For most people, the festival experience is a very simple one. You pitch your tent, crack open a can, go and watch music, crack open plenty more cans, and then go to sleep. Wake up, do it all over again.
There’s a huge drinking culture when it comes to music festivals, and that’s not to mention the drugs, and while many people enjoy to kick back and relax with a cold pint of cider and some great songs, many can take it too far and leave themselves in serious trouble.
However, it doesn’t need to be that way. In fact, you may even find you can get more out of a festival sober than you would when relatively lubed up on alcohol.
These days festivals make a conscious effort to make it a safe environment for those wanting to stay sober, particularly for those who suffer from addiction. Staying sober at a festival, whether you’re an alcoholic or not, isn’t easy though but if you can remain strong, and make the most of the support on offer at festivals these days, you can really maximise your enjoyment elsewhere at the events.
But what should you make the most of?
The food
When drinking alcohol, we often find that our body craves fatty junk foods rather than a well-balanced, healthy diet, so people enjoying a few beers at festivals are more interested in the chips and burgers on offer than the plethora of food you’ll now find at festivals.
Most festivals have really upped their game these days and you’ll find all manner of cuisines from Mexican to Indian, Thai to Caribbean. So why not forget the fried chicken and Yorkshire pudding wraps and tuck into something healthy, full of flavour and a true culinary delight?
Entertainment outside of music
Enjoying a festival with alcohol largely involved trips to the main music stages and diversions to the nearest bar, and/or toilets. Festivals have way more to offer than this though. You’ll find many have comedy stages these days, which can’t exactly be fully enjoyed when a few sheets to the wind, while the circus and arts and crafts areas aren’t exactly conducive to drunken behaviour.
However, they have so much to offer and can really make a festival, in fact. They can take you out of your comfort zone, experience something new and allow you to really take something away from a festival.
Exercise clubs!
Yes, really. This is especially great for people who do suffer from addiction and part of their usual routine is a run or yoga, for example.
Festivals are full of this type of activity, with many now even having Parkrun on festival weekends, as well as plenty of yoga sessions, meditation classes and much more. It’s an opportunity to step away from the chaos and really relax while the liveliness of a festival goes on around you.
