What to pack for Worthy Farm?
Most first-time Glastonbury visitors arrive thinking they have packed for a music festival.
In short, what catches you out here
- The Somerset fields turn into deep mud within hours of rain, making every step exhausting and swallowing shoes whole — many visitors lose wellies mid-field.
- With up to 200,000 people on site, finding friends, navigating between stages and queuing for anything takes far longer than expected, draining energy and battery.
- The site covers 900 hectares; a single day easily racks up 15–20 km on uneven, slippery or compacted grass, wrecking unprepared feet.
Why this list?
By the end of day one, they realise they have actually packed for the wrong event. The site at Worthy Farm is a working Somerset dairy farm — 900 hectares of sloping grass that turns to shin-deep mud the moment rain arrives. You will walk 15 to 20 kilometres a day. You will sleep in a condensation-soaked tent while generator noise carries from three directions. You will lose your friends in a crowd of 200,000 when your phone signal drops at the worst possible moment. The practical challenges here are not weather or music — they are navigation, foot survival, sleep and power management across five consecutive days in an open field. The items and actions below are built around those specific problems, not around the general idea of a festival. Several of them are things experienced Glastonbury regulars swear by and first-timers consistently wish they had brought.
✔To do before you leave
Your countdown: every action at the right time, from furthest ahead to departure day.
- On-site registration points are overwhelmed at arrival peaks; an unregistered wristband cannot be used for cashless top-up or re-entry, blocking access to key services.
- The on-site top-up queues are long; loading money onto the RFID wristband at home means going straight to food and bars without queueing at a kiosk on arrival.
- Mobile signal fails when 200,000 people are in one field; agreeing on a landmark meeting point in advance is the only reliable way to regroup when calls and messages fail.
- Data connectivity on site is heavily congested; downloading stage schedules and site maps over home Wi-Fi means they remain usable when signal disappears.
✔The essentials
Without these, the trip is compromised. Don't forget them.
- Generator hum and distant stages pulse through the site until 3 a.m.; without earplugs a night's sleep in a tent is nearly impossible across a five-day festival.
- Rain soaks tent floors and festival bags quickly; keeping phone, cash card and wristband paperwork inside a dry bag prevents losing them to mud and wet.
- There is no mains power at camping pitches; the Glastonbury app, RFID wristband management and offline maps drain a phone dead well before evening.
- Even a single shower turns the Somerset grass into ankle-deep mud; trainers or hiking boots become useless within the first wet afternoon.
- Campsite areas are unlit; navigating guy ropes, tent pegs and muddy paths back to your pitch after midnight without a hands-free light is genuinely hazardous.
- Toilet queues are long and soap runs out in shared facilities by day two; hand sanitiser after every toilet visit is the primary hygiene safeguard on site.
✔Nice-to-haves
Not vital, but noticeably more comfortable with them.
- Thousands of identical tents fill colour-coded zones with no further landmarks; a tall flag, coloured bunting or LED stake makes your pitch findable after dark.
- Deep mud creeps over the top of wellies constantly; neoprene or rubber gaiters stop socks and shins from being coated and keep boots sealed.
- Mobile signal collapses in crowded areas and drains battery; a printed map of stage locations and campsite zones removes dependence on an unreliable connection.
- 15–20 km per day on wet, uneven ground quickly produces blisters, especially inside wellies; pads applied early prevent days two and three becoming painful.
- Overnight condensation and rising damp soak thin tent floors; an extra groundsheet under the tent keeps the sleeping area dry through multiple wet nights.
- Ground queues for smaller stages and food traders can last 30–40 minutes; a lightweight stool means resting tired legs without sitting in wet grass.
- On-site food traders open late and queue times at breakfast are long; having cereal bars, nuts and instant oats at the tent saves both time and money across a five-day stay.
- Waiting in open fields for headline acts means prolonged exposure with no overhead shade; a hat also doubles as rain cover during light showers.
✔Weather & season
Adjust to the time of year and forecast for your trip.
