Most of us have now seen the Snapchat of the girl who had her drink spiked at a festival a few months back, and it’s so out of order that this happens at festivals, and honestly shocks me that someone could do that. Luckily for the girl, she caught it on camera and the guy soon was gone. Festivals are some of the most fun things you can do during the summer months, it’s an excuse to camp in a field for 5 days, drink and listen to good music with your friends. A complete escape from reality. Sadly though, sometimes festivals aren’t all fun and games and it’s important to stay safe, as lame as it sounds, take care of yourself. Today I decided with the help of my friend Kim who is the queen of festivals, to share our top tips for staying safe at festivals.
Look after your valuables:
At festivals, crime is rife, with theft being one of the biggest. DPP Solicitors have more information on this if you’re interested in reading more. From taking items out of a tent to being pickpocketed, it’s common. For expensive items, it is best leaving them at home as I know how gutted I would be to lose my phone, it’s worth going back in time and purchasing yourself a good old Nokia brick. If you do have to take valuables e.g. keys, money and phone it is worth getting the majority of it put in a safe locker, at Glastonbury these are free. Bestival has created a fabulous document in regards to crime at festivals which I would totally recommend taking a read of.
Medical tents are there for a reason:
You might have overdone it a bit, or just need to visit the medical tent for whatever reason, but don’t want to look uncool in front of your mates. However, if you need to get medical attention, then go! At the end of the day, all your friends will be worried about is making sure you’re ok. From my personal experience at Leeds fest, I have spent a huge amount of time in a medical tent after being hit over the head with a bottle and getting a bad concussion. But I am glad I went to get the OK, as it made me feel a lot more reassured.
Have a meeting place:
You might all want to see different bands or go off and do different things. However, we all know at festivals you probably won’t have any phone battery or signal and, especially if you’ve been drinking, it can be easy to get lost. Make sure you’ve got a meeting place that you all know and arrange to meet there after the bands have finished so you can head back to your tent together.
Don’t take drinks from a stranger:
As much as a festival is about meeting new people and having a great time with them. I’d be wary of taking a drink from someone I do not know, due to the potential dangers. Majority of the time it will be out of kindness, but you can never be too careful anymore. It’s also super important to keep your eye on your drink at all times, as people can be sneaky with their intentions. It is important to know the signs in case this happens to a friend or someone around you, Drinkaware have detailed the signs on their site.
Take care of you:
When having a great time it can often be forgotten to look after you. It’s important to stay hydrated, especially in times of heat. It is also important to cover yourself in sun cream every few hours, even if its overcast, you do not want to end up burnt (it’s not fun!) especially in crowds of people, ouch.
We hope this has shed some light on stay safe at festivals!
*This post is in collaboration with DPP Solicitors and thanks Kim for your help with this post!
