Festival Essentials

[greatesthits]

Ok so i have read loads of stuff about what to take, what not to take to the festival.

I was just wondering what you guys class as the essentials to take with you.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Ok so i have read loads of stuff about what to take, what not to take to the festival.

I was just wondering what you guys class as the essentials to take with you.

[greatesthits]

This is my first festival too.

So far i'm looking at

Tent

Sleeping bags

Trangia + fuel

Earplugs

Eyemask

Day Sack

Money belt

Food (bacon, sausage, beans for breakfast) hoping to replenish at onsite shop?

Old but still usable mobile phones

Antibacterial wipes

Toothpaste + Toothbrushes

Toilet roll

Handgel

Shades

Dry shampoo + Dry bodywash

Towels

Sunscreen wipes

Beer (hoping to buy on site)

Airbed (yes i like to be cosy)

Torch

Tea + coffee

Plastic mugs, cuterly, plates.

Lightweight seats

Clothes

Ponchos

Boots.

I think that should just about cover it for us.

I heard or read somewhere the onsite shop does slabs of 24 beers for £25, plus should be able to pick up bottled water and soft drinks there, can anyone confirm this and advise on average prices.

[rexclark]

I think the 24 cans for £25 sounds about right. It'll be Tuborg. There is also a supermarket onsite where you can buy cans of Tuborg, Gaymers Pear Cider and Tetley's Bitter. I can't really remember how much it cost from the supermarket for beers. You can also pick up most your other stuff in the supermarket as well such as soft drinks etc....

[XrtVra]

Eyemask

Day Sack

[Dave The Hedgehog]

I think the 24 cans for £25 sounds about right. It'll be Tuborg. There is also a supermarket onsite where you can buy cans of Tuborg, Gaymers Pear Cider and Tetley's Bitter. I can't really remember how much it cost from the supermarket for beers. You can also pick up most your other stuff in the supermarket as well such as soft drinks etc....

[Dave The Hedgehog]

If you don't mind spending, as a food option, waitrose do some really good stuff in pouches that last months without refrigeration, chili's, stronganoff, etc, and because its not in a tin, it doesnt weigh you down. Noodles are also a good choice.

[greatesthits]

My advice with the beer would be to stock up now while it's cheap. I got 3 x 12 cans of Carling for £18 in Morrisons the other day but I'll probably need them to see me through the World Cup. Tescos are doing some good deals on Carlsberg as well from what I've heard so I might pay a trip there for my World Cup supplies and then use what I have in my cupboard for Leeds along with the whiskey and Jagermeister, and then pick up an extra crate of Guinness.

I'm actually not that big a drinker but it's always a good thing to help a brother out if he's in need of a beer.

[XrtVra]

Noodles, yeah, but not those bullshit Batchelor's ones. Get some Golden Wonder ones and add some soy sauce. The nicest pot noodle you'll ever eat. Golden Wonder do those pasta pots too which are great - obviously you'll need something to boil the water to put in them.

Another thing worth considering are these things the Army use called MRE's which have a shelf life of about 10,000 years but they taste disgusting and are quite expensive. Tinned food, tinned fruit... and don't be afraid to check out the food places at Leeds itself.

I'll check out those pouches you talk about in Waitrose though, rbranigan. We don't have one around here. I think the nearest to me is in a place called Lichfield but I'll have a look anyway.

What section would they be in?

[rexclark]

I'm travelling from Glasgow by train so try to travel as light as possible.

Alcohol wise I normally take a couple of bottles of vodka pre mixed, a box of wine and a few cans and buy cans down there.

Food wise, I normally just take crisps, chocolate, Haribo and a few pork pies/sausage rolls. I like to take plenty of cash to buy food as there's a great selection and I like to get something different every day.

It's all down really on how much you're willing to spend when you're there. I used to bring alot of food and little cash but I prefer to do the opposite now.

Even if you forget anything, most things can be picked up onsite.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

To be fair, I've discovered that festival food isn't really as bad as most people have you believe. It's no more expensive than a meal you would have if you went out (relative to a cheap pub) and the food doesn't taste that bad at all. If you can see past the ethics of the meat and the seemingly endless queues that stretch into infinity, you could get a pretty good chicken and chips for a fiver.

The Chinese food I had at Big Weekend was lovely, and then I washed it down with a bottle of beer and a bottle of water. That combination cost me £11. £8 at dinner time for chicken burger and chips. Times that by two if you're going with your missus - add a £16 t-shirt, a £10 hat and £5 pack of glow sticks. Add 6 more 500ml bottles of Carling at £3.50 each, 4 more bottles of water at £2, 3 bottles of Fanta at £2...

You could easily spent £100 a day if you're with somebody else, and if there's one thing you're going to hate by the end of the festival it is the invention of coins.

[adam1234]

1 x hoody

2 x jeans

4 x underwear

3 x tshirt

1 x wellies

1 x long shorts

1 x pillow

1 x sleeping bag

1 x toilet roll

3 litres of spirit

6 litre of pop

1 crate of lager

10 x dairylee dunkers

10 x coco-pops cereal bars

£200 cash

1 x sun hat

1 x suntan lotion

1 x toothbrush and tooth paste

SORTED!!!

