Heavy Metal Festival advice needed!

[Darkintent]

Ive got my Bloodstock festival place booked ^^ (its a British heavy/death metal festival)

Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian and Saxon are there I cant wait!

Thing is me and my mates have never been to a music festival (its three days long ^^) and dont really know what to take with us. we got the tents and stuff but what else should we have? Like food and drink tactics? Is it worth taking a small gas cooker? And should I sneak in a stupid amount of booze?

You dont have to have advice specific to Heavy Metal Festivals im talking festivals in general is there anything I should know and take?

 

[Labyrinth]

Look at it like camping, but with more pain.

For food:
-Tinned stuff is your friend.
-Perishables are find so long as you take a cooler.
-Remember that alcohol takes up a lot of room and in mosh pits, you're better off without it. Seriously.

For camping:
-Yes, gas cooker. Bring an extra bottle.
-Take one of those dig-a-hole toilet things for you and your friends, because I can guarantee that any toilets there will be awful.
-Don't forget toilet paper.
-Bring jerry cans for water.
-Camping chairs are a beautiful invention
-Don't forget toilet paper.
-Take a bin.

EDIT: I also recommend ice packs and a hot water bottle for those aching muscles. And painkillers. Booze is not the latter.

 

[oliveira8]

Look at it like camping, but with more pain.

For food:
-Tinned stuff is your friend.
-Perishables are find so long as you take a cooler.
-Remember that alcohol takes up a lot of room and in mosh pits, you're better off without it. Seriously.

For camping:
-Yes, gas cooker. Bring an extra bottle.
-Take one of those dig-a-hole toilet things for you and your friends, because I can guarantee that any toilets there will be awful.
-Don't forget toilet paper.
-Bring jerry cans for water.
-Camping chairs are a beautiful invention
-Don't forget toilet paper.
-Take a bin.

EDIT: I also recommend ice packs and a hot water bottle for those aching muscles. And painkillers. Booze is not the latter.

What this person listed. But beware theres some festivals that dont let you enter the camping site with Gas Cooker, so you better check that out first.

Also want a major tip is: If you gotta use the bathroom of the camping place go when they clean up the bathrooms. Usually they cleaned at dawn and another time before dinner time. Memorize when and you just might avoid crap filled bathrooms. ^^

 

[Yankmy Armoff]

Most important thing is take enough clean clothes cos after every pit you get into you'll be caked in crap. sleeping in soggy mud covered clothes aint pleasent or healthy. i know.

Also, earplugs will be a must if you plan to get ANY sleep cos of all the drunken idiots staying up singing all night. Sleep is important, missing the last day of the festival cos you were too knackered to stay awake is a complete arse.

Try not to attend festivals directly under international flight paths (donnington being a good example) cos the planes keep drowning out the bands. i saw both Slayer and Cradle of Filth get drowned out by planes, it kinda screwed my day up.

have fun.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Ive got my Bloodstock festival place booked ^^ (its a British heavy/death metal festival)

Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian and Saxon are there I cant wait!

Thing is me and my mates have never been to a music festival (its three days long ^^) and dont really know what to take with us. we got the tents and stuff but what else should we have? Like food and drink tactics? Is it worth taking a small gas cooker? And should I sneak in a stupid amount of booze?

You dont have to have advice specific to Heavy Metal Festivals im talking festivals in general is there anything I should know and take?

In my experience, they won't let you take booze into the stage area, but they will let you take it onto the campsite. The same applies with gas stoves, which are vital unless you fancy shelling out £3 for a burger.

The toilets will be awful, and if it's your first festival, you'll probably be surprised exactly how awful they are. However, if you take some Vicks vaporub, and put it under your nose before you go in, it helps a great deal with the smell.

As for the rest, Labyrinth has pretty much got it covered. Take along some baby wipes too, as you'll be lucky to get a shower at any point.

 

[Darkintent]

Try not to attend festivals directly under international flight paths (donnington being a good example) cos the planes keep drowning out the bands. i saw both Slayer and Cradle of Filth get drowned out by planes, it kinda screwed my day up.

have fun.

D: that most of blown total ass! Slayer ftw?

ty for advice mate

 

[TheBlackKnight]

a more general advice;
if you see a large group of people lingering around a portable toilet and not standing in a line: DON'T use THAT toilet.

 

[Yankmy Armoff]

Try not to attend festivals directly under international flight paths (donnington being a good example) cos the planes keep drowning out the bands. i saw both Slayer and Cradle of Filth get drowned out by planes, it kinda screwed my day up.

have fun.

D: that most of blown total ass! Slayer ftw?

ty for advice mate

it was a bit surreal, bellowing along with the filth and all of a sudden a 747 drowns them out. even weirder was when Dani filth walked on, shouted "come on god, do your worst!" at which point it poured with rain until the moment they walked off again...

 

[Rusman]

In my experience this is the best:-

Food =
Bread + Filler
Tinned goods
Stoves are handy but require carrying to your campsite which will be a bit of a trek and takes up alot of valuable booze space.

Also remember babywipes are a god send. Toilet roll is a smart bet too. My experience with Bloodstock and Download toilets last year was actually pretty good.

A massive amount of Alcohol is a good idea as festival charge a fortune for drink, a few empty bottles is a good plan too if you drinking spirits as they are easier to sneak into the arena area.

