingly, never failed. In case of a complete disaster, we had a backup landmark known as “The Sexy Shark” to meet at.

3. Eat a good, healthy meal every morning.

We did a big grocery shop at the start of our trip which meant our fridge was always packed with fruit, veges, eggs, bacon, juice etc – all the trimmings needed to prepare a healthy and filling breakfast to get you started for the day.

4. Hygiene hygiene hygiene.

Portaloos are gross at the best of times, and by Sunday night of a 3 day festival, they are toxic. Make sure you bring hand sanitizer to clean yourself after each trip to the loo, along with tissues as I am sure they will run out of toilet paper at some stage. Oh and that cute onesie you wanted to wear? Maybe leave that for another time, as trying to fully undress to pee whilst balancing your bag and drink is just far too much effort.

5. Don’t wear a native indian headdress.

Or bindis, or any culturally-appropriated fashion, for that matter. It’s disrespectful and you look like an idiot.

6. Be sun smart.

Wear a hat, cover yourself in sunscreen (regularly), hydrate.

7. Be rain smart.

If it has rained in the lead up the festival or if any showers are forecast, wear gumboots. These will protect you both from mud and portaloo sludge. Pack a poncho or super-cute raincoat from Gorman. Don’t wear open-toe shoes, not only will you get filthy, you risk your toes being trodden on.

8. Hire a car

So it turns out Mullumbimby has like 4 taxis, which funnily enough were all booked out on the Monday when we tried to get home. We were stranded. And there were no car rental places in town. We eventually caught a public bus to Byron Bay and hired a car from there to the airport. In future we will hire a car as soon as we arrive.

9. Download the festival’s app.

Splendour in the Grass had a very handy app where you could personalise your planner each day and receive alerts when a band was about to start, as well as interactive maps.

10. Wrap your friends in fairy lights.

I haven’t actually tested this method, but I saw a group of friends all wrapped in fairy lights and thought it was an excellent method of keeping track of your group at night time.

Most importantly, don’t be a dickhead, stay safe and have fun!