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How to sleep well at music festivals
Author: Jonathan Warren
For many, the coming of the Glastonbury Festival at the end of June heralds the beginning of both the summer and the festival season. However, late-night partying followed by disrupted tent sleeping and early mornings mean that a summer of frivolity comes at a cost: sleep.
We've calculated that 12.267 million hours sleep could be lost this summer as a result of poor sleeping conditions at the ten major UK music festivals. The calculations worked on the principle that each night, the average festivalgoer would lose three hours from their recommended eight hours sleep. When multiplied by the daily capacity of each festival site and the number of nights you can camp at each, we reached the eye-watering total.
You can find the full breakdown below:
However, it isn't all doom and gloom for those visiting Worthy Farm and other festival sites this summer, as Lisa Artis from the Sleep Council has provided some top tips to help festivalgoers achieve a decent night's sleep despite being away from home:
|
Festival |
Sleep lost (hours) |
|
Glastonbury |
2,650,000 |
|
V (Staffordshire and Chelmsford) |
1,620,000 |
|
Reading |
1,350,000 |
|
Download |
1,332,000 |
|
Leeds |
1,200,000 |
|
T in the Park |
1,110,000 |
|
Isle of Wight |
1,080,000 |
|
Bestival |
960,000 |
|
Creamfields |
540,000 |
|
Latitude |
420,000 |
|
Total |
12,267,000 |
However, it isn't all doom and gloom for those visiting Worthy Farm and other festival sites this summer, as Lisa Artis from the Sleep Council has provided some top tips to help festivalgoers achieve a decent night's sleep despite being away from home:
- Invest in a good quality sleeping bag. Also make sure it has an adequate temperature rating for the conditions you are in.
- If you’re camping on a regular basis it’s worth investing in an air bed to cushion and protect you from the cold ground. Take a sleeping pad too to place under it for added comfort.
- If you can, bring your pillow from home – it’ll make an enormous difference to how well you sleep.
- Keep feet warm with a hot water bottle or bed socks.
- Wear a cap or use your sleeping bag hood as the body loses most of its heat through the head.
- Drink some water. Don't overdo it, you don’t want to popping to the loo in the middle of night, but keeping yourself hydrated aids blood circulation.
- Don’t be tempted to wear lots of layers. Long underwear with a top and bottoms is insulating enough to keep your skin warm, but thin enough to let heat escape your body.
- Make sure your tent is well ventilated and has decent air circulation.
- Wear an eye mask and earplugs to block out the morning sun and noise.
- Try to follow a similar routine to home and wind down properly.
