You might have attended a day festival (or two) this year, or plan to in the future, or may actually have never thought of what you could do with a day of live music from quality performers.
Whether you’re attending one of the British Summer Time Hyde Park Sessions, or a Summer Sessions, or Lets Rock event in your local area, here are five reasons why spending the day in front of stages is a great idea.
1. Accommodation
Let’s address accommodation first. There’s usually a proper bed at the end of the night, whether it’s your own, in a hotel (hostel also works) or a sofa or floor cushions. The absolute annihilated may kip briefly on a field, before being discovered by friendly and firm security personnel.
2. Travel lightly
Unless your festival organisers are very forgiving, or family-oriented, it’s usually no food or drink or bulky camping equipment to carry into the venue. Absolutely fine by me; no cooking or washing up and at a better price than most restaurants, food truck vendors are quality assessed by festival organisers, so you know you’re in for a good meal. I’ve seen fans just go from truck to truck like they’re at a food festival.
3. Discover new talent
Start as soon as the gates open, and you’ll discover some great new performers on the smaller stages, as well as earlier on the main stage. I loved watching Nina Nesbitt’s late afternoon performance, ahead of the BST Hyde Park Stevie Nicks headline show. Nina and her band put on an incredible thirty-minute performance, ending with the anthemic and crowd-waving “I’m Coming Home”. The rain was busy elsewhere, the grass was dry and my partner was in a cider queue.
4. Keep track on social media
The Internet is usually more reliable early in the day, which is great for tagging yourself and your pals into your socials, checking on later food options and scrolling through artist information on the schedule. Then following them on your favourite streaming device, or perhaps buying an album from their website.
5. Even Security gets into the festival mood
Security personnel are often fun as well as firm, chatting when they can, helpful when asked and quick when someone needs medical attention. Shout out to all those personalities who love live music as much as we do and can’t help but dance to the same music.
Let’s not forget festival outfit. Because you only have to think of one day, instead of four, I’ve seen some incredible nods to artists, whether attending the Madness show in Plymouth or Stevie Nicks in Hyde Park. What’s your go-to day festival outfit?
Of course, you could make a weekend of day festivals, as with Summer Sessions and BST Hyde Park, taking advantage of an extended hotel stay, or heading home if you’re lucky enough to live in the area. If you’re seeing a day festival this summer, make sure to arrive there as soon as the first smaller act takes to the stage. You never know where you’ll discover the next Taylor Swift.