[Dave The Hedgehog]

1 x hoody

2 x jeans

4 x underwear

3 x tshirt

1 x wellies

1 x long shorts

1 x pillow

1 x sleeping bag

1 x toilet roll

3 litres of spirit

6 litre of pop

1 crate of lager

10 x dairylee dunkers

10 x coco-pops cereal bars

£200 cash

1 x sun hat

1 x suntan lotion

1 x toothbrush and tooth paste

SORTED!!!

[rexclark]

To be fair, I've discovered that festival food isn't really as bad as most people have you believe. It's no more expensive than a meal you would have if you went out (relative to a cheap pub) and the food doesn't taste that bad at all. If you can see past the ethics of the meat and the seemingly endless queues that stretch into infinity, you could get a pretty good chicken and chips for a fiver.

The Chinese food I had at Big Weekend was lovely, and then I washed it down with a bottle of beer and a bottle of water. That combination cost me £11. £8 at dinner time for chicken burger and chips. Times that by two if you're going with your missus - add a £16 t-shirt, a £10 hat and £5 pack of glow sticks. Add 6 more 500ml bottles of Carling at £3.50 each, 4 more bottles of water at £2, 3 bottles of Fanta at £2...

You could easily spent £100 a day if you're with somebody else, and if there's one thing you're going to hate by the end of the festival it is the invention of coins.

[kev1664]

Never been to Leeds before but here's what I've learned - the more you take with you, the more you have to worry about. I've written a very specific checklist that is slightly OCD (what with all the tables for crosses and ticks, etc) and it's a page and a half long in MS Word but most, if not all on it I would consider essential. The only reason why it's a page and a half long though is because, instead of typing "clothes" I've just typed every bit of individual clothing I'm going to take, and instead of typing "toileteries" I have typed up everything that's inside my bathroom cabinet.

Anyway...

Alcohol

Bottled water

Empty bottles

Milk and sugar (those things you get from service stations or coffee shops)

Coffee and/or tea bags

Soft drinks (especially Red Bull)

Clothes (including waterproof coat/poncho and wellies)

First aid kit

Trangia stove + fuel OR Hexi stove + tablets - go to a camping shop and ask which is best and most efficient

Food (nothing with a short shelf life)

Disposable mugs, tumblers, cutlery, bowls, plates, etc

Lighter or matches

Tin Opener

Toileteries

Toilet roll (the second most important thing in your kit)

Towels

Festival trolley or sled to carry everything about

Tent

Sleeping bags

Pillows

Torch

Lightweight seats

Camera - disposable if you really must but if you take a good digital camera, look after it and never let it out of your sight

Cheap plastic digital watch

Lots of batteries (if you don't have a locker)

Bin liners

Gaffa /Duct tape

Umbrella

Cheap PAYG Phone + credit

Money

Any prescription medication you're taking

Like I said before, the more you take with you, the more you have to worry about - just make sure a lot of is disposable because don't forget, you'll probably bring less than half of it back with you. If you have a car, it'll be a bonus too.

There are options, of course, like airbeds and portable solar powered showers (you luxurious upper class bastard), and of course you can't take in any glass so again use either plastic bottles or metal cannister to carry around essentials like whiskey and Jagermeister. Two other options I would suggest are earplugs and eyeshades if you intend to get any sleep but if you're anything like me you'll probably wake up in the morning thinking your deaf and blind.

I think that about covers it.

[XrtVra]

If you wanted you could pretty much go to the festival with nothing but money, and be perfectly fine.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Gazebos are good too, gives you and people around you somewhere to have a bit of space to cook and sit. I'd recommend them to anyone taking a car.

[XrtVra]

Can buy them there for about £20, granted they're shit, but the people next to us had one of those that you place on the ground and lift the corners out, and it magically constructs itself.. and it broke - ours didnt (and was easily fixable when it did start to bend)

[rexclark]

Aye I'm thinking about a gazebo. Not a huge one, mind. Something to cover the barbecue on the wednesday night if it's pissing down.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

I'll be over about six for a burger.

[rexclark]

Don't because I'll bring some especially. I tend to make all of my own food when I'm at home so I'll be bringing a few burgers along with me that I make myself.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Very nice. I'm normally that drunk on the Wednesday I forget about food.

[rexclark]

Aye well it'll be a good chance to whore myself around and meet the neighbours.

[beno93]

this is my first leeds as well, baby wipes seems to be an essential where ever i look because the showers are sh1te, is this correct?

going on the train so gonna take as little as possible to get me through wednesday and thursday then probably just starve for the rest of the weekend, either that or festival food

just gonna take 1 pair of jeans 1 pair of shorts and 4 t shirts, one for each day ;P

any other tips from anybody?

[XrtVra]

lanterns for your tent are always useful (ie ones that hang at the centre point) I find