Slam Dunk Festival 2016

This May bank holiday brought Slam Dunk Festival, my first festival of the year.  Slam Dunk Festival is held from Saturday to Monday.  Saturday's festival was held in Leeds, Sunday in Birmingham and Monday in Hatfield.  I went to the Birmingham venue.  Having previously only been to the Hatfield festival I hoped that Birmingham would be just as good, and it was!

The Start of Festival Season

Summer is comingggggg, yes it is!!  With summer comes my favourite time of the year: FESTIVAL SEASON!!  This bank holiday weekend I am heading off to Slam Dunk, a day festival with the likes of Panic! At The Disco, Of Mice and Men, New Found Glory and Mayday Parade playing.  There are many festivals happening all over the country this May bank holiday weekend including BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend - Who's going to that? Jealous!

With festival season comes that all important question.  What do I wear?!  It can be a tricky one, the weather can change with the blink of an eye and you need to be prepared! I have a choice of three outfits for my first festival of the year and I cannot decide which one to wear! If only the festival was 3 days long!!

Maria's Festival Guide

It's fast approaching my favourite time of year...

FESTIVAL SEASON!!

Reading Festival - The end of festival season

May be a little bit late in posting this.  But nevertheless, here we go.  It took me ages to upload the photos.  Oops.

For me Reading Festival signals the end of festival season.  It is the last festival of the summer that I usually attend, and it means that autumn is coming.  I have been to Reading Festival numerous times, and each time I come back, feeling like I cannot wait until the festival next year.

On the way to Reading Festival... the cleanest we would be all week!

This year I was super excited as I didn't get to show my presence at last years Reading Festival and I missed it!  I went with 1 friend and we had early bird tickets.  I had never bought an early bird ticket before.  But having a regular festival weekend camping ticket means waking up ridiculously early on the Thursday to get down to Reading for the morning to secure a good camping spot that isn't drowning in mud.  Having now experienced an early bird ticket, I can safely say that I would get this every time from now on.

Our home for nearly a week.

It should only take less than two hours to get to Reading from my home, so at 2.30PM we set off... and didn't arrive in the camp site with all out luggage until 9PM! Yes, that's right.  It took us 6 hours in the car due to traffic.  We couldn't believe it!! We were so frustrated by the time we got there we just wanted to crack open a can and chill out.  However we had to choose a camping area to set up the tent, we already had a camping area in mind so we headed to green camping area.  We then had the challenge of choosing a good spot and setting up the tent, however it was dark, so this involved stamping around the soggy ground to see which was the least soggy and then making good use of the head torch to set up the tent.

After this mishap, everything was fine.  We woke up the next day to sun.  Then rain. Then sun.  We were incredibly lucky with the weather for the whole weekend.  It did rain, and the place pretty much turned into a mud bath at some points, but there was a good bit of sunshine and dry weather too.  I have previously been to festivals where it has rained non stop.  During this festival I tanned... a lot!!

Gin and beans for breakfast!

Start To The Festival Season

My prolonged silence doesn't mean that I have abandoned or forgotten this blog.  I moved house at the end of May and haven't had any internet.  In fact I still don't have any internet.  I may be borrowing the neighbour's.  Ooops. But I get my own in two weeks. Yay! Then I can start this up properly again.

Anyway, this is something that I have been dying to share for ages. Back in May I went to Slam Dunk Festival in Hatfield (London).  I hadn't been to this festival in years, and it was where I used to attend university, so I was super excited.

It was a cracking line up and the official start of my festival season.

We arrived in the afternoon and the first band we caught were PVRIS.  They are not a band I would have chosen to see, we just happened to be walking past, heard the music, and stopped for the rest of the set.  I was pleasantly surprised, and it was a great start to my festival.

Lower Than Atlantis.

We then went on to see We Are The Ocean, Cartel, Goldfinger and Taking Back Sunday.  Another band I was surprised by were Lower Than Atlantis.  I had heard them on the radio before so thought I would check them out and they were brilliant, I would definitely see them again.  Goldfinger did not disappoint, as usual, either.

