Festival Season

Festival season is in full swing. The Secret Garden Party took place last weekend; Field Day and Camp Bestival are coming up this weekend and over the next weeks and months there are countless others to look forward to, both in the UK and overseas. If you are fortunate enough to have the funds and time off work to make it to a festival abroad, you will more than likely have fabulous weather to look forward to. For the majority of us mere mortals however, and particularly in this financial climate, staying close to home is the only feasible financial option and with that comes many perils. How many times have you seen enormous mud baths splattered across the front pages of the papers following the Glastonbury Festival – this year being the only exception of course. When planning to attend a festival in the UK you are best advised to be like a boy scout, prepared. Whether you are planning to go with friends, your better half or perhaps with your children, you have to expect rain, rain, rain. This means first of all making sure your tent is waterproof, especially if it is not brand new, check it for holes. If you are buying a new one, go for quality and make sure you know how to assemble it before you leave. Secondly you’ll want a proper waterproof jacket. If you don’t have much space in the bag you are taking with you, you can always go for one of those lightweight kagouls that wrap up really small. However, if it rains overnight it could get cold and in that case The North Face has some excellent top quality outdoor clothing at really affordable prices. Finally, shoes, there is nothing like soggy feet to ruin a festival, invest in some good quality wellies, make sure they fit properly so you don’t get blisters either. It you want to be super sure, invest in a pair of comfortable walking boots. They will resist the mud, and provide ample support for all that jumping around! And now that you are totally prepared for the worst, it is guaranteed to be a scorcher!