festival virgin in need of help

[helenki]

me and my friend are traveling from norway to experience the festival, and i'm just wondering about a few things since i've actually never been to a festival and since this will be both of our first times experiencing a festival overseas.

1. which campsite should we choose? i want to get the most out of the trip and experience the whole thing, but at the same time i don't want to camp in the middle of burning tents and shit.

i'm leaning towards red or blue, but honestly what's the difference between the two? i really want a good atmosphere where you can just hang with the neighbors without it being awkward or whatever, but i still don't want to be where the most crazy ass shit happens.

2. if everything goes according to plan (as we haven't ordered the flight tickets yet), we'll be in leeds before 11pm on wednesday, so we're planning on queuing 'till 3am so i hope we can get a decent place to set up the tent and such. will we be there early enough to find a place where we can camp on either the red or blue campsite? we just have that one tent that we're sharing, so we don't need that much space.

3. i've heard that it's easy to sneak alcohol in, is that true?

4. also, as i'm under 18, will i be able to get my hands on any alcohol in the uk? i haven't heard much about it over there, i just know that in norway its literally impossible if you don't have older friends/family member who will get for you. so i just hope that it isn't that difficult! my friend will turn 18 on thursday of the festival, so she can probs get me some, but it would just be easier if we were two who were able to get our hands on something.

5. will a copy of a passport printed out on a normal sheet of paper be a valid id, or is that too "vague"? know some of my friends have used it in other countries and it has worked just fine, but that wasn't in the uk.

6. is the festival located near any supermarkets and such, like is it more than a 20 minute walk? i've hard that Reading is better concerning that one, but it seems more unpractical bc of the opening times etc so i would prefer going to Leeds. would be great not having to survive on the festival food till monday. and also with the whole alcohol situation and so on.

7. i don't have that much experience with you british concerning these things, but could i go up to a random person and ask him if he would buy me alcohol? and with that i mean without him having to be a sketchy crackhead or homeless.

OK loads of questions, sorry!!! can you believe that this isn't even half of the questions i have concerning the festival?

anyway, i would be soooo grateful if someone would enlighten an unexperienced foreigner like me.

Edited April 6, 2015 by helenki

[Superunknown]

Thought I'd have a go at answering these as I really don't want to write my essay. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

1. I wouldn't say there's a great deal of difference between the campsites. I've camped in white whenever I've gone and I've always had a good experience. We were right next to blue and that seemed a laugh as well. White is the closest to the arena if I recall correctly, blue is close as well. I wouldn't worry too much about tent burning, that only usually happens because people are too lazy to take their tents home/donate them.

2. You should be fine for a camping spot in blue or red definitely. We just about got in white when we came in about midday on Thursday, that was in 2012 though but blue or red you should be alright, especially with only a two person tent.

3. As long as you don't look blatantly underage then yeah, they're pretty easy going with the alcohol in my experience, though I've only been underage the once.

4. You're gonna struggle to get your hands on alcohol if you're underage. Luckily, there's a bus service that runs from the campsite to the local Tesco's regularly so you should be alright once your friend turns 18. Though I wouldn't stand near her when she's buying it as sometimes they ask for your I.D. as well if it looks like you're with her. Basically, it's strict here.

5. It depends on what for, I'd err on the side of caution on that one. It's usually better to have a solid form of I.D. Especially as it's an unusual passport, people might be skeptical.

6. As said above, there's a regular bus to the local Tesco's. Takes about 20-25 minutes.

7. I'd say most people would be pretty understanding given the festival and such. If you've got exact cash, it can't hurt to ask someone already in there, right? You'll probably find a few festival goers in there as well so probably best asking them rather than disturbing the weekly shop of some unexpected local.

Hope this helps somewhat, if you've got anymore questions then feel free to ask.

[helenki]

thank you so much for taking the time to answer! I don't have any other questions on the top of my head, but I'll definitely ask if there's something else! Again, thank you for the answers, it's to much help

[qndrm]

1. Id say the craziest are probably red and blue as you get all the young madheads staying there (may be suited to you?) with it being close to the arena. For every year ive gone tho Ive chosen orange as its pretty central to everything and you have the added benefit of being close to relentless stage and Picadilly which go on till around 6am (relentless 3am, unless there guna make it longer this year which i hope they will)

2. If your planning to que for the 3am gates thursday morning then you'll easily find a quality spot to pitch.

3. You'll be fine taking alcohol in, as long as its not loads and plus they rarely ID anyone.

4, 5, 6. What the guy above me said

7. Yeah should be fine, like the other guy said if you catch the shuttle bus to Tesco on the thursday then you will be fine for your mate to buy all the alcohol, just remember to wait outside. Also its guna be alot easier in terms of carrying shit to the campsite initially cos youll only have your camping gear on the wednesday, such a bastard carrying camping gear, alcohol and all the rest of the shit all in one go!

