No festival lover has completed the festival experience until they have been well and truly rained upon, Download 2012 being just one recent example of this. This soggy, English weather can only guarantee mud, raincoats and blown-out camp fires. But when have we ever let such weather come in the way of a good time? The answer: we haven’t. Here is just a few of the ways in which we can overcome festival rain!
Bring in the clichés and dance in it -
You have waited for months since buying the ticket; you have wanted to see a certain band for what feels like most of your life and despite the torrential weather, it is still happening. Just because the rain also wants to be a part of it, do not let it put you off! Embrace it….well, make it a part of the experience. It won’t be long until you are telling the world how you watched your favourite band with the rain pouring down your face and you will never forget it. In fact, a week later you’ll be wishing you were there again, and as an added bonus, most bands go on about how great an audience you are a lot more if you stick it out.
Rake in the benefits of a raincoat -
We can deny it, we can do the discrete sniff test, and we can even declare that it completes the festival experience, but the truth is, a raincoat is the ultimate protection for when anonymous, unidentified liquids are flung your way in a crowd. Whether it’s urine, beer or whatever else it is that gets thrown your way, because let’s be honest, we don’t really know, our mackintoshes will make it slide off and be washed off in no time, the only drawback is it cannot prevent heavy objects from hurting you, but it’s better than nothing….
Bring out your welly collection -
Wellies are a must-have anyway, but they only ever get used to show their true potential when it is raining. They keep your feet dry, this is obvious. They can tackle any kind of mud, and protect your legs from aforementioned mud. But most of all, they are a fashion accessory. Those who had originally decided to hold off on the wellies will suddenly produce them, creating a rainbow of colours and patterns whenever you look down. It is no longer practical to wear wellies, but fashionable, and when the rain comes out, you are totally in season.
Mud = free slides and ultimate challenges -
There will always be those who see a slippery mud surface as a free slide, to get completely covered in mud and to slide all the way to the tents. Now this is not necessarily recommended, especially of you are only on day one of your weekend, but if you do not wish to participate you can still reap the benefits by watching and laughing at those who do. One activity serious mud does create for everyone however is the challenge of wading through it, especially when it is a losing-your-wellies risk. But this one is all about attitude, so what do we say? Bring it on. Link arms with your friends and plough on through, you are invincible. Well, that’s the spirit anyway.
Have a few beverages -
Now this one is not promoting alcoholism, but if you feel yourself slipping into that cold and depressed state of mind, then open the cool box and have a beer. After a few sips you’ll be laughing about how typical it is that the heavens have opened. The same also applies to a nice warm (plastic or polystyrene for festival effect!) cup of tea. The British have always found a cup of tea to cure any given situation and to makes mountains simple mole hills. You will be wading through that mole hill with your wellies before you know it.
Celebrate a hair wash -
At the end of the day, no matter how much of a miracle dry shampoo is, you can’t beat a thorough hair wash. So this is what the rain provides: a good hair wash, removing all of the previous hair shampoo so that you can start putting it in all over again! Water is refreshing, this is our mantra.
Finally, after a busy day of mud sliding, hair washing and rain dancing, nothing beats snuggling up in your sleeping bag and listening to the rain tickling your tent with the knowledge that you are no longer out in it and that you get to do the same thing all over again tomorrow, rain or shine.
Becky Martin.
