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No Idea Where To Start? Consider This Your Essential Glastonbury Packing List
From socks and sandals to seltzers and sleeping bags, consider this your ultimate Glastonbury survival guide.
Every year is the same. Autumn rolls around and with it the promise of cosy evenings and glasses of red wine, walks in parks lined with crisp blankets of fallen leaves. Yet every autumn, amid the bucolic bliss, I spend one frantic and frazzled morning scrambling to buy a Glastonbury ticket. I'm lucky, with some help of my friends, I'm yet to miss out on one, yet once a ticket is secured, so begins the long and arduous build-up to the festival itself.
There's the getting there, the setting up of your campsite, the getting home. There's the five-day camping stint with a decided shortage of adequate toilet and shower facilities. Alongside being the world's largest music festival, Glastonbury is also an endurance test, one which deserves the upmost attention to be adequately prepared for.
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There is nothing (trust me, many a tear has been shed in the fields of Worthy Farm over a lost lippy or a forgotten phone charger) worse than being unprepared, which is why I have compiled the packing list of essentials that have saved me, and many others, from the headache of flocking to the fields of the West Country without something you just didn't know you needed. All that's left to do once the organisation is complete is to relax, dance until your heart's content and collapse with unbridled glee and exhaustion into your bed when you finally get home.
Here's our list of must-pack Glastonbury essentials:
I have learned the hard way that, as a woman with a proclivity for shorter-than-short hemlines, a pair of safety shorts is always a festival must-have. But even better than a pair of dignity-protecting safety shorts? An adorable mini with them already built-in.
My trusty Ganni boots have seen me through the good, bad, high and low of Glastonbury. In fact, it's not a festival for me without them. I pull them on before I leave my campsite in the morning and dance my way back to my tent in the early hours before slipping them off. The hardiest shoe that guarantees compliments from other festival-goers.
No, I'm not a princess, merely just a festival-goer who's been around the houses enough to know what it feels like to not have a pair of comfy socks to snuggle your feet into as you crawl, bleary-eyed, into your sleeping bag. Trust us - a pair of cashmere bed socks will feel like a hug for your worn-out feet by the end of the day.
No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to keep your tent organised, which is where packing cubes come in handy. I have learned that taking one for every day of the festival, so as to organise my outfits, is the easiest way to reduce stress every morning. That beer-induced migraine will be bad enough without the added anguish of having to find your possessions amid the chaos.
No matter what time you plan on hitting the hay, long-legged cosy pyjamas for me have become a festival must-have. It will be cold in your tent by the time you stumble home, so make it a little bit more pleasant for yourself by having a clean pair of lovely pyjamas in which you can crawl straight into.
Given the blistering weather Glastonbury's had for the past couple of years, I've taken to packing fun and playful bikinis that work perfectly under tank tops or as tops in and of themselves. Swimwear is also essential for when you attempt to wash yourself at the communal sinks (I recommend packing a collapsible water bucket).
It is a truth universally acknowledged that drinking, partying and generally indulging is not conducive to healthy, glowing skin, but slathering on a thick layer of Clinique's Moisture Surge Overnight Mask may trick you into believing otherwise. I opt for the fragrance-free option and wake up with skin like a new-born baby.
Going hands-free (so you have more hands with which to hold onto your beer, of course) is a festival non-negotiable. I've had Ganni's leopard-print crossbody for several years now and, thanks to it being larger than it looks, is the perfect festival accoutrement.
This is seriously one of our favourite trenches around right now, and gives serious 'Alex Chung and Sienna Miller at a festival' vibes. We love the two-tone effect and belted silhouette. This is perfect for those unexpected rain showers.
You will want a shoe to wear to mooch around your campsite, which is why I always pack my pair of rubber Birkenstock Arizonas. When I emerge from my tent in the morning, I want to slide my feet into something quick and easy, and you will too (trust me).
Leaning into the hands-free theme, collapsible water bottles are a must-have. Not only are they easy to transport but the carabiner clip that's attached to it will clip onto crossbody bags, meaning you can use your hands to do what they're there to do – dance.
Whenever you do make it back to your tent at night, a black-out eye mask will almost guarantee a decent-ish night's sleep. Drowsy's silk iteration is not only soft on the sensitive skin around the eyes, but it also offers a touch of luxe amid an environment that may well feel anything but.
Glastonbury can be a sensory overload, which can make falling asleep at night difficult. The best solution I've found is Artah's Sleep Tonic, which I drop under my tongue before nodding off. I'm yet to find a sleep supplement that works as well.
As the partner of a serious snorer, I have tried and tested every earplug in the world it feels like. These, which mould to the shape of your ear canal, are perfect for blocking out any last remaining bits of noise that may be holding you back from properly falling asleep.
There's nothing worse than waking up with a dry and dehydrated mouth from day-drinking beer, which is why I've taken to transporting seltzers into Glastonbury with me. They're essentially sparkling water with alcohol, which means they hydrate while you're drinking them. A win-win.
Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
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