Can You Attend Festivals With a Food Allergy?
We think festivals are a rite of passage and can be easily navigated with a good bit of planning, if you've got allergies. Read on to find out what mum Cathy Ranson, helped by her son Alex and his friend Jono who both have food allergies, had to say…
Go With Trusted Friends
If you’re heading off to a festival with a bunch of mates, make sure they know about your allergies and how to use your auto injector (AAI) if you need it and aren't able to use it yourself.
Bum Bags
Get a decent sized and good quality bum bag and you'll be able to carry your medication around with you easily. Everyone wears them, they're perfect for your phone, charging bank, any locker keys, cash/card, small bottle of water etc you won't look weird. Stages can be a LOOOONG way from your tent so don't rely on being able to get back to it quickly if you need to. Take our advice and don't cheap out on your bum bag - they can get holes in them, we've learnt this the hard way sadly! It's not fun when you lose stuff at a festival. Buy a decent one and it will last.
First Aid
There are always first aid tents in festival grounds. Make sure you and your mates know where they are located. Identify the nearest one to where you are camping as well as for the stages of the acts you want to see. You never know who in your crowd might need the first aid tent - it's always rammed.
Food
Food stands at festivals are mega expensive and very busy. You can sometimes find out what vendors are booked for a festival by checking the website before you go and can make the decision whether you feel they would be safe or not. If you can't get any advance info, or feel that you may not trust the food vendors to take your allergies seriously, you do have other options.
Whilst you might think, 'I can just take my own food', or 'a BBQ would be fun', beware! Many festivals don't allow cooking in the grounds, any sign of cooking and fire fighters could be sent out to extinguish your BBQ and you also risk being kicked out. We have had direct experience of this! It's not fun if it happens to you. Here's a few suggestions instead:
➡ Take instant ramen pots, cup a soups, pasta mug shots, etc and the charities and First Aid tents at the festival will usually give you hot water in return for a small donation.
➡ We all love a supermarket meal deal? Locating the nearest large supermarkets that are in walking distance is always a good idea. Heading off for a (sobering) morning walk to buy breakfast and a meal deal for later keeps your festival experience price down. Find one that has toilets, trust us on this. Festival toilets are the pits even if you pay for the luxury loos. Don't forget to pack a loo roll.
➡ Take plenty of snacks that work for you. Easy breakfast ideas that don't need to be kept cool are breakfast biscuits and Weetabix on the Go drinks. Consider taking one of those rigid boxes that tender fruit is delivered to a supermarket in. This also works well as a temporary table for ‘Pres’ with your mates. (Pres, for any parents reading, means ‘pre drinks’, prior to going ‘out-out’.) Don't take too much food as it could get ruined if the weather is bad or it goes off if it gets too hot. Also there's a strong possibility it will get squished by drunk people falling on your tent or you or your tent mates treading on it. It happens. Know that you've identified the local supermarket and can easily stock up as you go.
➡ You can use food delivery apps really easily at festivals and this is a great option as you can identify what will be safe for you in advance of the festival. But they won't be allowed into the festival grounds sadly. (We're waiting for the day when you can order your food delivery via drone - it'll be a festival game changer!) You’ll need to identify a venue that is outside the grounds of the festival, ideally around the corner from the exit. Find a business or something similar that you can easily order your food to be delivered to so the driver doesn't get confused and you can meet up easily.
Breaking your festival stay up
If you have friends or family who live near to the festival grounds, or it's not too far away from home, don't rule out a very quick visit for a hot meal and a warm shower half way through your festival experience. Believe us you'll be so grateful to feel clean again! If it's hot (fingers crossed) festivals can get so dusty. If it's bad weather you're very likely going to be caked in mud with the strong possibility of soggy feet and close to trench foot! There's a surprising amount of down time at festivals where there are no acts on to watch and you're either trying to get some sleep in ready for your next session, or just relaxing with mates. This is a great time to sneak out for a freshen up and a decent dinner! You're likely to be eating and sleeping at weird times during your festival experience so warn your folks this could be at strange times of the day or night and you're not going to be able to plan an exact time/day.
Enjoy every moment of it! You'll look back and be so glad you made it happen.
Alex and Jono both have allergies and are now 20 and 21 respectively but have been to many festivals. Alex cut his festival teeth on Reading Festival at the age of 16. His mum Cathy took Alex to Tom Kerridge's Pub in the Park Festival last year, she loved it but Alex said that the whole festival was the size of one stage at a 'real' festival and it was 'a bit lame'.
Alex & Jono have booked Community and Boardmasters festivals for 2022. Cathy is still waiting for Alex to take her to a 'real' festival. It will probably be a long wait...