Here are five essentials you *must* have to survive The Purge (aka a festival’s final day)

The last day of a festival can be tough. You’ve been on your feet non-stop for three days, sleep deprived, and probably hungover.

Those Reading, Leeds, and Boardmasters horror stories of fires being started left, right, and centre, 16-year-old Nike Tech warriors stealing camping chairs and then throwing them into tents (actually what is the point).

These tales are like ghost stories. You think it surely can’t be that bad. I hate to break it to you: It’s worse.

From my experience, that fateful Sunday night requires preparation throughout the whole festival in order to make it out unscathed, and in one piece.

So, here is a survival kit, and advice which will help you get through the festival as a whole, preparing you for that final night – The Purge.

1. A camping chair you don’t care about because it *will* get stolen

As briefly mentioned, for some reason which I will never understand, camping chairs are somewhat of a target for those hoping to cause chaos in festival camping sites.

These hunters walk around in packs, scouring each campsite, ripping camping chairs limb by limb, metal chair leg by metal chair leg.

But they don’t stop there. To finish off the job, some will choose to throw these camping chairs up into the sky (what target they are aiming for, we will never know), so they come crashing down onto a fellow campers tent.

The moral of the story here is, in the lucky chance that your nice, new camping chair is chosen as prey, don’t be unprepared and end up upset. Instead just buy a cheap one from Home Bargains as a sacrifice.

2. A portable charger

Via Unsplash

Although this may seem like an obvious thing to bring to a three day festival with now power sockets, I cannot stress the importance more.

Some first-time festival goers think that just one, fully charged power bank from Primark, or Savers will be enough to see them through. They are wrong.

The fear of getting to that final day, knowing that some carnage is about to happen, and looking down at your phone to see 10 per cent left, is something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.

Don’t take any chances. Take two, fully charged, cheap portable chargers, or invest in one long-life one, and pray it doesn’t get stolen.

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3. A refillable water bottle

Again, an arguably obvious thing to bring to a festival, but something a lot of people tend to forget.

Yes, there are vendors at the festival which sell bottled water. If you’re willing to spend £5.50 on water in a plastic bottle, be my guest.

All festivals will more than likely have a water station, so don’t be silly and waste unnecessary amount of money on things which should be free.

Besides, having a constant flow of water will help you keep hydrated for the events of the night ahead. Trust me, you’ll need it.

4. A quick getaway route

This one is underrated, but good to have under your belt. What I mean by this is basically, don’t get lost on your way back to your tent.

A good sense of direction is a vital survival skill, which a lot of us tend to lose when at a festival. Everything looks unfamiliar, and then you find yourself walking around in circles until you realise that you’ve seen the same flag with Ali G on it six times.

Learning the route back to your camp will help you so much in the long run, especially when the tent, camping chairs, food, and maybe even clothes are in danger of being swiped.

5. A good army behind you

When faced with the inevitable swarms of 17-year-old, neon top wearing, Nike cross-body,  Crystal Bar warriors, whose mission is to do nothing but ruin your evening. It’s important to have a strong support system around you.

You and your campmates will have to stick together to win this war. No soldier should be left behind, or alone. Maybe even make a game plan to evacuate the campsite all together, and efficiently as possible.

Fuel yourself with whatever electrolytes you have left, maybe quickly eat the last chocolate brioche bun, and be on your way.

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