- A five-day festival exhausts even large power banks; a foldable solar panel clipped to a tent or backpack provides a continuous top-up without queuing at paid charging stations.
- Condensation inside tents wets the outer shell of sleeping bags; a liner keeps you warm even when the bag surface is damp, and it dries far faster.
- Late-June nights drop to 14°C and below; leaving the headliner stage at 1 a.m. in only a T-shirt means 30 minutes walking back to camp in real cold.
- Somerset rain arrives without warning and lasts hours; a compact poncho packed in the day bag avoids the full soaking that turns the site mud situation from bad to catastrophic.
- Open field headliner queues and afternoon stage sets offer no shade; late June sun is strong enough to burn during the two to three hours spent waiting in exposed areas.
✔ My own items
Create an account to save your lists and find them on all your devices.
- Every checklist you generate, kept and available anytime
- On your phone as well as your computer
- Your ticks picked up right where you left them
✔ Good to know
- Pack light and think in layers: Worthy Farm's terrain is all mud and grass, so a manageable rucksack or holdall works far better than a wheeled suitcase — and leaves your hands free for the long walk from the gates. source
- Label every bag and piece of kit with your name and mobile number before you leave home — the site is vast and losing gear without ID is nearly impossible to recover from. source
- Bring both card and some cash: card readers are available at the main bars, but smaller traders and some stalls may still prefer cash, and ATMs on site tend to have long queues by the weekend. source
- Swap glass bottles and jars for plastic or metal alternatives before you pack — glass of any kind (including mirrors and perfume bottles) is likely to be removed at the gate. source
- Check your coach operator's luggage limits before travel: on official Glastonbury coach services, luggage is typically limited to one large bag plus a tent per person, and large trolleys are generally not accepted. source
- If you take prescription medication, carry enough supply for the full festival duration and keep it in its original packaging — the festival has a specific prescribed medication policy worth reading on the official site before you travel. source
- Drone / UAV — Flying or filming with drones on the Worthy Farm site tends to be refused at all times — before, during and after the festival — so it is worth leaving yours at home to avoid confiscation.
- Glass containers (perfume, mirrors, bottles) — Glass of any kind — including perfume bottles and handheld mirrors — is often removed at entry searches, so decanting into plastic or metal alternatives before you go saves the hassle.
- Body glitter — As part of the festival's environmental commitments, glitter-based body products are discouraged on site, so eco-friendly or glitter-free alternatives are a safer choice.
- Disposable vapes — Single-use vapes fall under the festival's push to cut disposable waste, and they are likely to be turned away at the gates.
- Large wheeled trolley / suitcase — Wheeled luggage is impractical on muddy farm ground and is typically not accepted on official coaches, so a soft bag that can be carried over rough terrain will serve you much better.
✔ Frequently asked questions
How do you get to Glastonbury Festival and where do you park?
The festival site is near Pilton in Somerset, roughly five miles from Shepton Mallet. Most visitors arrive by coach from designated park-and-ride sites, by rail to Castle Cary station with shuttle buses direct to the site, or by car to one of the numbered car parks adjacent to the campsite gates. Car park tickets are sold separately and selling out is the norm; plan to secure one well in advance rather than assuming availability closer to the date.
How do you get tickets to Glastonbury and do you need to book in advance?
Glastonbury tickets sell out within minutes of going on sale, usually in the October before the following June festival. Tickets are non-transferable and linked to a registered photo ID; the name on the ticket needs to match the ID presented at the gate. The festival does not typically offer walk-up or day tickets, so planning ahead by many months is the only realistic route to attendance.
What shoes and clothes should you wear at Glastonbury?
Wellington boots are the standard footwear — even in dry years the ground compacts and churns around stage areas, and a single wet period makes trainers unworkable for days. Pack layers: daytime temperatures can reach the low 20s, but midnight temperatures drop toward 14°C and below, meaning the outfit that felt fine at the afternoon set will leave you cold by the time the headliner finishes. A lightweight waterproof layer carried in your day bag covers the gap between forecast and reality.