Taking Back Sunday

We finished the evening off by going to see You Me At Six.  I had not seen this band in years, I was a huge fan in my younger years. The band played a great set.  Unfortunately it did have to be stopped for what seemed like ages due to someone becoming ill at the front of the crowd, which caused people to walk away.  But when they started again, it was still brilliant.  They mostly played their older songs which is what I wanted, as I know all the lyrics, and my friend and I were jumping around like crazy.  Definitely the highlight of the whole festival.

You Me At Six

I was surprised to see how the festival had grown since I was last there a few years ago.  There were more, and bigger, stages.  But there were also more crowds.  Many, many crowds.  In my opinion, they had let far too many people in for such a small venue.  We also had tickets for the after party, which I was excited about.  But we never got to go in. After the festival finished was wandered about for a bit, went to the toilet, then decided to join the queue to get in to the after party.  But the queue was so long, it would have taken us hours to get in.  I think people must have started queuing before the bands finished. This was also disappointing.  Why sell so many tickets for the after party when all those people won't get in.  Anyway, we decided that we had, had a great time at the festival and couldn't be bothered queuing, so we went home.

My map fell out of my pocket.

All in all, overlooking the disappointment at the end, it was a great day.

Have you been to any good festivals recently?

Maria's Festival Guide Part II

Seeing as it's festival season, I have made a guide for all you festival first timers and those who are unsure what to take.  My first list is here, and now here below are my checklists for the toiletries and clothes you need to take.

Toiletries

1. Talcum powder - Never know when you might need a bit of talc.

2. Cotton wool - Depending on what products you use.

3. Deodorant

4. Mouthwash

5. Toothbrush 

6. Toothpaste

7. Baby wipes - Very essential if you want to remain slightly clean.  Also very handy to clean all that mud off.

8. Soap - I usually avoid having a shower at festivals but I do like to wash my hands now and then.

9. Dry shampoo - I usually try to avoid using this but I take it just in case.

10. Make-up remover

11. Cleanser - The Clean & Clear cleanser I take is quite strong, usually too strong for every day use.  However being unable to wash your face at a festival I find this cleanser perfect to use both morning and night to clean all that dirt and grime off.

12. Make-up.

This isn't essential at a festival but I do like to take a few bits.

Moisturiser, primer, foundation, concealer, lip balm, mascara and eyeliner.  I try and take samples or small bottles to keep my luggage as light as possible.  I also take tweezers and small nail scissors - You never know when you might need a tweeze or to cut a ripped nail!

Even though I take all that make up, most days I only use the moisturiser, concealer, Porefessional primer from Benefit and my trusty Lily Lolo foundation and keep my eyes bare.  I just can't be bothered witht he effort of slapping too much on.

Other toiletries you may consider taking are shampoo and conditioner depending on if you want to brave the showers and wash your hair; hairbrush or comb; hairbands can be very useful, cotton buds, possibly a razor or some hair removal cream although I don't bother with that and of course a towel.

Clothes

1. Underwear - Of course knickers and bras unless you want to wear the same one all weekend.

2. Socks - I take normal socks and thick socks for wellies. Football socks can also be quite useful.

3. Waterproof trousers - These aren't the sexiest or the most fashionable piece of clothing.  I only took these because I was working and may have had a night time shift.  I wore them once when it hammered it down with rain, then when the sun came out I took them off and was wearing my normal clothes underneath.

4. Waterproof jacket - Essential!!

5. Hat - It can become very cold at night time at festivals.

6. Gloves.

7. Trousers - I usually take one pair of jeans and never wear them.

8. Shorts - I take a few pairs because I live in shorts at festivals.

9. Leggings - I find it easier to wear leggings and shorts instead of trousers. Leggings are also useful if it's very cold at night and can be worn under pajamas.

10. T-shirts/tops - I usually take the number of t-shirts for the number of days I'm going.  Some people only take one or two but I don't want to put on a dirty t-shirt.  I usually take one long sleeved shirt then the rest with short sleeves.

11. Hoodies - I take about 3 or 4.  Just because if it rained and your hoody gets soaked, it feels awful putting on a cold soaking wet hoody. I sometimes also wear a hoody while sleeping.

12. Plastic ponchos - I love these as they can fit in your pocket and also keep you slightly warm.

13. Pajamas/Onesie - I never take proper pajamas.  This year I have a onesie, other years I have worn trackies and a tshirt to sleep in.

