Are you ready for festival season?

Whether you are a regular welly wearer or a festival virgin, one thing is for sure, you can never be too prepared for festival season. With Forbidden Fruit, Sea Sessions, Body & Soul just around the corner and lots more lined up for the festival season, it's time to get organised. So without further ado, believe it or not sometimes rules have to be put in place before you welly up and head to a festival.

If you are losing your festival virginity this year, before you hand over the cash for a weekend ticket, be sure you are ready to be up to your eyes in mud, drunks falling on your tent and even more the mosh pits. Sometimes it is best to get a day ticket for your first gig just to get a feel for it as it’s a hell of a lot of walking, dancing and drinking involved in one day, so always ask the question, are you up for it?

So your bag is packed with the essentials (top ten named further down) you are head to toe festival fashion and your 6 pack of cans are ready for the journey down. 

Remember to…

Stick with a friend

ALWAYS make sure you are with someone from your group at all times! It might sound stupid but believe me being stuck in Slane in a crowd of 80,000 with no signal and no idea where your friends are is not a pleasant experience.

Pack appropriately

Festival Fashion is seriously hot right now, but let’s be honest unless you’re going to Coachella where the weather is perfect, you are not going to come out at the end of the day looking like boho queen Vanessa Hudgens. Dress sensibly, you are in Ireland, there is a 90% chance it will rain, you don’t want to wake up the next day with a runny nose and a serious head cold. Pack like you know what to expect whether it be a few pairs of socks, a spare t-shirt and most importantly a rain coat!

Make sure you have battery

One thing that kills a soul on an average day is when the battery on your phone is gleaming red, so one thing is for sure from all the videos, pictures and phone calls, screaming down the phone to the friend that couldn’t make it to the gig, your phone’s life expectancy is not looking bright. So to make sure you don’t miss a good picture perfect moment you can now get amazing I phone charger cases or for the androids jump start battery packs. (Harvey Norman stock them)

Yes festivals are all about chilling and listening to music, but there are a few things to take into account that you should avoid at festival. 

Try to avoid….

Blocking others views 

The worst thing ever is having your view blocked, whether it’s just a tall person blocking the way or people turning into trees by climbing on each other’s shoulders. One of the worst however has to be people holding there enormous I-pads in the air for the entire gig! Just don’t.

Being unsafe

Festival romances actually are a thing, but one thing not to do is get frisky in the romantic setting of a tent without a condom. So remember to be safe!

Bringing valuables

There can be a few magpies at festivals so leave the expensive and swanky gadgets at home. Because believe me nothing kills the mood of having your phone, IPod or anything of the sort whipped from you! 

Getting dehydrated

Do not think that if you have a break from the drink you are going to miss out on something!. Make sure to stay hydrated at all times (With water!). I have seen it happen, where people become so weak from not keeping hydrated they have to be carried over the bars by the bouncer.

Top 10 Festival Essentials

With the most top three important essentials being money, ID if you are drinking and of course the ticket, below are a list of other things to take into consideration before leaving for the weekend or just the day.

Baby wipes are key! Not only will they come in handy for personal hygiene they are a gift when it comes to cleaning cooking utensils, if of course you’re staying the weekend.

You will be lost without plasters at a festival! There is nothing worse than having a serious water blister from your new wellies!

It’s a brilliant idea to pack a little DIY handy box! Use a small lunch box and fill it with the likes of safety pins, duck tape (for if the tent splits), a small flashlight, the necessity that is toilet roll and you might not believe it but black bags. These are golden as you can use them for sitting on in the rain, and even using them as rain jackets if yours goes missing!

This might be random but this item saved my phone from getting water damaged and money being soaked, the sandwich bag! Just pop the likes of your phone, money and any other items you might not want to get wet inside and seal it up. Works a wonder ☺

If you are lucky enough and Martin King predicts the weather to be a scorcher, you will be one eejit if you do not bring sun cream. I learned this the hard way by coming home from Oxegen with a neck that looked like it was painted red!

This is more so something to do before you head off, but if you do end up bringing valuables, do remember that the world does have its honest souls so make sure to label items in case you misplace them. Just add your address and if somebody finds it they can post it straight back to you.

Finally a cool gadget you can bring with you is either a bottle opener belt or ring. These cool gadgets can be purchased on EBay, Amazon and even some joke shops in the city centre.

I will leave you with one thing however to leave at home and that’s a bad attitude. If you do not enjoy being cold, wet or dirty, sell your ticket as all three are more than likely going to occur.