Festival Safety
This year’s festival season is now well and truly underway. The UK summertime is
peppered with annual events such as The Reading Festival, Download, Creamfields, V
Festival and last, but not least, Glastonbury.
Thousands of people are expected to attend these events and, historically, thousands of
people have had a fantastic time. However, each year many revellers return home with an
injury which is bound to have ruined the experience for them.
In order to fully embrace the ‘festival experience’ many people take part in quintessential
festival activities, such as ‘moshing’ (a style of dance whose participants push or slam into
each other) and crowd surfing (the process in which the “crowd surfer” is passed above
everyone’s heads, with everyone’s hands supporting the person’s weight).
Whilst these activities may seem fun they do carry the potential risk of a serious injury. It is
on this basis that a lot of festival venues have forbidden such activities.
Useful festival tips
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Enjoy and embrace the festival experience, but do not get too carried away by taking
part in moshing or crowd surfing
Be careful when in crowds as you can be pushed or lifted off your feet in the event of
a crowd surge
Stay hydrated as being in a large crowd can make you very hot. Also keep an eye on
your drink; do not leave it unattended just in case anyone pops anything into it
Keep your phone fully charged. It is very easy to lose your friends at large events. Also
consider deciding on a meeting place with your friends and touch base with them
regularly if you are splitting up.
Be prepared for the uncertain British weather, in particular, protect your skin with sun
cream and wear a hat where possible to reduce the chance of sunstroke.
Finally... Enjoy yourself and in the words of Mark Twain, “sing like no-one is listening
and dance like nobody is watching”.
P4