10Camping, getting there and getting home

The short version: The ticket gets you in; the tent, the train and the ride home are the rest of the weekend, and they are where most of the cost and most of the stories come from. In the UK the signature camping problem is the abandoned tent - about 250,000 a year by the Association of Independent Festivals' estimate - while Glastonbury says 99% of its tents went home in 2022 and 2024. Rural festivals run shuttles from the nearest station and city festivals push transit and ban parking. Bring earplugs, find the free water, register for access support before you go, and budget for the whole trip, not the ticket.

What happens to tents left at festivals?

A lot of them stay behind. The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) estimates that about 250,000 tents are abandoned at UK festivals each year, according to The Conversation, which adds that a typical 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) tent contains as much plastic as roughly 8,750 straws or 250 pint cups.¹⁸⁹ The article is undated in our copy; its ID suggests 2019, so treat the 250,000 as an older, often-repeated estimate rather than a fresh count.

The comforting story is that left tents go to charity. NME, reporting in 2018, called that "a bit of a myth": charities typically collect at most about 100 tents at a large festival.¹⁹⁰ The same piece cites Powerful Thinking's estimate that UK festivals produce 23,500 tonnes of waste a year, two-thirds of it sent to landfill.¹⁹⁰

Festivals have tried carrots and deposits. NME reported that Bestival ran a compulsory £10 eco-bond, refunded when you handed in a bag of litter.¹⁹⁰ The AIF's campaign aimed at retailers selling "festival tents" is in Waste, carbon and the town next door.

How did Glastonbury get 99% of tents taken home?

By asking, loudly, every year, and by making it part of the festival's identity. The slogan is "Love the farm, leave no trace."¹⁹¹ In 2019, more than 99% of tents were reported taken home, the same year Glastonbury ran its first full ban on selling single-use plastic bottles.¹⁹¹¹⁹²

The number has held. For 2022, Emily Eavis said about 99% of tents went home from roughly 210,000 attendees, with "only a few thousand" left behind, Radio X reported.¹⁹³ As the 2024 festival ended (it closed on 1 July), she posted on Instagram that "99% of all tents have been taken home," the third year running at 99%, according to Mixmag.¹⁹²

Two caveats. The 99% is the organizer's own figure, reported by the press, not an independent audit. And 1% of a city-sized crowd is still a field of tents: "a few thousand" in 2022, as Radio X put it.¹⁹³ Even so, against a national estimate of a quarter of a million, Glastonbury's numbers stand out.

How do I get to Glastonbury by train?

Ride to Castle Cary, then take the festival's free shuttle. National Rail's 2024 guide says Castle Cary is the nearest station and a free shuttle bus runs from there to the festival coach station at Pedestrian Gate A; you need your festival ticket to board.¹⁹⁴ In 2024 the shuttles ran from Wednesday 26 June to Monday 1 July, with the last return buses timed to meet the final trains, and advance rail tickets went on sale up to 12 weeks ahead.¹⁹⁴

That pattern - rail to the nearest station, a ticket-holder shuttle for the last few miles - is the standard answer for big rural festivals. The hard part is the way out. Arrivals spread across several days; departures crowd into one morning, when every tent comes down at once and everyone wants the same trains. Glastonbury posts guidance for that day; on 29 June 2025 it published "Heat advice for Monday departures."¹⁹⁵

Most people still drive. Jam Packed, a UK festival audience travel study published by Julie's Bicycle in May 2009, found that in summer 2008, 72% of goers at greenfield festivals and 68% at peri-urban festivals arrived by car, with the rest split fairly evenly between coach and train; it surveyed more than 1,200 festival goers and counted occupancy in at least 1,700 cars at 8 festivals.¹⁹⁶ That is an old figure, but it is the clearest published mode split found here.

How do you get to a city festival with no parking?

Transit, a bike where allowed, or your feet. City sites are usually parks and sports grounds with no room for cars. Boston Calling is a clean example - see the Boston section below.

Do earplugs really work at concerts?

Yes, and there is a randomized trial to show it. In a study reported in 2016, researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands put 51 adults at an outdoor festival for about 4.5 hours, with sound averaging around 100 dB. Among those without earplugs, 40% had tinnitus or a temporary threshold shift (short-term hearing loss after loud noise); in the earplug group, 12% did, Inverse reported.¹⁹⁷

That is a big drop for a few dollars of foam or a pair of filtered musician's plugs. "Temporary" is the operative word in the study; repeated exposure is the long-term concern.

Some countries cap the audience side, not only the neighbors' side. In France, a decree signed in August 2017 lowered the limit for amplified music to 102 decibels averaged over 15 minutes (from 105), extended the rules to open-air festivals, and required organizers to warn the audience, hand out free hearing protection and provide rest areas or quiet periods, according to the French environment ministry.¹⁹⁸

Can I bring a water bottle to a music festival?

Usually yes, with conditions: typically one sealed bottle or an empty reusable one, as in Boston Calling's 2023 rules in Wristbands, cashless and the gate.¹⁵⁸ An empty bottle is only useful if there is somewhere to fill it, which is where free water comes in.