14. Bikini - Just in case I want a shower... or if the unexpected happens and it becomes sunny enough.

15. Wellies!! - A must!!

16. Normal shoes - I usually leave these in the car so I have comfy shoes to drive home in.

17. Flipflops - Just in case you use the shower and don't want to walk barefoot in everyone else's grime.

Do you take anything I have missed off the list?

Are you going to any festivals this year?

Sleep, Domino's and Tinnitus

I got back from Download Festival today.  A week of camping, no showering, lack of sleep and drinking really takes it's toll and I was glad to get home, even if it was an awesome weekend.

This year instead of buying a ticket for the festival I decided to do volunteer work with Oxfam.  This means I had to do a few shifts doing various jobs but got to see bands for free.  It was well worth it.

My favourite acts of the weekend were Slipknot, Enter Shikari, Stone Sour and Bullet For My Valentine.  All four were excellent.  Other favourite acts include Architects, Five Finger Death Punch, Modestep and Rammstein as well as getting to see Asking Alexandria, Papa Roach, Korn, Dragonforce, Jimmy Eat World, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Graveyard, Cancer Bats, Coal Chamber, Parkway Drive, Gaslight Anthem, Thirty Seconds To Mars and a few others.

I had such a good weekend.  Download is definitely my favourite festival and I can't wait to go again!

I didn't take many photos as I didn't want to lose my camera when dancing around in a crowd so left it hidden in my tent most of the time, but I did take a few.

Main Stage.

Motorhead.

Enter Shikari.

Enter Shikari.

Security and festival wristbands.

I am now showered, am full up from my Domino's pizza, feel slightly deaf from a weekend of music and all I want is my bed.

Such a brilliant weekend!

Maria's Festival Guide Part 1

I may see myself as a bit of a festival pro seeing as I have been to my fair share of festivals over the years.  So I am going to share my festival list with you, so you can be fully prepared without experiencing an overloaded car and many long arm-breaking trips back and forward from car to campsite.

1. Tent - 
Unless you are going for the day of course.  Choose wisely, you don't want a flimsy tent that collapses under the tiniest gust of wind, then again you don't want to spend £100s on a fancy tent that may get muddy/trampled on etc.  In fact, WILL, get muddy.

2. Sleeping bag -
For obvious reasons, unless you want to be shivering all night.

3. Pillow -
Not necessary, just depends how comfy you want to be.  I always take a pillow as any sleep at a festival is precious sleep.

4. Blow up mattress - 
Again, not necessary, it depends on comfort vs how much you want to carry. Additionally you could get a self-inflating mat, or just choose to sleep on the floor.

5. Pump - 
Unless you want to blow up that mattress with your mouth.  If that is even possible.

6. Torch - 
Very handy, especially for those night time trips to the loo.

7. Loo roll - 
Essential! Keep some in your tent, some in your bag, some in your pocket. Never know when you might need some toilet roll.

8. Wellies - 
Essential.  I always laugh at those fools who turn up in their trainers then end up having to buy expensive wellies at the festival.

9. Money - 
Obviously!

10. ID - 
Again, an obvious one if you are planning to buy or even take in alcohol.

11. Tickets! - 
Well, duuuhh!

12. Antibacterial hand gel - 
A must! If you are a clean freak like me you will take a bottle for each day. Ok maybe that is over exaggerating, but make sure you take at least one bottle.  I take antibacterial wipes as well.

13. Plasters & headache pills - 
Not absolutely essential. But I always seem to be a walking first aid box, you never know when a plaster may come in handy, and you don't want to be walking around with a throbbing headache all day.

14. Camera -
Just incase you want to take a few pictures for those awesome memories.  You may want to take a disposable camera depending on if you think you may drop it in the mud or lose it. I just take my digital camera and make sure I look after it.

15. Tape - 
Just in case you get a hole in your tent... or to tape your tent poles together if they break.  This happened on the first day at my first festival. Luckily I was prepared.

16. Phone - 
Just in case you want to find your mates/call your Mum/check the time.  You may not want to take your new, expensive phone.

17. Bin bags - 
Useful for putting muddy clothes in, rubbish etc as well as lining your car when you're ready to go home.

18. Toiletries - 
I will make a separate post on this.

19. Clothes - 
Another post on this to come as well.

Do you have any festival must haves that I have missed off the list?