Festival Safety
Staying Safe
- When you arrive at the campsite, try to find a well-lit plot near either the zone manager’s site or close to a fire tower.
- Make friends with the campsite staff if possible and ask them to keep an eye on your tent.
- Enjoy meeting new people but remember that they are in fact strangers so beware of trusting them with anything valuable or finding yourself alone with them.
- Don’t forget to keep your mobile charged so that you can communicate at all times. Check out if there are onsite recharging facilities when you arrive at the campsite.
- It’s always a good idea to agree where your group will meet at certain times of the day, in case someone loses their phone/has it stolen/batteries die etc. and they can’t be contacted.
- It’s true what they say about safety in numbers: Stay in groups and avoid wandering off on your own.
- Stick to well-lit, busy areas, especially at night.
- Stay alert – the sooner you see or hear potential trouble approaching, the more likely it is that you will be able to avoid it.
- Remember, alcohol or drugs can seriously affect your ability to make safe judgements or to react swiftly in an emergency situation.
- Never leave your drink unattended. Even soft drinks can be spiked – with drugs or alcohol.
- If you see an individual or group becoming ‘over-boisterous’ or aggressive, move away before trouble kicks off.
- Be aware how you act and come across, especially when you’ve been drinking. Do you get aggressive when you’ve had a few drinks? Or could you inadvertently attract trouble by the way you behave when you are drunk? If you’re not sure, talk to your mates about it and get their honest opinion.
- If you have a friend whose behaviour or attitude (drunk or sober) attracts trouble, pick a good time and have a word with them. Make it plain that you are not going to be dragged into trouble because of their stupidity.
- If you return to your tent to discover a stranger in it, think carefully before trying to tackle them – they could be armed. It would be far safer to stand back and call for help. If you have a personal safety alarm on you, set it off to attract attention of staff.
- If you are a victim of crime, contact on-site police or festival security immediately. Report any incident, even near misses, as soon as possible. You may save someone else.
- Consider carrying a personal safety alarm.
- Never assume it won’t happen to you. Even though the risks are small, they are there – so don’t take any unnecessary chances with your safety.
Keeping Your Valuables Safe
- Leave your valuables at home if possible. If you do need to take anything valuable with you, make use of the locker facilities available at most festivals.
- Don’t leave anything valuable in your car. Check it daily. Leave your glove compartment empty and open.
- Try and keep your cash and cards on you, even at night.
- Keep a note of your bank’s emergency number to call in case your cards are stolen.
- Avoid putting a padlock on your tent as thieves will assume this means there are valuables inside.
- Your property and tent are far less likely to be stolen if they are marked with your name and postcode.
