Glastonbury Festival has seen all sorts of weather this year, from pouring showers on Wednesday to scorching rays this weekend. The blazing sun means things get seriously hot when the headliners take to the stage and it can be even harder to sleep once you find your tent.
While there's nothing quite like watching your favourite artist play live at a festival when the sun is shining, there are risks that need to be taken into account.
A nutritionist and a dietician have both warned about the dangers of dehydration at a festival, and shared some easy ways of staying hydrated and safe while you're enjoying yourself.
Olivia Morrison, dietitian from leading health and wellness app Kic, warned: "Dehydration is more dangerous than people realise, especially in heatwaves. It can take as little as 30 minutes for heat to cause dehydration and can be fatal within one to three days in hot weather conditions."
Speaking to The Mirror, she added: "In recent years, music festival deaths and serious injuries have become concerningly more common, with dehydration being one of the leading factors.
"It might not sound that serious, but dehydration is incredibly dangerous and can be life threatening, especially at summer festivals.
"These events are the perfect storm for severe dehydration… hot, sweaty weather conditions, standing and dancing in the sun for long periods of time, high consumptions of alcohol and illicit drugs (both potent diuretics), hangover symptoms like vomiting and diarrhoea, and general forgetfulness to drink water regularly."
When asked how people can stay hydrated at a festival such as Glastonbury, Olivia said: "Ideally, you want to be going into the festival hydrated! Focus on keeping your fluids up in the days leading up and check the colour of your urine to assess whether you're drinking enough before you get there.
Luckily, there are some easy ways to stay safe and hydrated at festivals if you plan ahead. While water is the obvious choice, Olivia recommends freezing bottles of water to take with you so you can keep items cool, as well as enjoy the ice cool liquid once it's melted.
She added: "I also recommend taking hydralyte or oral rehydration sachets to add to your water bottle to replenish yourself before, during and after the festival each day."
You can get rehydration sachets from Superdrug for £2.99 for six sachets.
Olivia continued: "When you arrive, take note of where the free water fountains are near your campsite and in the festival grounds.
"As it's easy to forget at the best of times, it's a good idea to set regular alarms on your phone or watch to remind you to drink water throughout the day."
Kate Booker, nutritionist at Nutrition Geeks, added to The Mirror: "To help, you should use electrolytes and make sure to take lots of fruits to hydrate and top up minerals, such as watermelon, cucumber and berries."
According to Kate, ideally you should be drinking filtered water with minerals or electrolytes added back in.
She added: "Electrolytes are minerals that conduct electricity when dissolved in water. They move through the fluid in your body and use their electrical energy for important bodily functions. Common electrolytes include sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium."
You can pick up a packet of 20 effervescent electrolyte tablets from Science in Sport (SIS) at Amazon for £5.84.
What are the symptoms of dehydration?
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of dehydration in adults and children are:
- feeling thirsty
- dark yellow, strong-smelling pee
- peeing less often than usual
- feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- feeling tired
- dry mouth, lips and tongue
- sunken eyes
If you experience any of these symptoms, you should drink fluids, and if you're sick or have diarrhoea you may need to put back the sugar, salts and minerals your body has lost.
If you're feeling ill at a festival, you can visit the medical facilities, or ask for an urgent GP appointment from NHS 111.
