Glastonbury 2023: What You Do Need & What You Don’t
It’s been just over a week since I got back from Glastonbury festival and I thought I’d give you the lowdown. Before I went I was scouring the internet for all the glasto do’s and dont’s. I’ve been to festivals before but nothing on this level and I wanted to be prepared. There were a lot of varying opinions as to what was an essential as well as a lot of correlations. I’m going to tell you what I took with me that I was grateful to have and the things I could’ve done without.
The first thing I would say is do your research into the various camping areas. Glastonbury is huge and there are a lot of different places that you can pitch up your tent. There are lots of articles online of people giving the pros and cons of each section. It’s definitely worth having a vague idea beforehand of what area you’d like to be in as it helps with what entrance is best to come in via so as to avoid walking aimlessly.
We drove there very early (5:30am!) on Wednesday morning and once we were through it was already pretty rammed. It’s worth mentioning that we did choose what was said to be the most popular area to camp but just be aware that it fills up quickly. Take into account how big your group is and how many tents you’ll have etc. Once you see a space, take it. You can’t be overly fussy.
We managed to bag ourselves a great space near the Pyramid stage which is the white tent in the distance.
Tip 1: Take more alcohol than you think you will need.
Glastonbury is a festival that has no restrictions on the amount of alcohol you can bring in, so long as there is no glass. Just remember to decant everything beforehand. We opted for Pimms as well as Vodka & mixer and a few boxes of Seltzers. Take into account that whatever you’re drinking will be warm…
Tip 2: Snacks! There are some amazing food stalls on offer so definitely explore these and get yourself some good grub, but having snacks is always a good idea. We took a lot of crisps (probs too many), cereal bars, sweetcorn, baked beans and satsumas (health is wealth). These were great if you were feeling peckish at the tent and needed something to keep you going.
Tip 3: Cash. You can pay at most places with card but there is no harm on having some cash on hand for convenience. The prices for drinks is around £6 a pint, and the food varies from a few places doing £6 meal deals to other places charging anywhere between £10-£14.
Tip 4: Toothpaste! This seems obvious but it’s almost so obvious that it’s easy to forget. Don’t fret, there are shops around where you can buy essentials but try to remember this things to save you the hassle.
Tip 5: Tissues. We opted for multipacks of tissues so they could fit easily in our bags when we were away from the tent and are just far more convenient space wise than toilet roll. The toilets are not particularly pleasant by any means so tissues are a must. There are hand sanitiser stations by all of the toilets by they do start to run out towards the end of the festival so taking a small one to fit in your bag isn’t a bad idea.
Tip 6: You don’t need to have your hair done before. Now, I don’t mean don’t get a blow-dry, that’s an obvious no go, I think… What I mean is don’t feel the need to faff with having your hair braided for practicality purposes. It might work for some people but I had my hair braided before I went hoping it would help to keep it out of my face and less greasy. It did in fact become very messy and knotted very quickly and I ended up taking it out on the Saturday and washing my hair upside down with bottled water. Dry shampoo is your best friend.
(Unless you get a very tight braid, I don’t think it’s worth it)
Tip 7: Portable charger. Only a few of us had a portable charger and it meant we spent lots of our time with less than 20% and a lot of time in the Vodafone charging tents. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, especially as when I was there it was scorching hot and the tents had huge fans that we gravitated towards. It’s just probably best if everyone in your group has a portable charger.
Tip 8: More t-shirts than you think you need. This tip is dependent on your own fashion sense and how you would like to dress. I had it in my head that I’d wear really cool outfits the whole time but I ended up wishing I had more t-shirts and chilled clothing as it was very hot everyday and if I’m being honest, I couldn’t be bothered. You very quickly care less and less about how you look. You’re at a festival for 5 nights, sleeping in a tent and staying hygienic with baby wipes.
Tip 9: That leads on to my next one. Baby wipes. These are a necessity and were used often. It’s always nice to have a little refresh every morning. Especially when it’s very warm weather.
Tip 10: SPF! This is probably an obvious one but still worth mentioning. Again, weather dependent but the festival does take place at the end of June so generally speaking you may expect sun. There is not a lot of shade on offer, especially around the camping areas so you want to stay on top of your SPF to protect your skin from the sun.
A few other bits that might be worth thinking to bring are:
Hayfever tablets
Painkillers
Hydralyte / Berocca
Collapsible water pouches (one of my friend brought this and they were great for transporting drinks in our bags)
Here is a link to some festival essentials on Amazon that you may want to look at: Amazon Festival Essentials
