RAMzine Issue 1 - Feb. 2015 | Page 8

Festival Tips and Tricks H eading to your first festival this summer? Check out our handy festival tips and tricks to feel like a total pro in no time! Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing If you want to be saved from spending £5+ (about the price of a festival pint) on a stage times lanyard, why not print your own? Clashfinder.com is a handy little site where you can highlight the bands you want to see (or them all!) and creates a printable timetable. Time To Waste Quite obviously, you’ll want to be seeing your favourite bands do their wonderful music thing that they do. But there might be points where there’s a gap in bands you want to see. I really, really recommend checking out someone you’ve never heard of. If it’s not your thing, you can move on and have a wander round the various festival stalls, but you might discover your new favourite band on a tiny stage. By Milly Youngman All My Best Friends Are Metal Heads Festivals are full of great people and everyone is generally really friendly. Making friends with your neighbours is also a great idea as you can keep an eye on each other’s tents, and if there’s someone untoward nosing around your tent they can deter tent thieves. Fuel Hard Rock Hell 2014 As festival food and drink can be very overpriced, a lot of people choose to take their own food into the campsite - although there can be restrictions on what you can take into the arena itself so check the website for info. Most festivals ban gas cookers, but on the more festival-friendly solid fuel cookers, you can heat up canned food or boil some water for a Pot Noodle - just remember to take a pan/kettle and a tin opener. Snack-y food like Pringles, nuts and biscuits keep well, and tinned fruit is brilliant for filling up healthily. *Bring a Mankini! Come rain or shine they are handy for something! Move Along Another thing to keep in mind how you’ll transport your stuff to your temporary home in the campsite – trust us, wheelie suitcases are absolute hell to drag through mud or across gravel. A large camping backpack is a great festival investment, and a trolley with sturdy wheels is perfect for the all-important beer transportation. The Qemists Festival Tips ! *Drink hot brandy in it spicy cider with for breakfas t! *Don’t stan guy with the d in front of the bottle of pis s! Editors Tip: Bring a Flag Flags are great for marking your territory and finding your tent amongst the masses. You can quite easily make your own at home, by ordering a blank flag from Amazon, and some acryllic paint. I find acrilic paint the best, as it doesn’t wash off in the rain, just make sure it doesn’t get on your clothes. Most festivals sell flag poles, country flags, and band flags if you want to keep it simple. Sonisphere 2014