Water is a safety issue first. In the UK, the Purple Guide - published by the Events Industry Forum as "industry guidance" - says "It is essential to make sure that drinking water (aka potable water) is available on site," and singles out hot weather and sites without mains water.¹²⁷ Ticket Fairy, a vendor, cites a planning rule of thumb of about 14 liters (3.7 gallons) per attendee over a weekend for drinking and basic washing, attributed to "industry experience" rather than a study, and says some regions mandate free drinking water at large events, pointing to the Northern Territory in Australia.¹⁹⁹

The cautionary history is Woodstock '99, where water was reportedly sold at $4 rising to $12, according to the same secondary source; the heat story is in Crowds, heat and keeping people safe.¹⁹⁹ Twenty years later, Glastonbury 2019 banned single-use plastic bottle sales and provided free taps and WaterAid kiosks instead.¹⁹⁹¹⁹¹ Free water is now a sustainability policy and a heat-safety policy at the same time.

Heat cases can run into the hundreds. At CMA Music Festival in Nashville in June 2015, Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported treating 825 people for heat-related problems over the festival, more than in 2014, NewsChannel 5 reported.²⁰⁰

How does accessibility work at music festivals?

It depends heavily on the country and the festival, but the common shape is: register in advance, get a wristband for yourself and a companion, and use dedicated viewing areas, toilets and parking.

In the UK, the charity Attitude is Everything has set the standard since 2000. It launched its Charter of Best Practice that year, signed its first 10 venues in the pilot's first year and reached 100 in 2014, and introduced the Live Events Access Charter in 2022; Glastonbury holds Gold status.²⁰¹ In 2005 the charity started its Disabled Stewards Festivals Programme, putting disabled volunteers in steward roles.²⁰¹ Its charter page says over 210 venues and events have gained awards to date; the page does not date that figure.²⁰²

In North America, festivals run their own programs, and the details vary in ways that matter. AFAR reported in March 2026 that Coachella's viewing platforms restrict disabled attendees to a single companion and its Access+ program requires a pre-event application; Lollapalooza charges for companion tickets; SXSW gives complimentary access to a support person; and Ottawa Bluesfest added accessible lavatory RVs with adult changing tables.²⁰³ Companion policy and fees are a recurring point of criticism, per the same report.²⁰³

How much does it cost to go to a music festival?

More than the ticket, by a lot. WTOP reported a financial planner's 2024 estimate of $800 to $3,000 for a US festival trip, covering ticket, travel, lodging and food; that is one planner's estimate, not a survey.²⁰⁴ Starting general admission prices in the same report:²⁰⁴

Prices are as reported by WTOP. Coachella's tickets, camping tiers and prices are covered in the sister guide, Polo.

Camping is usually sold as a tiered add-on rather than one flat price. Bass Canyon's camping page for its 2027 edition lists standard vehicle camping (one vehicle and one tent per site), larger premier and terrace sites, RV sites with 30- and 50-amp hookups, and pre-pitched options from a preset cottage tent for two to furnished bell tents and canvas tents with real beds; as of November 2026 no prices were posted.²⁰⁵

The UK mood is sour. In an Opinium poll published 29 January 2024, 65% of UK adults said festivals are becoming too expensive, 47% said they are no longer worth the money, and 57% supported a per-person price cap; the average maximum people would pay for a weekend with standard camping was £192, and 19% planned to attend a weekend festival in the next year.²⁰⁶ Opinium's page does not show the sample size.

Surveys of real spend are thin and mostly commercial. In a 2017 poll of 2,000 UK festivalgoers by insurance website Bobatoo, reported by IQ Magazine, the average spend per festival was £354.54, with food and drink about 35% of it; respondents 30 and over averaged £450 and under-25s £280, and Glastonbury was the most expensive at an average of £425.²⁰⁷ That is a self-reported poll by a company selling festival insurance, not an audit of till receipts.

In New England

Boston Calling's 2023 edition at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston is a model of the no-car city festival. WBUR's guide that year pointed attendees to the MBTA Red Line to Harvard Square or commuter rail to Boston Landing, a little over a mile away; "there is no on-site parking available," and bikes were not permitted.¹⁵⁸ Bag and bottle rules for the same year are in Wristbands, cashless and the gate.

In Rhode Island, the Newport Festivals in Rhode Island publish a 2026 Accessibility Program for Newport Folk (July 24-26, 2026) and Newport Jazz (July 31 - August 2, 2026). The process: buy your own ticket on DICE, then register; one companion can get an Accessibility Guest Wristband but must also hold a ticket; wristbands are collected at the on-site Accessibility Hub; ADA parking needs a placard or plate; and there is no on-site mobility device rental.²⁰⁸ The same form lists water taxi among the ways to arrive, which is a very Newport sentence.²⁰⁸

Elsewhere in the world

The UK sets much of the vocabulary here: the Purple Guide for water, Attitude is Everything for access, and Glastonbury's tent figures as the benchmark everyone quotes.^127201192 In Australia, free drinking water at large events can be a licensing requirement, with the Northern Territory cited as an example.¹⁹⁹ In Canada, Ottawa Bluesfest's accessible lavatory RVs with adult changing tables are one of the more practical access upgrades on record.²⁰³

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