The finally essential is a pillow.

Couldn't afford both Bloodstock and Download this year so I went for Download

 

[Ophiuchus]

I've got by at festivals with very little. Aside from the obvious tent and sleeping bag - change of clothes, wet wipes and deodorant since showering is unlikely, bog roll, a few plastic bags, that's all really. Even some of that is a luxury, the only thing I'd class as absolutely essential is bog roll.

I usually get food and booze when I'm there - there'll be a supermarket nearby unless it's absolutely in the middle of nowhere... but even then, there'll be food on site - not great, and overpriced, but sufficient.

Also, about the toilets - in my experience, they're not as bad as you might imagine. Maybe I just have a high tolerance for grimness, but the only ones that are really bad are those in the campsites. Also, the ones in the arena are usually emptied and cleaned to some degree overnight, so if you can wait 'til the morning and get down there as soon as it opens, you're sorted.

Not necessarily suggesting this as advice, more pointing out that, if all else fails, it's theoretically possible to get by with nothing but a tent.

 

[Yankmy Armoff]

Not necessarily suggesting this as advice, more pointing out that, if all else fails, it's theoretically possible to get by with nothing but a tent.

and a pile of cash

 

[Ophiuchus]

Not necessarily suggesting this as advice, more pointing out that, if all else fails, it's theoretically possible to get by with nothing but a tent.

and a pile of cash

Aye, that's a fair point. I usually take a minimum of £100 with me, sometimes there'll be some left at the end, kinda depends on whether I buy t-shirts and such.

That said, it's three years since I last went to a big festival, so maybe it's more expensive these days. My last festival was small and cheap, the tickets were only £50 and I didn't camp 'cos it was only 10 minutes from my nan's house.

 

[Yankmy Armoff]

I am not being sarcastic in any way but how cool is that, get to go to a festival and have your nan look after you in the meantime. that must have been great, shower/bed/proper food/toilets etc. thats the way to do a festival in style

 

[Sheinen]

Reading and Download never had issues with a gas cooker, but I really found the 99p disposable BBQ's from BP garages a better bet - you'll mostly live on beer and pot noodles so don't hastle with the pre-planning.

My first festival I brought all the clothes, first aid kits, cooking equipment, utensils and other bollocks my redonkulous imagination could come up with a purpose for. While I was there I lived on crates of Carling bought from a lorry round the corner!

NB: I burned everything else...bring a lighter!

 

[O maestre]

dont bother with the cooker if it is three days, make sure you have booze though if you are chilling at HQ there is nothing better than to drink a good cold beer(which is likley to be warm) plus it keeps you filled, usually at arenas and stages the guards throw cups of water in your face to keep you hydrated. but i dont know if that is universal. bring a cooler of some sorts. i dont know where you live but rye bread is the best form of festival sustenance. you have to find an equilibrium between packing for survival and packing for eternal buzz.

get some sort of inflatable mattres. folding chairs. also in my experience at festivals you will often wake a lot earlier than usual, because of all the heat accumulated inside a tent, then again i have no idea how the climate is where you are.

a decent amount of clothing 8/10 times you will return to camp an discover that you have shit up your back vomit on your pants and piss on the upper section of your right elbow, therefore make sure you have enough stuff to wear.

and finally try and make friends with your neighbours it is always important to have a good camp network, then again it is only a three day festival so maybe i am exaggerating a bit, i am more accustomed to ten day festivals

and another thing about beer is that it is the best bargaining tool

 

[schubi]

Sometimes they don't let you in with glass bottles so smuggle the booze in plastic ones.

Good lighters and a utility knife can be essential.
Have some hard fruit (like apples) handy, as it can settle indigestion in some cases.

 

[gibboss28]

Ive got my Bloodstock festival place booked ^^ (its a British heavy/death metal festival)

Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian and Saxon are there I cant wait!

Thing is me and my mates have never been to a music festival (its three days long ^^) and dont really know what to take with us. we got the tents and stuff but what else should we have? Like food and drink tactics? Is it worth taking a small gas cooker? And should I sneak in a stupid amount of booze?

You dont have to have advice specific to Heavy Metal Festivals im talking festivals in general is there anything I should know and take?

Aye the line up of bloodstock looks good I should be going myself.
Food wise i was lucky enough to go with someone who could drive so we were able to go to the tescos nearby and get some food from there.

If the weathers anything like last year some good anti rain stuff will be good cause...it pissed down on the Thursday afternoon / Saturday night / bits of Sunday.

Beer wise your only technically allowed to bring one crate in with ya. but its easy enough to get more than that in. But yeah its up to you on the booze front really, its good to have a decent amount so you don't end up buying drink from the overpriced bar.

Also bring a decent amount of money with ya, they've got ATMs there but they're evil evil things. Took £20 from me so I couldn't get an At The Gates t-shirt.

Other than that, just enjoy the weekend, get there on the Thursday cause that's usually the best day when its nothing but drinking and meeting other people who also drink and getting to know eachother through the entertainment of drinking.

*edit* Bring a chair. it beats sitting on your ass on the ground at the campsite.

 

[Sheinen]

The folding chair is a must but you can pick one up on site for £5 - £10 usually. You'll be surprised at what you can buy there.