This post was written as an extension to my original Glastonbury Festival camping essentials post from back in 2008 – if you haven’t seen it yet and you’re struggling on what to bring, I’d advise checking that too. Since I typed that post I’m now 2 years and 3 festivals wiser, so I’ve listed a few more of the items I’ve come to find are essentials for Glastonbury (or any other festival):

Essentials 1 to 6 can be found here.

7. Bin Bags
Bin bags have 1,000,001 uses, least of all to keep stuff dry. Its rained hard and the ground has gone all muddy? Take a few with you to lay out and sit on. Got caught in a rainstorm and your clothes are drenched? Throw them in a bin bag till you get home to stop them getting all the rest of your dry stuff damp. Starting to rain and you’ve forgotten your coat? Tear a hole in the top and sides, slip it over your head and voila! Instant poncho! Plus if it does rain hard and you find the inside of your tent getting progressively more and more wet/muddy, throw all your nice, dry clean clothes in a bin bag so they stay that way.

8. Plasters (ideally good quality waterproof plasters)
Ideally, you should also aim to bring a couple of different sizes. The main reason for adding this to the list is blisters – most of us don’t usually spend 12 hours a day on our feet, and it can come as a shock to the system – hence, blisters after the first full day are fairly likely. Now I won’t lie, its going to hurt regardless of what you do – but putting a decent plaster on it should at least minimize the pain. Also useful for impromptu cuts, which – if it rains and everything gets muddy – are screaming out to get infected. Note – you can probably get these from the medical tent, but they’re likely to be the cheap plastic ones that die as soon as they get wet.

9. Sun cream
This one’s really down to you and depends on 2 factors: a) Do you sunburn, and b) Is it going to be sunny. If the answer to either of those questions is yes, I’d advise picking some up before you go. Bearing in mind the festival is at the peak of the english summer, and if/when the sun does come out, its usually scorching. Its likely at some point this will happen and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a field with nowhere to shelter. Again, available from the medical tent but – can you be bothered walking up there every 2 hours?

10. Toilet paper
In the last couple of years Glastonbury has got better and better in this respect – I’d say at least half my toilet visits I’d see paper on the roll, which is impressive. But its not there all the time, and to avoid getting caught out I;d advise at least taking 1 roll yourself – just rip off a dozen or so sheets when you leave the tent and keep them in your pocket, just in case. And you’ll thank me for suggesting it – especially if you’re stupid enough to get the chilli fries after a night drinking. 😉 Also teams up with the wet wipes as a makeshift towel after your festival shower…

11. Torch
Only essential if you feel any sort of guilt about kicking someone’s guy rope out at 3am, or if you’re the sort of person who insists on walking to the toilet in the middle of the night. But also very, very useful once you’re in the tent – once you’re in there and the door’s zipped up, its pitch black. Seeing as you can pick up torches for a couple of quid from homebase (and most motorway services petrol stations apparently), there really is no excuse.

And there you go – between this post and the original, I think we have a fairly comprehensive list of camping essentials. If you think I’ve missed anything, let me know in the comments!