Festival Essentials: 10 Things to Pack for Glastonbury (and 5 to Leave at Home)

Like, an entire roll. Not only are they really handy for using as a makeshift doormat for muddy wellies (and an extra raincoat should it pour), you’ll need them for your rubbish when you pack at the end of the festival. The “green” spirit is strong at Glastonbury, and if you don’t bother cleaning up after yourself, you’ll be in the minority.

It might make you feel a bit like a Dalek, but when you’re staggering home from the Shangri-La area at 4am you’ll need both hands free to yank your friends out of the mud and find your way around the toilet cubicles.

If the sun gods smile on Worthy Farm this year and the site isn’t a total mudbath, you’ll be glad to have some shoes that aren’t wellies for slipping on when the need to pee strikes you in the middle of the night, or first thing in the morning.

One is never enough. You’ll never be able to keep track of your friends, and you’ll want to document all those ‘moments’, so pack accordingly.

Not only are they oh-so-glamping-chic, they give off a surprising amount of all-round light in your tent or around your campsite. Much easier than the unidirectional glare from a torch.

The queue for the taps each morning is outrageous, and when you’re hanging hard and gasping for water, you’ll hate yourself for not having one of these. Pro-tip: top it up every night before you go to bed, when there’s no queue, and wake up feeling smug and hydrated.

Yes, really! This is England, and if there is even a 10-minute burst of sunshine, we’re all going to get sunburnt immediately.

This is in danger of becoming a listicle-within-a-listicle, but here’s a round-up of what not to forget:

Painkillers.
Rehydration sachets – they’re the ultimate hangover cure.
Gaviscon, for the inevitable acid reflux that strikes as a result of cheap cider and frozen margaritas.
A pack of plasters – you never know when you might need one.

There’s not a Glastonbury gone by where someone hasn’t had need of this. Imagine this: the tent you borrowed off your friend has turned out to be ripped in three places, your wellies have split and you can’t keep the booze from falling off whatever wagon, trolley or bucket you’ve chosen to transport it in. Duct tape fixes all these things.

This might sound like an incredibly dramatic addition to your kit list, but hear us out. Attaching them to the outside of your tent (see, the duct tape is already coming in handy) means you won’t have to wake up to find your tent has become a sauna in the morning sunshine.

While an inflatable mattress itself is worth double its weight in gold, they take a lot of time and energy to pump up. For a fiver, one of the many camping market stalls on the site will fill it for you in seconds.

A flower crown is so 2012… and always ends up caked in mud and dry shampoo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG6i9uBrG7S/?tagged=glastonburyfashion

Yeah, they looked killer with a pair of Hunter wellies on Alexa Chung’s Instagram, but one-pieces are not conducive for getting in and out of the toilets as quickly as possible to minimise the amount of funk you’re inhaling while you use the loo.

Perfume, skincare, booze – it’ll be taken off you on the way into the site. Eau de Glasto is your new fragrance (and it lingers long after you’ve left the festival).

They’re so, so heavy. Get one as small – and as light – as you can bear to sleep in.