Festival Essentials For When You’re Sobermaxxing Or Sober Curious At A Festival

What happens when you wake up hungover the day you’re going to a festival? I’m sure the answer 20 years ago would have been to crack open a drink… or something else, and push through.

But Gen Z is doing things differently. Labelled the ‘sober generation’, my comrades are reportedly drinking less than previous generations, with research suggesting 26% of 18 to 24 year-olds don’t drink at all.

While, for some, the solution to an alcohol-free party fix is prescription drugs bought off the internet, others are turning to a legal and more socially acceptable fix: caffeine.

The latter is a trend I can reluctantly admit to partaking in. At 26, I’ve done a decent amount of partying, but honestly, I don’t love it. I can never seem to get drunk enough when I’m trying to, and I don’t do (ahem) other substances, so the call of my bed becomes irresistible after midnight.

I know, boring, Gen Z. (I will forever have this headline on autoplay in my head when I say something like this)!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not entirely sober curious. I can almost hear the wine I’ve developed quite the taste for in the last few years laughing at the suggestion.

And I’m not a hermit by any means. There are plenty of instances where I find myself more tipsy than I planned to get; this Saturday morning just so happened to follow one such occasion.

After a friend’s moving drinks, I stumbled home a mere few hours before I was due to catch a train to a festival. So by the time I arrived at the dust-ridden campsite, getting a drink in my system was really the last thing I wanted to do.

But I had a long 48 hours ahead of me. Knowing I’d need something to get me through the festival that wouldn’t call for the security dogs to sniff search me (lol) I came prepared. This is everything that got me through.

Call me a loser all you want, I won’t cry because I had a good night’s sleep. Sorry not sorry!

To start the day off, I knew I’d have to get my energy up somehow. Luckily, I have a somewhat irrational fear of being underfed in almost every social situation, so I’d packed plenty of provisions.

I’d obviously scoffed an overpriced M&S sandwich at the station in an effort to quell my hangover, but I had also brought a stash of Y food in my bag to make sure I had enough protein in me.

The strawberry flavour is my favourite; one bottle boasts 500 calories, 26 vitamins and minerals, and can keep you full for up to five hours, which came in so handy as it’s always way too easy to lose track of meal times when you’re out and about frolicking in a field with your friends.

As I’m writing this I’m beginning to understand why I had to pee approximately 800 times during the festival, because I promptly followed that up with one of Perfect Ted’s matcha energy drinks.

My hangovers are a total bitch so that didn’t quite do the job, and I also had to pack in two or three of Red Bull’s summer flavour – Citrus Zest, which basically tastes like lemonade – before 3pm.

I know there’s been tons of propaganda about energy drinks over the last decade, but they’re truly the only thing that can keep me awake long enough to make it to the club.

Over the years, I’ve done my research about the best energy drinks – me and Lucozade Alert Cherry Blast cans became firm besties when I was doing my master’s and I’ve dabbled in ‘natural’ energy drinks like Tenzing over the years.

But Red Bull is the one I keep coming back to; I even downed two between events at London Pride.

While it has a more intense caffeine crash than ‘natural’ alternatives, that’s kind of what I want, and we’re choosing between that and a hangover here!

When I give myself an assignment I take it seriously, so I also took a selection of non-alcoholic cans with me, because your gal loves to have a drink in her hands at all times.

I’ve been guzzling (sorry) Athletic Brewing’s Alcohol-Free beer this summer. It’s just so refreshing, especially the Hazy IPA, so I took a multi-pack of that with me – along with Thatcher’s Blood Orange Zero, which is basically juice, but delicious juice nonetheless.

And, of course, the only thing sadder than not drinking at a festival where everyone else is fucked is drinking a warm non-alcoholic drink, so filling a Yeti Roadie 15 Cool Box with ice at the beginning of the weekend was truly a gamechanger. It kept my drinks cold the whole 48 hours I was there, and meant every one was refreshing, which was exactly what I needed while walking 50,000 steps in the heat.

At this point you might think I’m mad, and I’m okay with that. My little impromptu experiment made the weekend way more enjoyable than I could’ve anticipated.

And while I can’t say I’m going to be doing that every time I go to a festival, it’s definitely a great trick to have up my sleeve next time I get the drinking ick, or wake up hungover to go to party.