Four ways to survive at a festival
| 31st July 2018
Singer-songwriter Rich Stephenson reveals his top tips for getting through the festival season.
“There are many ways to survive a festival. I should know – I’ve played enough of them!”
“I have five booked this year (and counting!).
“From Glastonbury, to Amsterdam; New York to Budapest, I’ve always stuck by these rules…
1) Don’t expect there to be wellies when you arrive
Glorious mud. Don’t experience it in trainers. (Photo credit: John Whitehouse Piper)
Let’s be honest. It’s VERY likely that it will rain at a UK festival – it’s always best to prepare for the worst!
Which is what I didn’t do at Kendal Calling in 2014.
Setting off in glorious sunshine, I just assumed that if it rained, there would be a stall selling wellies… right?
RIGHT?
Wrong! After torrential rain for the first 24 hours (and fears that I had the early signs of trench foot) I had to cadge a lift to the nearest outdoor centre 10 miles away.
They were all out of wellies.
As was the second.
Third time lucky – and I got back to the campsite just in time for a lukewarm beer and Clean Bandit. Lovely.
2) Always carry Bonjela
The cure to ‘mouth pox’: my trusty Bonjela (Photo credit John Keane)
I’m a sensitive chap.
And after losing even half an hour’s sleep, my mouth gets full of the dreaded mouth pox (aka ulcers).
Bonjela is always the first thing I put in my festival bag.
That and dioralyte.
But that’s another story…
3) Don’t be afraid to get naked
The Glasto (non-naked!) Stage
To calm nerves before performing, I was always told to “Imagine the whole audience is naked”.
Well, at Glastonbury 2015 that is exactly what happened!
One of the best festival gigs I’ve ever played was on the naked stage in the Teepee field.
And yes, people were dancing, letting it all hang out.
But was I naked?
If you weren’t there, you’ll never know…
4) Make sure there’s somewhere safe to put your valuables
A selfie with the guitar that never left my back!
After playing a barnstorming set on day one of Boardmasters in Newquay in 2017, I headed back to the musicians’ campsite feeling very pleased with myself.
I asked a security guard where the drop off point for equipment was.
He laughed at me.
So, for the rest of the weekend I had to carry my guitar around with me at all times.
Dance tent at midnight. Breakfast bus in the morning – EVERYWHERE!
If you do have anything of worth with you… make sure there’s somewhere safe to put it.
Rich’s new single, ‘Katie’ is out on iTunes this Friday – pre-order it now.