Music festivals, especially the camping kind, are notoriously uh… not the cleanest places in the world. At best, you’ll be pitching a tent on a vast, grassy field. At worst, you’re knee-deep in mud like the poor folks at Glastonbury nearly every year.
More commonly, though, you’ll just be smushed together with thousands of others on some kind of dusty surface, sweating, breathing on each other, lacking reliable access to running water, and maybe not smelling the best. We hold our noses, but it’s worth it.
So here are a few tips to save your hygiene and keep yourself clean, ick-free-ish, and healthy so you can enjoy your incredible weekend (and beyond).
Whether you’re camping or not — the basics:
Bring and use hand sanitizer, especially after the porta-potties and before handling food. Or wash with soap and water, if possible, and avoid using the hand dryer if there are paper towels, as dryers spread germs like mad. Grab an extra paper towel or sheet of toilet paper to turn off the faucet and open the door.
If you sit on the ground or on shared surfaces, be mindful of where your butt has been and try not to touch the seat of your pants. I know that sounds ridiculous, but if you’re sitting on public surfaces, then sorry but that ass is nasty.
Dirty hand / clean hand: You can do what some cultures do, and designate a dirty hand vs. a clean hand. Only do this when you know you can’t wash your hands or use sanitizer before eating. For example, left hand: Eating, touching your face, etc. Right hand: High-fives, sharing drinks, opening doors, touching merch, pulling stuff from your bag, etc. For the gross things.
Mind your feet. In general I recommend not wearing open-toed shoes to festivals. Dirt will be absolutely caked onto your soles at the end of the day, and that’s just one more surface to infect you through, and one more body part to clean at the end of the day. Sneakers and boots are more comfortable, anyway.
And that’s all to say, be extra aware of the things you’re touching when you’re exposed to thousands of strangers. It’s 2023 so we ought to have this engraved on our brains, but sometimes it’s easy to forget when we’re having an incredible moment.
If you go home at the end of the night, take a shower right away and wash off that grime. I’m already jealous of your clean, peaceful sleep.
If you’re staying overnight:
Don’t worry so much about smelling great at the festival and being perfectly clean in the morning, because you’ll be floating in a sea of smells all day and no one will notice. Bring deodorant or whatever you use normally, but know that you’ll be surrounded by humans, dirt and whatever else all day, so your base doesn’t have to start squeaky clean. You’re not going to the office, after all.
That said, if you can shower, shower! It’ll be better towards the end of the day so you can get a cleaner sleep. Be sure to bring water-safe shoes like flip-flops because you do *not* want to step in the things that people do and leave behind in public showers.
Put your damp towel somewhere it can completely dry so it doesn’t attract bacteria more bacteria. If you can pack one towel for every day, even better. I’m a fan of packable, super-absorbant microfiber towels.
If you can’t shower, get yourself some biodegradable body wipes and go to town. Same principle as the shower – it’s better to do this at night.
If you don’t have shower access but can wash your face somewhere, at least do this, morning and night. You’ll thank yourself the following week.
Pack smart.
Again, bring water-safe shoes for the shower, if there is one, but for the long weekend, sneakers are going to be better friends to you than sandals for both cleanliness and comfort.
Socks, too, will keep dirt off your ankles if you’re in a dusty or muddy environment. And pants if the weather allows.
If you’re going somewhere hot and sweaty, the temptation will be to either cover up completely or wear almost nothing. Find the balance that works best for you: too much skin and you’re exposing a lot of your body to germs, and too much coverage and you might be collecting bacteria in the sweat that can’t evaporate. Cotton or linen clothes can help you stay cool and covered, versus polyester or other synthetic knits.
Be mindful of water sources.
Some water stations at festivals are for drinking only. Absolutely do not try to wash your face or body at these stations, splashing your germs around, you filthy animal. Think of others for once.
Similarly, some water is *not* for drinking. I’ll never forget the time I saw a guy at Bonnaroo, high out of his mind around 10:00am, drink from the faucet next to the water playground. The water not only came from playground run-off, but it was meant for washing off shoes. My stomach is turning just thinking about it. Just don’t wash your face or body in water that is obviously not even safe to drink.
Keep up with your regimens.
Finally, if you have an extensive skin-care regimen at home, either for acne, anti-aging, or something else, try to replicate as much of it as you can at the festival so you don’t break the chain. Bring travel-sized versions or pack your own. Of course, if there were ever a time to take it a little easy and skip a step or two, festivals are the perfect excuse.
Stash your trash.
This one’s for you, for everyone around you, and for the environment. Bring biodegradable or paper bags to hold all of the trash you accumulate over the weekend so it doesn’t get strewn around, becoming germs for people to step in and spread around the festival all weekend. This is also just a good-human thing to do.
Take these steps during your next festival, and healthy post-festival you will be so glad you did.
