I’ve been very fortunate this year – heading to not one, but two festivals! The first, Timber, was a small, family affair. It was the perfect place to learn about being eco-friendly, and practicing what you preach while there, but my second was a little different…
Latitude Festival
Latitude is a mammoth of a festival. If Glasto is the biggest in the UK, Latitude must be somewhere in the top ten. With a capacity of 35,000 people, it made for the festival of dreams: many stages, an incredibly line up of artists, comedians, poets, and presenters, and countless food stalls serving delicious street food suited to any diet.
Be Prepared
Like a good Girl Scout, I came prepared for Latitude. With previous visits to Green Man, and this year’s Timber, I knew how to pack without taking too much or leaving too little.
If you’re thinking of heading to Latitude, or another UK festival across a really sunny, dry weekend like the one we had, here’s what I’d recommend taking:
- One top for each day
- Pair of denim shorts
- Underwear
- Pair of trainer socks for each day
- Pair of long socks for colder evenings
- Jumper for colder evenings
- Pair of trainers
- Bikini for the shower
- Light rain coat
- Makeup + bag
- Toiletries + bag
- Sun cream (Green People SPF30 is great)
- Backpack for using at the festival (I love my Kanken)
- Tote bag for anything extra
- Rucksack to carry everything
- Small camping stove
- Sleeping bag
- Roll up pillow
- Roll mat
- Water bladder
- Water bottle (per person)
- Tent
- Cool bag
- Food (essentials: noodles, tea, apples, and cereal bars!)
My boyfriend and I made our way to Latitude from London via train and then coach, arriving on site just after lunchtime. We knew it was going to be hot, and as plastic tents get really stuffy, we set up under the shade of a big tree. It meant we could sleep during the morning (when the other campers would have been roasting), and other than some pesky tree pollen, it was totally worth it.
My Highlights
My photos really don’t show you just how large Latitude is, but I was really surprised at the size of the site, and the beauty of each area! The stages tucked away in the woodland had to be my favourite, with art hanging in the trees and all over the trails between them too.
I saw a lot of brilliant performers over the weekend, and with some careful planning, we got to see all our favourite acts, as well as discovering some new ones too. Music-wise, I loved running between stages to see Belle & Sebastian, The Go! Team, The Killers, Liam Gallagher, Alt-J, La Femme, Preoccupations, John Hopkins, and Laura Marling’s band Lump.
There was an equally good line-up on the comedy stage too, with James Acaster being my favourite (and my god it was packed!), as well as a hilarious performance from Marcus Brigstocke as The Devil, and an absolutely hilarious set from David O’Doherty.
Plus, getting to hear talks from Sandi Toksvig with John Lloyd (as well as a live performance of QI) and generally discover small and interesting acts made it a brilliant long weekend.
Overall…
I would totally, totally, go again. The visit was made even more delightful by the presence of Oatly (who I have to thank for our tickets) and their oat milk flowing at almost every food cart too. I had a lot of oat lattes, oat smoothies, and vegan food too!
And of course, upon returning there was a lot of washing and rejuvenating… Have a read of my Post-Festival Beauty Rituals for my top tips!
