Reading Festival Diary

Hi Guys,

I know it's a bit late, but better late than never eh? This year I attended Reading Festival for my sixth year in a row. I had a bloody blast with some amazing people so I thought I would talk you guys through my highs and lows of Reading Festival.

We arrived at Reading Festival at around 4pm on Wednesday 26th August, the queue entering the campsite was pretty rammed due to lack of staff upon entry. But thanks to my faithful trolley I bought from Amazon the trek to the campsite wasn't too traumatic. Once we had everything set up we could finally commence enjoying ourselves.

Reading Festival Favourite Moments -

It has to be Baby Metal, they opened the main stage on the Saturday morning, me, Dan, Meghan and Heather all went to check them out just for a laugh due to them being such an odd concept, but they were actually such a fun band to watch and the music was pretty good too! Also skipping around a mosh pit with Meghan at Cancer Bats to their sabotage anthem, unfortunately in the commotion I was knocked over and had a pile of people on top of me. But with most mosh pits, the occupants are pretty quick to pick everyone up, dust them off and carry on moshing, (don't worry I didn't have any injuries).

Reading Festival Least Favourite Moments - 

I really hate to say this, but it has to be Royal Blood's performance, which is frustrating to say the least. Me and Dan had seen Royal Blood at last year's Reading Festival in the NME tent and I got really into Royal Blood after then as I was so blown away by their performance. This year on the other hand, Royal Blood performed on the main stage and in my opinion, they didn't have enough material to fill the assigned time slot, they had a lot of guitar distortion to fill silences. Unfortunately the lead singer seemed like he had taken MDMA as he had the classic "gurning" motion of constantly chewing which disturbed the vocals.  I was just completely disappointed with them to the point towards the end of their set, I couldn't be bothered to waste my time with their performance anymore so we left early. My second least favourite moment was seeing a "band" called Years and Years (uuuuugh), our friend Heather (was) a fan of Years and Years so she wanted to check them out so we said we would go with her, oh how we would go on to rue that decision. Years and Years is every stereotypical manufactured pop act you could you think of rolled into generic lyrics and lazy dance beats. These factors alone make Years and Years pretty dire.

Reading Festival Surprise Best Acts -

My inner teen has always been really into Panic! at the Disco so I thought for old times sake I would go check out their set. Bloody hell! Blown away with how good they were, they did a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody which was fantastic and had the whole crowd singing along. Not only that but Brendon Urie's vocal range was absolutely mind blowing, the notes he hit had us all standing in awe. Such an underrated band and I would thoroughly recommend checking them out if you get the chance. Not to forget Mister Jamie T of course, now I've always been aware of Jamie T and his music. I know the classics such as Zombie, Sticks and Stones and Sheila but never massively followed him. Jamie T played the Sunday evening so we thought we would check him out and he was so fun to watch, after a drink or two everyone was dancing around to his hits and singing along. 

Reading Festival Regrets - 

I have to say my main major regret is not seeing Bring Me The Horizon, I've just got their latest album "That's the Spirit", it's a cracking album and I've heard BMTH are a really fantastic live act. I actually have no idea why I didn't see them but definitely wish I did, maybe next time.

All in all, like the past six years, Reading Festival was an absolute blast full of laughs and memories, but by the time I woke up Sunday morning I just looked at Dan and said "I'm too old for this", as much as I love Reading, it's full of 'kids' celebrating their GCSE results and once upon a time I was one of those 'kids' but I think it might be time to move on to pastures new. (I do also say I'm not going to go to Reading Festival every year due to this exact reason but still end up going, but it's completely dependent upon the line up, who knows).

All my love,

Bex

Festival Survival Guide

So our Reading Festival tickets arrived today (woop!) so this has inspired me to share with you lovely lot my ultimate festival survival guide.

Ticket

Now this may seem obvious to you all, but last year my lovely friend Meghan decided to travel with us all the way from Kent to Reading and left her festival ticket at home, doh! Luckily for her, her mum is a hero and drove all the way to Reading to deliver her ticket back to Meghan's loving arms. However, you may not be so lucky so remember your ticket!

Tent

Again, a pretty obvious one, you ideally need somewhere to rest your weary head after a hard day's partying and obviously to store your stuff and most importantly booze in.

Camping Bag

Pretty much just to put all of your festival essentials from this guide into and then break your back attempting to carry it.

