How To Stay Healthy At Summer Festivals

With the summer festival season almost upon us, now is the perfect time to start preparing for sun, fun and the great outdoors. We know that the summer is the perfect opportunity to let your hair down and enjoy some time away from the daily routine. But, if you’re really going to make the most of the sunshine, it’s essential to look after your physical, mental and sexual wellbeing as well as your festival schedule.

Being prepared, and making good choices, can help to ensure you stay safe and healthy throughout the festival season. From good hydration to safe sex, taking a few precautions will help to ensure it really is a summer to remember.

Being Prepared Isn’t Just For Boy Scouts

Just as important for festivalgoers as it is for scouts, being prepared can help you stay comfortable, healthy and safe throughout your weekend away.

Before you leave for your festival, make sure you check the weather forecast. If it’s going to be cold and wet, you may want to take waterproofs, wellington boots, a thick sleeping bag and a few changes of clothes. If the experts are predicting clear skies and high temperatures, make sure you pack sun protection, a re-fillable water bottle and a hat.

It’s also a good idea to take a simple first aid kit. This should include plasters, gauze, bandages, adhesive tape and antiseptic wipes or solution. Although most festivals will have a first aid tent on site, having some essentials with you could help you treat minor injuries quickly and easily.

As finding clean water at festivals can involve a long walk, it’s important to take hand sanitiser or hand gel with you. Keeping your hands clean and free of bacteria may help to prevent stomach bugs and other unwanted infections.

Last but definitely not least, it’s important to pack contraception. One of the best options for a festival is condoms. Unlike other forms of contraception, condoms help to prevent sexually transmitted infections as well as pregnancy. Just be sure that they are in-date, and that you use them properly. Combining them with an oral contraceptive, like the pill, can give you added peace of mind.

Power Up Your Partying By Staying Hydrated

Staying hydrated is important at all times, but, during a summer festival, it’s absolutely essential. Drinking alcohol, being outside in the sun and dancing for hours on end can all make you dehydrated, so it’s very important that you drink water regularly throughout the day.

Dehydration can affect your energy levels and could make you feel tired, lethargic and dizzy – not great if you’re planning to party the weekend away watching your favourite bands.

Carrying a reusable water bottle with you can help to keep your hydration levels up. Most festivals provide free water stations, so filling up your bottle should be easy. Alternating alcoholic drinks with water may also help you stay hydrated. You could even consider packing hydration gels, though water is always the best option when it’s available.

Knowing the signs of dehydration will help you spot when a water top-up is needed. In adults, the most common symptoms are:

• Headache
• Confusion
• Feeling tired
• Dizziness
• Feeling lightheaded
• Craving sugar
• Flushed, red skin
• Swollen feet
• Heat intolerance

If you notice any of these symptoms in yourself, or your friends, drink a bottle of water and sit in a shady spot until you begin to feel better. If your symptoms don’t improve, or you start to feel worse, it’s a good idea to find the first aid tent and get checked by a medical professional.

Don’t Let Germs Ruin Good Vibes

With so many people living and partying in one space, there’s plenty of opportunity for germs to spread. Festival toilets and food trucks are both germ hotspots. And, though you may not be able to avoid them, there are steps you can take to help keep yourself safe.

The easiest way to keep stomach bugs, viruses and other types of infection at bay is to take antibacterial hand gel with you and use it regularly. Disinfecting your hands after going to the toilet, before eating and drinking, and after touching surfaces such as tables and food serving hatches, may help to kill germs and prevent illness.

Stay Safe In The Sun: The Festival May Be On Fire But Your Skin Shouldn’t be

If you’re going to spend the day outdoors, it’s a good idea to protect your skin with sun cream whatever the weather. UV rays can sneak through scattered clouds, potentially leaving you sunburned, even in overcast conditions.

If you’re lucky enough to have sunny weather for your festival, protection is even more important. Sunburn is painful, uncomfortable and not very flattering, and a bad case of it could easily ruin your festival experience.

As well as visible reddening and blistering on the surface of the skin, sunburn causes deeper damage to your cells. This could put you at an increased risk of developing skin cancer in the future, one of the most common types of cancer in the UK.

The best way to protect your skin from the sun is to use sun cream with a high SPF, or sun protection factor. The SPF number shows how well a sun cream protects your skin from harmful rays by indicating how much longer it would take your skin to burn compared to not using sun cream. So, if you use a cream with an SPF of 30, it would take 30 times longer to burn with sun cream than without.

You should apply sun cream every two hours. Spread it on generously and ensure it’s well rubbed in before heading out into the sun. Wearing a hat and covering shoulders and arms can also help to reduce the risk of a serious burn

Be Protected When Getting Connected!

Festivals are great places to meet new people and make new connections. And it’s not uncommon for couples to hook-up during the event. Whoever you connect with, make sure you take care of your sexual health and enjoy safe sex. This will help to ensure you don’t return home with any regrets – or unwanted souvenirs – from your weekend away.

Even if you take oral or injectable contraception, it’s important to use a barrier method, such as a condom, when having sex. This is because oral and injectable contraceptives don’t protect against sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes and chlamydia, potentially leaving you at risk of infection.

It’s a good idea to pack your own condoms instead of relying on festival freebies. That way you can ensure they’re in-date and good quality.

Festivals should be about having fun with friends, making memories and enjoying a great weekend away. Putting a little time and planning into your festival packing, and looking after your physical and sexual wellbeing while you’re away, will ensure this summer is memorable for all the right reasons.