Festival season is upon us and I, as much as the next straw-hat-wearing, local-cider-drinking person, love a good festival. I don’t like the price of them though. The ticket price is usually high enough already, without adding into account everything else you need for three of four day event. Here are a few top tips I’ve learned over the years, so you can keep the price of your festivals down, without compromising on the fun!
Firstly, buy your tickets early. If you know for sure that you want to go to this festival, buy your tickets as soon as they are released. Some festivals have tier systems where they have so many available at a lower price before they get slightly more expensive, then slightly more expensive again. This may also happen by raising prices on certain dates. You might be able to save a few quid buying early.
There’s often the opportunity to volunteer at festivals which basically gets you in for free! In exchange for your ticket you’ll be expected to work a few shifts either behind the bar, litter picking or sorting wristbands for people when they arrive. It can be a great community to be part of, you can meet friends & there will still be plenty of the festival to enjoy when you’re not volunteering!
If you don’t have a tent, see if you can borrow one. If you’re not sure you want to borrow one in case something happens to it, buy a cheap one. You’re only going to be sleeping in it and as wasteful as this perhaps sounds, it might not end up coming home with you! Share lifts to the event to cut down on car park charges and make sure you take plenty of your own food and drink. Whilst water points are usually dotted around the place (be sure to take your own reusable bottle!), food and drink is usually really expensive at festivals. Double check how much alcohol you are allowed to take in yourself too, as you don’t want to buy it, drive it and carry it all the way to security for them to just take it off you.
I remember at a festival I went to with my brother in law a few years back, there wasn’t a lot going on during the day as the ‘antics’ were mainly early evening until early hours of the morning. So, instead of buying a burger for £15+ each, we drove off site to a town a few miles away. Found a cafe, had a brilliant breakfast (and the use of a proper toilet!) for under a tenner before heading back for the ‘raving & misbehaving’ of the night.
There are often trolley hire companies at the entrance of family friendly festivals, giving you the option of hiring a trolley to either transport your gear from car to site (usually at around about £6 every 30minutes) or for an entire weekend so your little ones have someone to crash out in the shade if they need it, whilst you wheel them around. This can be upwards of £80, with a sizeable deposit too! We looked at this as an option a few years ago but decided to buy our own trolley. It’s basically a garden trolley you can find on Ebay for under £50. The handle removes so it can fit in the boot of the car and we’ve personalised it with our own fabric, sunshade & even license plate! It gets a lot of attention and the kids love riding around it in. We can also pop our bottles of water in it and we always have something to lean against when sat on the grass listening to whatever band is playing on the main stage. We can use it year after year and the best bit of all, there’s no queues to join to hire it Straight out the car, fill it up with our stuff & off we go.
Other top tips include taking your own portable charger so you don’t have to pay to charge your phone up, knowing where your nearest supermarket is incase you want to drive off site like we did and taking cash with you. You don’t want to have to use an onsite cash point which charges you for your own money! Also, ask yourself if you really need that £25 t-shirt!
As mentioned already, make sure you know what you can and can not take to the festival – some places don’t allow gazebos and roll on deodorant is probably a better option than aerosols, for instance. Oh, a pack of baby wipes is priceless! There are lots of ways to live frugally.
You’ve paid to be there but you don’t have to pay even more to enjoy it! Have an awesome festival season!
