How to survive festival season.

Festival season is here.

The bands, the music, the people, new friends to be made, losing your tent, losing your friends, maybe even your mind? Will it rain and will we get covered in mud this year? Or will we all get sunburn and be dehydrated? Who knows what the British festival season will bring.

Most people have a great time at festivals with no problems. The only thing they take home are great memories and thoughts of “when can we do it all again?!”  But for some people with a tendency to over-indulge or openness to try new things a number of things can go wrong.

So what can you do if you want to have a good time, but don’t want to feel like the world is ending for the next week afterwards? Maybe you just want to enjoy the experience without any dramas, attempt moderation or festival healthy style?  Yes it is possible to have a healthy festival trust me I have done it quite a few times.

Here are my 10 tips for surviving the festive season

1.       Drink lots of water: Always a good plan, particularly if you are a drinker and/or it’s really hot. Our body and brain needs water to function at its best, when we are practicing healthy habits we feel better. 

2.       Eat as much healthy food as possible: In between the fun.  Fruit, veg, nuts, real food. Even if you have just one healthy meal a day you will really notice the difference.

3.       Sleep: Seriously, try and sleep for a few hours at least every day/night however your pattern is.  If you are someone that likes to party hard, not sleeping all weekend is the thing that is really going to affect you the next week.

4.       If you do drink alcohol, pace yourself: Remember you have all weekend, maybe longer to enjoy yourself.  Don’t peak too soon.  There is a tendency to get so excited that you drink too much on the first night which then ruins the rest of your weekend or sets you up to keep drinking a lot.

5.       Take it slow: Drink soft drinks in between your alcohol drinks, don’t drink your alcoholic drinks fast, sip them slowly, be civilised, come on I know you can.  Why are you gulping something down that you supposedly like the taste of? Relax, enjoy.

6.       Know your stuff: If you are someone that likes to party with recreational drugs, know what you are taking, knowing your supplier is really important.  Understand the effects of what you are taking on yourself so you know the potential risks and what you need to do so you can have a good time.  If you can get it tested even better.  Also just because something is called legal it doesnt mean its safe.  Do your research, if you dont know what it is, its not worth the risk.

7.       Leave the mixing to the DJ’s: If you drink AND take recreational drugs and don’t sleep or eat, trust me you are going to feel pretty rubbish physically and emotionally afterwards,  (Remember what goes up must come down) guaranteed.  So be a user, not an abuser.  Be careful about it.  If you don’t know what I am talking about do some research online about different substances, http://www.drugwise.org.uk/drugsearch-encyclopedia/  what they do and how they affect you.  As a general rule don’t mix!

8.       See above: Ok I am going to labour the point on number 7.  Seriously if you want to take any recreational substances, know what you are doing.  Learn about your gurn, and that includes alcohol.

9.       And most importantly have fun: Yes you can have fun without getting wasted, drunk, experimenting with substances, you can say no, it’s ok. 

10.   Remember there are no rules: You don’t have to fit in with everyone else.  So this might sound a bit selfish but sometimes we need to really put ourselves first.  If doing something you don’t want to do is going to cause problems for your health and life, then really is it worth it?

Hope you enjoy your summer.

Stephanie & Nick 

My favourite books for factual information Drink by Professor David Nutt

Drugs without the hot air Professor David Nutt