Festival season is upon us. You have the coveted ticket to one (or more) of your favourite summer haunts stashed away, your wrist has been feeling naked without a colourful collection of wristbands, and you’ve been zoning out of work conversations all month to make a mental list of what you are going to need to survive (even better thrive) this time around. 

Worry not, our favourite influencer Wanda is in the same wellingtons as you are, and we all know that influencers know best, so you better stay tuned to check out her festival must-haves! Wanda means well, she’s just a girl trying to live an instagrammable life while doing her bit for the planet. Wanda would sooner eat a Babybel off the floor than use a plastic straw (or worse a plastic cup!), and as clumsy as she is, she sometimes does. 

Wanda was so excited this morning that she jumped out of bed and whacked her head on one of the water pipes, that’s London housing for you! Her summer plans have finally made it past the group chat stage for once, her and her friends have booked tickets for a festival! She can barely think straight, either due to the excitement or the bump on the head she’s just had. Of course, she’s left packing until the last minute, classic Wanda! Last year she wrote down everything she wished she had known before going to a festival, all of her festival hacks and must haves. She aimlessly reaches under her bed to find a tatty, coffee stained notebook. She opens it up and finds her master plan.  

Here’s what it said... 

Wanda’s Festival Hacks and Must Haves

Take a bum bag to keep your valuables safe 

Luckily these useful little items are making a major fashion comeback, but otherwise, that fastening clip could be the only thing holding you together on a long festival day. Bum bags are the key to keeping your valuables safe, and the things you’ll need throughout the day handy. Go creative with this one, Wanda usually takes a bag so obnoxiously loud, that no-one would dare to steal it.

Bring a yoga mat to put under your sleeping bag 

The floor is as hard and cold as it looks, be sure to bring something to soften it up a bit before you sleep on it. A yoga mat is easier to transport than a blow-up mattress so to save space, go for this option. Wanda still hasn’t got those knots out of her back from last year, despite the yoga subscription that she pays for every month and used twice, weird. 

Pack an empty pillowcase and fill it with your clothes 

Nobody should have to give up the comfort of a big soft pillow, but they’re clunky and take up space. Simply take an empty pillowcase and fill it with your clothes when you’re at the festival to make a comfy place to rest your head. Wanda’s short-shorts and crop tops don't look like they’ll fill the entire pillow, but she happens to like thick socks, so it all evens out in the end! 

Bring dry shampoo to keep your hair fresh (ish) 

By the end of last year’s festival, Wanda had a top bun so tight and greasy that she looked like a seagull escaping an oil spill (no good!). That was until one of her influencer friends came up behind her and sprayed dry shampoo in it. She did this unprovoked, so Wanda couldn’t help but feel a little offended. It did the trick though, her hair looked just as it had when she arrived! Be sure to pack some dry shampoo to get an extra day of flawless selfies, shower-free.  

Use an unscented deodorant to ward off bugs 

Anyone who says a small change can’t make a big difference hasn’t tried sleeping in a tent with a mosquito. Wanda hates all creepy crawlies, so she applies a natural, refillable deodorant to the exposed parts of her body to ward of mosquitos and other unwanted bugs. She’s rather dramatic, when a bug lands on her she screams louder than the speakers on the main stage. Seriously, the band stopped the concert when they heard it.

Use a microfibre towel for quick cleaning and drying  

Wet a microfibre towel and use it to freshen up quickly and easily. The best thing about these is that they dry quickly and are perfect for camping. Nobody wants a tent smelling like damp because their towel hasn’t dried from 2 days ago. Wanda learnt that the hard way, the friend she was sharing with didn’t speak to her for the rest of the weekend. Or perhaps it was the fact that she snores after one too many drinks, I guess we’ll never know. 

Bring Imodium  

This is one of those nice to haves when you don’t need it, ecstatic to have when you do need it. Wanda will never forget the food poisoning she once got from the fish and chip van. A few Imodium and she was back and better than ever! And to be fair, those porta potties are rather ghastly, but when nature calls and you just have to pick up, Wype’s Mini travel-size cleansing gel will have you feeling peachy keen (and clean) in no time! It may be small, but it keeps you well prepared for the muckiest of moments.  

Always carry loo roll with you 

Carrying loo roll with you at all times is truly the unsung hero of festival camping hacks. Whether you need an emergency toilet break, a bird poos on your friend, or someone spills a drink on you, it comes in handy more often than you think. When Wanda had go (on the go), Wype made her forget all about how gross the portaloos were when it left her feeling fresh as a daisy. This was especially handy before the Imodium kicked in.  

Take a Shewee 

Wanda may not show it on Instagram, but she too wees. Instead of waiting for hours in the queue for the toilet, Wanda takes a Shewee. This way, although she may feel like a dog when doing it, she can go whenever she pleases in a concealed area. Although, last year she did see someone using one in the middle of the crowd, not cool. Be more like Wanda and less like Poppy with the light-up sunglasses and the tu-tu skirt... You know who you are and what you did, Poppy. 

Take some pocket-sized snacks 

Whatever snacks you like (Wanda makes her own homemade granola bars), make sure you keep one in your bum bag at all times. Keeping your energy up is important, especially when you're dancing all day and night. Stay away from things with chocolate in them, you don’t want them to melt and leave a sticky mess when you go for your energy boosting snack, and for everyone to think you lost your way inside the porta potty. 

Take some portable chargers (yes more than one) 

You need your phone to keep in contact with your friends at the festival, Wanda needs it to create some fire content for the gram. Last time she forgot her chargers, she ended up logging into her Instagram on a random person’s phone to let her followers know she hadn’t fallen down a ditch and starved to death. Take multiple portable chargers and be sure that they're fully charged before you leave to keep in contact, keep safe, and take some bomb selfies when you need to. #blessed 

Use the What3Words to find your tent and friends 

Wanda made the discovery of this app a few years ago. It allows you to navigate to precise locations, perfect for when you need to find your tent at a festival! Wanda once found herself wading through a river, 2 miles away from her campsite when she didn’t have this app. Don't be like Wanda on this occasion.

She can’t quite make out what the last thing on the list says because of the coffee stains, but she thinks it has something to do with the Spice Girls themed night they had last year. She closes the notepad and starts getting ready for her weekend of fun. She knows that she’s going to be girl bossing this festival with all of her camping hacks and must-haves, so she posts a picture of the list on her Instagram story for all of her followers to see and captions it, “I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without these festival hacks and must haves.” Well done, Wanda, you inspire us all. 

Did you find Wanda’s festival must haves and hacks useful? Let us know in the comments. We’re sure Wanda would love to know what you thought! Why not take Wanda’s advice and see how Wype’s cleansing gel can clean you up down there (and everywhere) when camping at a festival. Buy Wype here!  

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