Happy camping mate, and see you at leeds fest!

[helenki]

Thank you!!! Looking forward to the festival

[MeganW]

1. Last year I went in Blue and it was a really good atmosphere. It's also close to the arena and main toilets etc

2. Me and 9 of my friends arrived at 3pm on the Thursday and still got a good spot in blue but I think that was more good luck, you should be fine arriving at that time though.

3. We were all a group of 16 year olds and all of us got in fine alcohol.

4. They're quite strict with selling alcohol so I would just bring enough to last the weekend. Also you can usually sneak it in to the arena as well.

5. I doubt a photo copy will be ok, they will most likely want an original copy of the ID.

6. There's a shuttle bus that costs a few quid that will take to a Tescos and back.

7. what they said^

[CanWeRest]

Thank you!!! Looking forward to the festival

Have a good time babes

[Amy Lawn]

Scandinavians are cool.

That is all.

[pbentham]

On the festival website it said that they wouldn't accept a photocopy of the ID, just thought I'd let you know. 

[TheBaldEgg]

On 4/6/2015 at 4:53 AM, helenki said:

1. which campsite should we choose? i want to get the most out of the trip and experience the whole thing, but at the same time i don't want to camp in the middle of burning tents and shit.

i'm leaning towards red or blue, but honestly what's the difference between the two? i really want a good atmosphere where you can just hang with the neighbors without it being awkward or whatever, but i still don't want to be where the most crazy ass shit happens.

Blue and Red are located directly next to each other, personally I stay in Blue which is located adjacent to all the vendors and main path route. If you do choose Blue, I would try to avoid camping directly near the path, many times ive seen mud/water overflow and flood tents here (hopefully its sunny but you never know!)

 

On 4/6/2015 at 4:53 AM, helenki said:

2. if everything goes according to plan (as we haven't ordered the flight tickets yet), we'll be in leeds before 11pm on wednesday, so we're planning on queuing 'till 3am so i hope we can get a decent place to set up the tent and such. will we be there early enough to find a place where we can camp on either the red or blue campsite? we just have that one tent that we're sharing, so we don't need that much space.

If its just one tent, you won't have any problems at all. Well, personally I have never had a problem but thats just me. 

 

On 4/6/2015 at 4:53 AM, helenki said:

3. i've heard that it's easy to sneak alcohol in, is that true?

Alcohol pouches / Wine packs are your friend. That is all.

 

On 4/6/2015 at 4:53 AM, helenki said:

4. also, as i'm under 18, will i be able to get my hands on any alcohol in the uk? i haven't heard much about it over there, i just know that in norway its literally impossible if you don't have older friends/family member who will get for you. so i just hope that it isn't that difficult! my friend will turn 18 on thursday of the festival, so she can probs get me some, but it would just be easier if we were two who were able to get our hands on something.

While its frowned upon, I'm sure many people will buy alcohol for your at the festival, or you'll luckily be next to a large group like us that tend to supply the entire area with alcohol. Either way, i'm sure you'll have fun  

 

On 4/6/2015 at 4:53 AM, helenki said:

5. will a copy of a passport printed out on a normal sheet of paper be a valid id, or is that too "vague"? know some of my friends have used it in other countries and it has worked just fine, but that wasn't in the uk.

 

This won't be valid at Leeds Festival i'm afraid, you will need a valid ID card with a hologram or your passport.

 

On 4/6/2015 at 4:53 AM, helenki said:

6. is the festival located near any supermarkets and such, like is it more than a 20 minute walk? i've hard that Reading is better concerning that one, but it seems more unpractical bc of the opening times etc so i would prefer going to Leeds. would be great not having to survive on the festival food till monday. and also with the whole alcohol situation and so on.

There is a relatively cheap supermarket located in the "Village" of the festival, which sell your basic foods/drinks/items etc. This is practically the same prices as local supermarkets so I cannot fault it. If you do want to go into Leeds City, their are shuttle buses throughout the day. More information regarding the shuttle buses can be found here

 

On 4/6/2015 at 4:53 AM, helenki said:

7. i don't have that much experience with you british concerning these things, but could i go up to a random person and ask him if he would buy me alcohol? and with that i mean without him having to be a sketchy crackhead or homeless.

As I said above, Alot of people ask others to buy them beer, hell, i've been asked many times and even though it is frowned upon, i'm happy to do it. I've been to Norway many times, Norway is very relaxed compared to British Festivals so i'm sure you will enjoy yourself.