20 Reasons You Should Attend A Festival This Year

With sunshine warming your skin, loud music pumping and a cold drink in one hand, it's safe to say festivals are one of the best events of the Summer. I know I absolutely adore them and I'm quite upset I don't have any planned for this year. Here are 20 reasons why you should give it a try if you haven't already.

20. You might just find a new favourite artist. There's always loads of lesser known bands just waiting for you to stumble upon their tent and give their music a chance. You never know, you might end up loving it!

19. You get to spend a weekend dancing, jumping and hopping around to some of your favourite tunes with some of your favourite people. Plus all that bopping about is some serious exercise!

18. You'll have the BEST shower when you finally get home. Seriously. Queuing up for festival showers just doesn't seem worth it when all you get at the end is a bit of cold water spat on you. Of course you may have dry shampoo and baby wipes but nothing compares to a good scrub. You probably won't get out till you've turned into a prune.

17. Having a liquid breakfast is considered the norm and by liquid I mean alcoholic. You may wake up to the sound of a hundred cider cans being cracked open.

16. THE FOOD. There'll be vans for literally every type of food you can think of.  You fancy Thai? No problem. Mexican? No problem. Toasties? No problem. Festivals never seem to promote the healthiest diet but hey, it's only one weekend and it tastes good!

15. You'll find yourself having some pretty random conversations with strangers. I remember being dressed as a badger talking to a jellyfish about tequila back in 2012 when I went to Bestival. I have no idea who he was and never spoke to him again, but that's the beauty of festivals!

14. No-one will bat an eyelid if you're dressed as a badger. Admittedly this was for Bestival which has a fancy dress day (the theme was wildlife) but we actually got the day wrong. We were prancing around in our outfits whilst everyone else was dressed normally! There's often groups of people running round in fancy dress or onesies, festival fashion out the window.

13. Camping with your friends is always an experience, usually a fun one!

12. The internet connection is usually awful which means you spend less time instagramming and more time actually enjoying the event.

11. There's always time for shopping and the stalls/tents usually stock some pretty cool and quirky items. I got a pretty Paris ring and a studded denim jacket the last time I went.

10. Even if there isn't a band you like playing at a particular time (extremely rare) there is always something to do. Fairground rides, tarot card readings and smaller tents with DJ's playing songs you can dance to are just a few of the things that can keep you busy.

9. If you're a fan of a guy with facial hair (I know I am) then rest assured that there will be stubble and beards aplenty by the third day. Eye candy galore.

8. The weeks leading up to the festival can be exciting too, especially if you enjoy planning and shopping for outfits.

7.  Stumbling across fields to find the stage with your lanyard in one hand and a drink in the other, hearing a song you like and heading in that direction or battling it out with you friends about who to see next. Choosing which bands you want to see and when is all part of the fun.

6. As most festivals tend to take place in the Summer months it's usually sunny, being outside all day means getting a tan with little effort. Just make sure you put cream on, having sunburn at a festival is NOT enjoyable.

5. Four words. Glitter and Face Paint.

4. Mixing alcohol together with a bunch of people that like the same music can cause new friendships to blossom.

3. You get a wristband that you probably won't take off for months. If you're a festival addict they might completely cover your lower arm by the time September rolls around.

2. It works out far cheaper to see all the bands in one place rather than to buy separate concert tickets for each. Plus it's usually away from home and there's camping involved, it's like a mini holiday!

1. Festivals create fantastic memories, I love looking back over old photos and remembering everything that happened.