So, you've booked tickets for one of the many festivals around the world this year and you're raring to go. But what else do you need to do to get ready? Should you take your own tomatoes to La Tomatina? Feathers to the Rio Carnival? A giant effigy to Burning Man? Panic not, Cheapflights has put together a handy list of everything you might need to consider before you go...
1. Book your flights
The sooner you get your flights booked, the cheaper they're likely to be. For big events, flights to the nearest airport can rocket in price around the time of the festival. If you're looking to keep costs low, consider flying in to nearby secondary airports and getting onward transport. If you're attending the Bull Run at Pamplona, for example, there are four nearby airports: Pamplona, Bilbao, Santander and Zaragoza. Flights to the latter three are considerably cheaper than flights in to Pamplona, and all are served by low-coster Ryanair.
2. Book (or plan) your accommodation
If you're travelling to a music festival, it's likely that you'll be staying in a tent, hopefully in a field that is mud-free. For bigger urban events such as the Rio Carnival, or Gay Pride in Sydney, it is a good idea to book somewhere to stay as soon as you can. Unsurprisingly, apartments and hotels fill up quickly and prices also rise. Again, consider staying a little further afield if you want to save money, and catch a bus in to the town in the morning.
If you are camping, check your tent well before you travel. Make sure everything needed is there and all the material is one piece. It’s many a Glastonbury-goer who has started to assemble their tent on site only to discover some crucial part is missing or the fabric is covered in mould. Likewise sleeping bags: if you only use them once a year for festivals, make sure you have them cleaned well before you set off.
3. Onward transport connections
As with flights and accommodation, the local transport resources can become overcrowded during big festivals. Plan ahead to make sure you are able to get from the airport to your final destination. If you want to take a taxi, book this up in advance and don't rely on picking one up on arrival. Trains and buses can become full very quickly and again it is wise to purchase tickets in advance. Check the festival's website, if there is one, for details of the best means of transport to the site. Even more importantly, book up your transport back again at the end of it all. No matter how much fun you've had, you'll quickly come back down to earth if you have to end the experience stuck in a field, desperately trying to thumb a lift to the airport...
4. Passport
If you're travelling abroad, don't forget all the normal things you'll need to bring: a passport, currency, your flight tickets or booking confirmation number if you've got an e-ticket. If you're travelling somewhere exotic, such as Thailand for a Full Moon party, you made need vaccinations as well. For a round up of all the things you need to think about, take a look at Cheapflights' Before You Go travel tip, which has advice on everything from tickets to visas.
5. Packing
Even more important than when on a normal holiday. The best advice if you're heading to a festival is to pack light. Take plenty of layers so you're covered against all eventualities – baking midday sun or cold nights in a thin tent. If you're staying in a hotel, you can afford to take a normal sized suitcase, but if you pack light enough to take everything as hand luggage on the plane, you'll save yourself a lot of time.
Depending on the location, consider taking sun cream, and plenty of it, loo paper, sunglasses and / or the UK festival staple: wellington boots. Make sure you know what is going to be on offer in the festival site before you go. At the Burning Man event, for example, in the middle of the Nevada Desert, those attending must bring in everything they will need to survive while they're there: water, shelter and food being top of the list. Whereas a lot of more commercial music festivals around the world now have a veritable mini-mall of food, clothes, blankets, toilet paper and even tents on offer...
6. Emergency Plans
It's the second day, you've gone off to buy breakfast and lost everyone you're with. Your phone doesn't work because reception is down and you've forgotten which field is home to your tent. Help!
Making a contingency plan before anything goes wrong is always advisable. Do this when you first arrive at the festival, when everyone is still sober and you're not likely to forget what you've discussed. Choose an obvious meeting point that everyone can find: something tall is ideal so you can spot it above the crowds.
Sabrina Wolfe
© Cheapflights Ltd
Updated April 2009
