When I was 19, I went to a festival for the first time with a group of friends, and I thought it was so exciting. We were going to Awakenings, together with 40,000 other people in Spaarnwoude. Weather reports were carefully read, and it promised to become a warm and sunny day so that wasn’t going to be a problem. A day like those will last from 11.00 till 23.00 and in order to get the most out of our rather expensive tickets, we decided to go there nice and early. “Yes, we’ll even make our own sandwiches and take with all kinds of nice things so that we can eat those in the sun. Great idea!” And there we went. Green as grass, with a backpack filled with sweets and drinks, which were removed by the burly guard at the entrance and thrown away in a bin. Taking food with you to a festival’s not allowed of course!

Meanwhile, we’re a couple of years and dozens of festivals further down the line, and I’m quite well-versed in the matter. There were years during which I’d go to a festival almost every weekend in the summer with my festival partner in crime friend R. For those like me who don’t have a clue how to tackle a festival, this Explorer will tell you all you need to know. So take out your pens and paper because this summer, you’ll be the well-prepared festival queen of all.

• Just like King’s day, you’ve printed your ticket beforehand or made a screen shot of the QR code in case of non functioning 3G.
• You don’t get to take with food or drinks. You might be able to smuggle inside some biscuits, but that’s about it. Now, drinks (and food) are incredibly expensive at festivals, and when you buy a water bottle, you get a bottle without a lid. A filled bottle of water’s heavy and security considers this as a weapon, which isn’t allowed. But it also means you can’t refill your bottle and put it in your purse, which sucks. The solution: take a lid with you to the festival. They often sell Sourcy at festivals, so just take with a Sourcy lid and hide it in your purse and you’re done. Trust me, a lid is worth a million bucks on a day like that.

“This is my ultimate tip: take a couple of clean socks with you. If your feet are practically falling off because of all that dancing then an extra pair of fresh socks works miracles. Especially if it’s suddenly raining.”

• These days, a lot of festivals have recharge spots at which to charge your empty telephone, but it could be useful to write down a couple of important telephone numbers on your arm or old-fashioned on a piece of paper.
• Did they predict rain? Take a poncho with you but leave your umbrella at home. The security guard that threw away your bottle of water will think the same of an umbrella, and will see it as a weapon (which it of course is), and hell no that you get to take it with you.
• Dancing in the sun on a warm summer day’s great, but at night it usually cools off quite a lot and there you are in your tank top. So take a vest with you, and in case of bare legs, stockings or leggings. You can put the whole lot in a locker during the day, so it won’t be that much of a hassle.
• Tissues. Another life saver. You bet the toilet paper in those cosy Dixies will run out halfway through the day. And then you’ve got your tissues in your bag.

So take these tips to heart and nothing will go wrong. I’ll see you near the left front of the stage!