Food to Bring to a Festival

This may not have crossed your mind yet, what with the excitement of music and alcohol…

…but you’re gonna need to survive off something other than food-truck burritos and cider while you’re there.

Depending on which festival you go to, you might even be able to bring cooking equipment into the camp site with you (I’m not sure whether this is a good idea or not. As far as I’m aware, small and drunkenly attended gas fires don’t mix well with highly flammable canvas tents…). If your festival does allow this, please be safe and sensible.

If not, here’s a list of good, healthy* foods you can take with you for breakfasts, snacks and lunch:

– Cereal/granola bars
– Avocados
– Carrot sticks
– 100% natural peanut butter
– Bread, crackers or celery for your peanut butter
– Almonds
– Fruit & nut mix
– Apples
– Bananas
– Satsumas/Clementines
– Root vegetable crisps
– Homemade flapjacks
– Popcorn
– Cherry tomatoes
– Bombay mix

*I say ‘healthy’ because your body is not going to be very impressed with the combination of your alcohol intake, festival takeaway curries and grim toilet trips. Show it some love and help get your digestion get at least slightly back to normal.

I also wanted to include a list of foods you SHOULD NOT BRING with you to the festival, unless you really want a hideous bout of food poisoning in a place with already compromised toilet facilities. There’s some really awful advice on the internet (no, do not take cooked pizza or yogurt drinks with you!), and it amazes me every year what some people think is okay to bring…

DO NOT TAKE:
– Dairy products (eggs, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, cream, mayonnaise)
You can take long-life soy/almond milk but you should drink it straight away once opened.
– Raw meat or fish
Unless you have cooking facilities and you are going to cook it within an hour or two of arriving, do not bring it.
– Cooked/deli meats or dairy (sausage rolls, ham, pies, pizza)
An astonishing amount of people think these are okay. They are NOT. Within a couple of hours in a hot tent they will be teaming with bacteria that could make you seriously ill. Just because you got away with it last year doesn’t mean you will this year.
– Dips (hummus, coleslaw, selection dips)
Many of these are egg-based, and hummus really should be kept in the fridge. Trust me, you don’t want Salmonella.
– Cooked rice
No no no no no no. Trust me, NO.

As you can see, I am a whole bunch of fun to go festival camping with. My friends all love taking the piss out of my obsessive food hygiene, but I just want everyone to enjoy themselves and not get ill.

Read my full festival packing guide and download a free printable checklist.

What are your favourite festival foods?