Stay Clean or Stay Dirty at a Music Festival.

For festival-goers attending a multi-day event in a remote farmer’s field they are faced with a choice of staying clean or embracing the dirt usually associated with festival sites. This choice may come down to experience and the style of festival along with ticket types purchased. What are the advantages and disadvantages of going down either route?

Multi-day music festivals do have a reputation for quickly turning into fields of mud or quagmires if it rains. Despite the efforts of organisers to bring the comforts of home onto a festival site even VIP bathroom facilities can quickly transform into hideous smelly zones to be avoided. Given these challenges it can be difficult to maintain any level of cleanliness during the festival attendance. More experienced festival-goers are possibly likely to embrace the staying dirty route because it's just easier and less hassle. Those relatively new to the festival scene will probably do all they can to maintain a high level of cleanliness throughout the festival. 

To Wash or not Wash. 
There are numerous factors that can influence the decision for an individual to wash or not wash during a festival's duration. A festival of 1 or 2 days may make that decision easier as a shorter event makes not washing more bearable. For longer festivals of 3 days or more not washing can become unbearable for some. Other determining factors may include the site facilities which may or may not include showers and running fresh water and if there are insufficient numbers the queuing will put some off. The weather can also influence a decision, if it's warm and dry festival-goers may feel less inclined to wash as opposed to wet events that cause copious amounts of mud for example. 

How to Stay Clean. 
For those who want to bring the comforts of home and stay clean selecting a suitable glamping accommodation package that includes VIP bathroom facilities will help but can incur substantial additional costs. They will need to pack more cleaning supplies and numerous fresh changes of clothing helping to stay fresh and clean. Regular cleaning will help maintain good levels of personal hygiene and prevent skin irritations, infections or other health issues. However, a regular cleaning ritual can take time interrupting the festival vibe and flow. 

Embracing the Dirt. 
Some long time festival-goers who have been attending events for decades prefer to travel light carrying the absolute minimum they need for 3 or more days. Their focus is total immersion in the festival vibe no matter the weather and they don’t want to waste time with a regular cleaning ritual. They wear one set of durable clothing for the festival entirety with no concerns about the conditions fully embracing a grungy look. This carefree travel light approach gives the festival-goer more freedom to travel and enjoy the whole festival experience. On the downside the dirty approach can make individuals feel uncomfortable along with an increased risk of skin problems and infections. 

Experienced festival-goers may feel that embracing the dirt makes for a more authentic festival experience and that newbies are too obsessed with being fashion conscious. Equally older festival-goers may have had years of the dirty approach and are now at a stage in their lives where they want to enjoy the comforts of home and choose the ‘cleaner’ approach. Whichever direction festival-goers choose it is more important that they enjoy the overall festival experience. 

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by tiburi via Pixabay

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