Festivals Abroad

It is becoming more and more commonplace for Brits to head abroad to see their favourite bands. With bands also looking to headline European festivals on a wider scale, a Continental festival is often the only place to see some of the biggest bands on the planet.

The overall formula remains the same: tents + friends + music + required social lubricant = perfection. However, with the sun beating down and travel connections even harder in a different country, here are some top tips for making sure your festival of a lifetime abroad turns into a nightmare

By Connor Higgs – MA History, The University of Nottingham

Know how far the festival is from the airport (and organise connections beforehand)

Not making sure you know how to get to and from the airport, and not just hoping you can sort it our when you get there, could potentially leave you stranded (or else waiting hours for a shuttle bus with thousands of others).

After a tiring weekend, the last thing you want is to be waiting at a train station with countless others, struggling to get on a train. Book an advance ticket to skip the queues, and the journey home will surely feel infinitely easier.

Cheap beer and a cooler. Trust me.

For those of you who will be drinking whilst at the festival (which is a large majority), keeping alcohol as cool as it should be in the searing heat can be a challenge.

That it where the cooler comes in. Cheap, continental beer prices mean that you can afford to invest in a small, plastic or polystyrene cooler and fill it with ice and beer.

A decent cooked meal a day will go a long way

Surviving on snacks through the day and the deep-fried arena food in the evening is one way of doing things, but this can very quickly make you feel sluggish. Having a decent breakfast will set up the day perfectly, and help to flush out the toxins of the night before and keep you fit and fresh over the three or four days.

Berocca is your best friend

Whilst not advised as a regular solution, at a festival, Berocca (and other vitamin tablet brands) really is a life-saver. The burst of vitamins you would struggle to get otherwise replaces and replenishes those you danced and drunk out of your system the evening before.

Reflective cover for your tent

With all of Europe experiencing a summer heatwave, it is more important than ever to try and keep the sun off your back, and this applies to your tent. Being woken up in a pool of sweat before 9am is hellish, but a reflective sheet will help to keep the heat out of your tent as much as it can. That extra hour of sleep a night stacks up towards the end of the festival.