Money

There are ATM machines on site at most festivals but there are usually monstrous queues and a hefty charge to withdraw your cash. Festivals can be pricy at the best of times so it's usually better to take cash so you can budget more effectively but take a card in case of emergency.

Battery pack

Last year I decided rather than take a crap phone I would just take my iPhone and save on having to lug a camera around, due to the success of this idea last year I am doing the same this year and taking my trusty phone charger battery pack. I purchased the nifty device on Amazon, it has 4 usb ports and can charge your phone up to six times over, definitely a festival hero.

Camping chair

To each their own with this one, some people may prefer not having to lug around an extra item. But for me, the amount of people that wee and vomit on the floor I would much rather not be sitting in it, plus you avoid chronic grass rash.

Sleeping Bag, Pillow and Air Bed

Now with this one, the only main essential item is the sleeping bag, but after my experience at V Festival of sleeping on rocks, I would rather have the luxury of an air bed and a pillow.

Trolley

Again, a bit of a luxury, but my god does it make your life easier, obviously find a decent one first (last year the wheels fell off of ours) and get some cling film and shrink wrap all of your stuff to the trolley that way you don't have to worry about anything falling off.

Wellies or Boots

Now it's not mandatory to take wellies but if you're not feeling it, why not take some decent boots like Doc Marten's with you. I took my Serena Doc Marten's last year, it of course helped that they are super comfy but they really saved the day during the heavy down pour.

Clothes

Again, really obvious, I won't go massively into this one because it's pretty self explanatory. If you fancy being adventurous then check out some festival themed look books to get some inspiration. When it comes to what to take make sure you take a rain proof jacket (you never know), some thick clothes (for the cold British evenings), plenty of socks and underwear (you never know if you may get soaked through or have some other type of incident). I would say jeans and leggings are a pretty safe bet with some cute tops and dresses, but as I said check out some look books for more inspo.

Toiletries

Also won't bore you by going to much into this one, what I will say is baby wipes and dry shampoo will be your best friends at any festival, also remember to take things you may forget like a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and maybe even a mini bottle of mouth wash (feels amazing after a heavy night).

Food and Drink

This is also a bit of a personal preference, I prefer not to take a stove because to me it seems like a lot of fannying around but is definitely more of a money savvy way to eat. I usually just take snack type food, an empty water bottle and lots and lots of alcohol..

Festival Extras

Extra festival things you may take are things such as your I.D. (if you plan on drinking), pain killers for those beautiful hang overs, spare tent pegs (those swines bend like crazy), a small bag to carry essentials with you, a pump, bin bags, toilet roll, a bucket (trust me) and plastic cups.

I hope this has been informative to anyone who is heading to any festivals this year, most importantly, stay safe and have fun!

All my love,

Bex

August Goals

Being the beginning of August and all I thought I would discuss some goals that I would of liked to achieve by the end of August, heres hoping..

Join the Gym

I've literally been saying this since the beginning of the year, just trying to finally get my act together, so Monday after work, I will pop down to my local gym and sign my life away, wish me luck.

Practice Yoga

Once again, said it for ages, I'm pretty rigid at the best of times so I would like to get into yoga to make me more flexible, more toned and help with stress.

Lose some weight

Now considering what my August is shaping up to be (a lot of bad diet choices), this is pretty optimistic, but you don't know if you don't try. But with August being full of parties, meals and festivals I still plan on enjoying myself.

Drink more water

I aim to drink at least two litres of water a day, cut down on coffee and drink more green tea.

Exercise at least three times a week

Now as I said, August is a pretty busy time for me but I'm going to try my utmost to squeeze in at least three sessions of exercise a week, whether that is running, badminton, yoga or the gym, just something to get me more active.

Finish reading the Harry Potter books

I know, I know, it's pretty controversial considering how much of a book worm I am, but no I have never ever read the Harry Potter books (apart from the Deathly Hallows because I wanted to hurry up and find out how it all finished after The Half Blood Prince). So my aim is to finish ALL (I know big aim) of the Harry Potter books before the end of August.

Get clearer skin

Hopefully this comes hand in hand with drinking more water, hopefully some miracle might happen. But mainly just having more of a skin care routine and getting it into tip top shape.

Get Reading Festival Ready

Despite popular belief, it takes a lot of preparation to go to a Festival. Buy all camping essentials, sort out a playlist for the journey, buy food and alcohol, sort out a festival wardrobe and make sure you DON'T forget your ticket.

All my love,

Bex