blog · festival prep

Festival essentials: the complete packing checklist

the festival essentials you can't skip are your ticket or wristband, ID, a card plus some cash, your phone with a power bank and cable, earplugs, sunscreen, a rain layer, shoes you've already broken in, a refillable bottle, and a plan for finding your friends when the signal goes. get those ten right and almost anything else you forget can be bought, borrowed or lived without.

below is the full list, grouped so you can pack in one pass: documents, power, clothes, camping gear, health, and the part most packing lists skip, which is how you'll actually find your crew again after the headliner.

The 10 things you can't forget

screenshot this bit. if it's on here, it goes in the bag before anything else.

1. ticket or wristband, plus the confirmation email saved offline.
2. photo ID. many festivals check it at the gate, and you'll need it at the bar.
3. a card and some cash. most sites are card-first now, but a card reader on patchy signal is still a card reader that doesn't work.
4. your phone, with offline maps and the festival app downloaded before you leave.
5. a power bank and a USB-C cable. the cable is the part people forget.
6. earplugs. the filtered kind let you hear the music clearly at a lower volume.
7. sunscreen, even if the forecast says cloud.
8. a rain layer: a packable jacket or poncho.
9. shoes you've already worn in. new boots on day one is how you get blisters by day two.
10. a crew plan: a meeting point, a backup, a regroup time and a way to find each other that doesn't need signal.

Documents & money

keep this category small and keep it on your body, not in the tent. a zipped inner pocket or a slim cross-body bag works better than a back pocket in a crowd.

ticket and wristband

if your festival posts wristbands out, they often need to go on before you travel, and a cut or damaged one may not get you back in. read the instructions when it arrives, not in the queue. for e-tickets, save them to your phone's wallet or as a screenshot, because the gate area is exactly where the network is busiest.

ID, card and cash

take one card, not your whole wallet. set up your phone's contactless payment as a backup, and carry a little cash for the stall whose reader has given up. write an emergency contact on a piece of paper in your bag too; it's no help if it only lives on a phone with a flat battery.

Staying charged & connected

a festival is a long day with no sockets. phones burn battery faster than usual when they keep searching for a weak signal, and cameras, torches and maps all pull from the same battery.

power bank and cable

bring a power bank big enough for more than one full phone charge, and charge it the night before. then check you packed the cable, because a power bank without the right lead is dead weight. USB-C covers most things now, so one good cable can often serve the whole group.

if anyone in your crew wears aura, the same kit covers it: it charges from any USB-C cable, power bank or laptop, takes 2.5 hours for a full charge and runs for 24 hours per charge. there's no cable in the box, so make sure one is in the bag.

phone prep before you leave

• download offline maps of the site and the area around it.
• download the festival app and the stage times while you still have wi-fi.
• turn on low power mode early, not at 5%.
• save your group's numbers somewhere you'll see them without scrolling.

Clothes & weather

pack for the whole forecast. a festival field has no shelter to duck into, and a wet layer at 2am is the fastest way to end a night early.

the basics

• a waterproof jacket or poncho
• a warm layer for after dark, even in summer
• a hat and sunglasses
• one or two outfits you actually want to wear, not five
• more socks than seems reasonable
• something to sleep in that stays dry

footwear

wellies if the ground could turn to mud, comfortable trainers or boots if it won't. whatever you pick, wear it in beforehand. a pair of flip-flops for showers and the tent is a small luxury that earns its space.

Camping gear

skip this section for a day festival. for a camping weekend, this is the kit that decides whether you sleep.

• tent that you've pitched at least once at home, with all the pegs.
• sleeping bag rated for colder nights than you expect.
• sleeping mat or air mattress (and the pump, if it needs one).
• pillow, even a small inflatable one.
• head torch, so both hands stay free in the dark.
• eye mask and spare earplugs for sleeping through sunrise and someone else's speaker.
• bin bags, for rubbish and for keeping clothes dry.
• a small padlock for the tent zips. it won't stop a determined thief, but it deters a casual one.

before you leave the tent to explore, find its nearest landmark: a flag, a tree, a numbered pole. every tent looks the same in the dark.

Health, hygiene & safety

this is the category where "i'll buy it there" goes wrong, because the queue for the one pharmacy tent is long and the thing you need is sold out.

health

• any regular medication, in its original packaging
• painkillers, plasters and blister pads
• hand sanitiser
• sunscreen and lip balm with SPF
• a refillable water bottle, if your festival allows one, and a plan to use the free water points

hygiene

• toilet paper or a pack of tissues
• wet wipes
• travel-size toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant
• a quick-dry towel
• dry shampoo if you're there more than a night

safety

• keep valuables on you in a zipped pocket, not in the tent.
• know where the welfare and medical tents are before you need them. they're usually marked on the site map.
• agree with your group what happens if someone feels unwell or gets separated, so nobody has to decide in the moment. our festival safety tips walk through that plan, from the buddy system to who to call for what.

Finding your crew in the crowd

this is the part most festival packing lists leave out, and it's often what decides how the weekend feels. crowds split groups in seconds, and at a packed festival the phone network is usually the first thing to struggle.

the classic kit still works. a totem or flag gives your group a landmark to walk back to. an LED or bright layer makes one person easy to spot after dark. a phone torch waved overhead helps close the last few metres. what none of these do is tell you where someone is when you can't see them.

for that you need something that doesn't route through the mobile network. two-way radios are one option. a crew-finder wearable like aura vibe is another: it points you to each person in your crew by direction and distance, down to 10 cm at close range and up to 10 km in open terrain, with zero phone signal (worldwide with the free aura boost, which uses a phone with mobile data). the honest trade-off is that everyone in the group needs their own device, for groups of up to five. for the full plan, from meeting points to what to do the moment you're separated, read how to find friends at a festival, or see how aura compares with phone-based options.

Printable checklist

copy this into your notes app or print it and tick as you pack.

documents & money

• ticket / wristband ✔
• photo ID ✔
• one card + some cash ✔
• emergency contact on paper ✔

power & phone

• phone with offline maps and festival app ✔
• charged power bank ✔
• USB-C cable ✔

clothes

• rain jacket or poncho ✔
• warm layer ✔
• hat and sunglasses ✔
• worn-in shoes or wellies ✔
• spare socks ✔

camping (if you're staying)

• tent with pegs ✔
• sleeping bag, mat, pillow ✔
• head torch ✔
• bin bags and a small padlock ✔

health & hygiene

• medication and a small first-aid kit ✔
• earplugs ✔
• sunscreen and lip balm ✔
• refillable bottle ✔
• toilet paper, wipes, sanitiser ✔

your crew

• meeting point + backup agreed ✔
• regroup time set ✔
• totem, flag or bright layer ✔
• a no-signal way to find each other ✔

FAQ

got a question about aura itself? the FAQ covers range, battery and pre-order terms.