It’s just over a month since the holidays ended and the festival season along with it. Now we have more time to prepare for next year!

Being a festival virgin I had no idea what to expect from Leeds Festival 09 and was repacking my rucksack over and over again trying fit in extra shoes I didn’t need or more food thinking I’d starve. This is my guide on how to do Leeds Fest.

Do! Get an ‘early bird’ ticket.

If you want a decent camping spot that doesn’t have you rolling down a hill when you’re sleeping then get an early bird ticket! By the end of the first day the campsites closest to the arena were jam-packed. Alternatively, if you have camping mates that are going early bird, convince them to kindly take your tent and set it up for you.

Do! Take a sledge for your beverages.

Liquids are hell to carry especially on your back! I now sympathise for camels. I wanted to cry when I saw other festivalgoers practically skipping along with their sledges while I hiked behind red faced and shoulder strained.

Do! Take wellies, you’d be a fool not to.

And only take your wellies. There is no need to take up space in you rucksack with extra trainers. I lived in my bright pink wellies for the entire weekend, complete with long socks for extra comfort. It’s a British festival so it is only tradition to rain and make the ground thick with mud. Wellies are an essential!

Do! Take an airbed.

Much, much more cosy than Branham Park floor. It’s always handy to have an electric pump. The squeaking echoed in the fields as people with frustrated faces stomped on their foot pumps. By lending our neighbours our electric pump, we saved them from some seriously strenuous activity and so became their new best friends!

Do! See the headline bands.

Whether you like Kings of Leon and Artic Monkeys or not, you must see the headliners. They were chosen to headline on the main stage for a reason. Kings of Leon displayed a better-than-the-album performance, while Kaiser Chiefs immense energy left the crowd buzzing. The not so energetic Arctic Monkeys somehow attracted the largest crowd of the festival. Maybe not everyone got what they expected from the Arctic Monkeys set, I know I didn’t unfortunately. The Prodigy raved the stage while we danced with neon face paints and glow sticks. We didn’t care if we were battered and bruised when emerging from the crowd.

Do! Look out for the ‘secret’ gig.

If only I knew about it sooner. It wasn’t until I got home that I found I had missed the ‘secret’ gig that took place on the Friday. Apparently, this year it was a group made up of Foo Fighters, Led Zepplin and Queens of the Stone Age that formed under the name Them Crooked Vultures.

Do! Go to the after parties.

The fun doesn’t end when the bands stop playing. The next stop is to the Silent Disco. Don’t be put off by the long queues it is definitely worth the wait and you get to stay in the silent disco for as long as you please. It’s a surreal thing watching a huge tent full of festival partiers dancing and singing to nothing. You get a lovely pair of chunky headphones playing music and DJ OD forcing his depressing stories on the crowd usually involving how his latest girlfriend has left him. Overall, I say it is good fun and a must for Leeds festivalgoers. If you want a break from DJ OD then pop down to the Relentless Pyramid, where you are required to shout ‘YOU WHAT, YOU WHAT!’ to the same beat all night long.

Do Not! Do a ‘Poo Girl’!

She has become infamous on facebook with many groups dedicated to the young lady and her misfortunes. If you have not heard already, ‘Poo Girl’ refers to the girl who got wedged when she dropped her bag down one of the long-drop toilets. She had to be rescued by the Leeds Festival fire crew and hosed down, later to return to the festival. She is a brave girl for returning after that ordeal. I think we can all learn from Poo Girl: don’t stick your head down the toilet or you may never return. And yes, she did retrieve her handbag. I hope it was worth it.

This little ordeal demonstrates how eventful Leeds Festival is, planned or unplanned. Maybe you need a well-deserved break after exams? If you’re looking for a weekend of live music and happy camping and to have many stories to share (hopefully not like ’Poo Girls’) then Leeds Fest is the festival for you. You’ll come home feeling filthy, tried and extremely content. Get your wellies and rucksack and I’ll see you there next year!