Festival Packing List: The Complete Checklist For Any Festival

Packing for a festival is a solved problem, but only if you treat it like one. After a decade of covering electronic music festivals, from day raves in city parks to week-long camping marathons, Techno Airlines has distilled the packing ritual into one checklist you can run through in twenty minutes. Screenshot the tables, tick them off, and spend your energy on the music instead of the queue for overpriced ponchos.

The 15 Non-Negotiables (Every Festival, Every Time)

If you pack nothing else, pack these. Every item on this list has ended someone’s festival by being forgotten:

1. Ticket (downloaded offline, plus a printed backup)
2. ID or passport (most festivals check, many wristband exchanges require it)
3. Bank card + emergency cash (many festivals are cashless, but the top-up machines break)
4. Phone + power bank (20,000mAh minimum for camping, 10,000mAh for a day)
5. Earplugs (high-fidelity ones, your ears after 12 hours of sound systems will thank you)
6. Reusable water bottle (empty through security, free refill points inside at most events)
7. Sunscreen SPF 30+ (the single most forgotten item at every summer festival)
8. Sunglasses + hat or cap
9. Comfortable broken-in shoes (never new ones, you will walk 20,000+ steps a day)
10. Light rain jacket or poncho (weather does not care about the lineup)
11. Small bag or bum bag (check the festival’s bag size policy first)
12. Painkillers + plasters (blister plasters are worth their weight in gold)
13. Hand sanitiser + tissues (festival toilets, enough said)
14. Lip balm with SPF
15. Medication you personally need (in original packaging, with prescription if abroad)

Day Festival vs Camping Festival: What Changes

A day festival is a hands-in-pockets operation: the fifteen items above plus sensible clothing will carry you. Camping multiplies the list. Here is the difference at a glance:

The Camping Festival Checklist

Shelter and Sleep

• Tent with all pegs and poles (pitch it once at home first, seriously)
• Sleeping bag rated for colder nights than you expect, festival fields get cold at 5am
• Sleeping mat or air mattress (the ground wins otherwise)
• Small pillow or a hoodie in a stuff sack
• Duct tape (fixes tents, shoes, chairs and inflatables)
• Head torch (hands-free beats phone torch every night)
• Camping chair and something to mark your tent, thousands of tents look identical at 4am

Camp Kitchen

• Water carrier (5-10L) and your refillable bottle
• Non-perishable food: instant noodles, tinned food, energy bars, nuts, electrolyte sachets
• Camping stove and gas only if the festival allows it, check the rules before you buy
• Cool bag, bottle opener, spork, a roll of bin bags (pack out your rubbish)

Staying Human

• Wet wipes (the festival shower), dry shampoo, quick-dry towel
• Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, toilet paper (the taps run out, the loos run out faster)
• Any daily medication, plus rehydration salts for the morning after

What to Wear: Clothing That Survives a Festival

The golden rule is layers plus broken-in footwear. Days are hot, nights are cold, and the ground is either dust or mud with no warning. Pack:

• One outfit per day, plus one spare (mud happens all at once, not gradually)
• A warm layer for after sunset, even in August
• Waterproof jacket or poncho, and wellies if the forecast is wet
• Broken-in trainers or boots, plus flip-flops for the campsite
• More socks and underwear than seems reasonable, dry socks are festival currency
• Swimwear if there is a pool, lake or beach stage

For the style side of the equation, from rave-ready fits to what actually works on a dance floor, see our full techno outfits and festival fashion guide.

Flying to a Festival Abroad?

Destination festivals add a passport-shaped layer to the list. Alongside everything above:

• Passport (check the expiry date now, not the week before) and any visa you need
• Travel insurance that covers festivals and lost gear
• Universal plug adapter and a copy of your documents in cloud storage
• EHIC/GHIC card for EU festivals if you are eligible
• Local currency for the taxi rank, even in cashless countries
• Leave the camping stove and gas at home, they cannot fly, buy or rent at the destination

Picking your next destination is the fun part: our techno tourism guide covers the iconic cities, and the festival calendar has dates and venues for hundreds of events. Extreme environments write their own rules: a desert event like Burning Man needs its own dedicated packing list.

What NOT to Bring

Every festival publishes a banned items list, and security does read it. The universal offenders:

• Glass of any kind (bottles, jars, perfume, mirrors)
• Drones, professional cameras with detachable lenses, laser pens
• Fireworks, flares, Chinese lanterns
• Aerosols over 250ml, gas canisters beyond small camping sizes where allowed
• Umbrellas at many events (ponchos exist for a reason)
• Anything you would cry about losing, expensive jewellery included

The Curveball Kit

Ten years of festivals teaches you that something always goes sideways. The small kit that handles ninety per cent of it:

• Power bank cable spare (cables die first)
• Zip-lock bags: phone in a downpour, wet clothes on the way home
• Safety pins and a mini sewing kit
• Written-down emergency contact and your campsite location, phones die
• Meeting point agreed with your group before you need it, signal always collapses at peak hours
• A little more cash than you think you need, hidden separately from your wallet

The Techno Airlines View

Festival packing rewards boring discipline. The people dancing at 6am are not the ones with the most stuff, they are the ones whose feet are dry, whose phone is charged and whose ears will still work next season. Run the checklist, respect the banned items list, and remember the oldest rule on the campsite: pack it in, pack it out. The field should not remember you were there. The music will.

Festival Packing FAQs

What should I bring to a festival?

At minimum: your ticket, ID, card and cash, phone with power bank, earplugs, refillable water bottle, sunscreen, comfortable broken-in shoes, a rain layer and any personal medication. Camping festivals add shelter, sleep gear, food and hygiene items on top.

What is the best bag for a festival?

For the arena, a bum bag or small backpack within the festival’s size policy. For camping trips, a 60-70L rucksack to base camp plus a small day bag for the arena. Hard-sided luggage and wheeled suitcases fight you in a muddy field.

How much cash should I take to a festival?

Most large festivals are now cashless, but carry a small emergency reserve (50-100 euros or equivalent) hidden separately from your card. Top-up systems fail, and the taxi rank home may not take cards.

What do people forget most often?

Sunscreen, earplugs, blister plasters, a warm night layer and phone cables. None of them feel urgent at home, and all of them are overpriced or sold out on site.

Can I bring food and drink into a festival?

Almost never into the arena beyond a sealed water bottle, but most camping festivals allow reasonable food and a limited alcohol allowance into the campsite. Check your festival’s specific policy, allowances vary widely.