Fans Offer Tips for Showering at Outdoor Music Festivals

Fans online are offering tips for showering at outdoor music festivals.

We’re in the midst of festival season, and although camping out for multiple days to see your favorite musicians play is a great way to spend time outdoors, it can be hard to maintain good hygiene.

And for the sake of everyone around you, you should really try to do so. Almost everyone gets sweaty at outdoor concerts, but sitting in said sweat for days on end is pretty heinous.

Thankfully, if you aren’t staying in a hotel and commuting to the festival grounds, a lot of outdoor grounds have some sort of shower system implemented for those who are camping. If you’ve never used one before, it can be a bit overwhelming.

But festival connoisseurs on Reddit have offered some advice for staying clean and feeling refreshed for days on end. We compiled a list of tips based on what people have said on various Reddit threads. Keep reading to see what some of them have suggested.

Use Them in the Afternoon or Late at Night

Some festivals offer individual shower stalls and others are communal. Regardless of which you use, you’ll likely have to wait on a line if you go at certain times, especially in the morning.

A few Redditors suggested using them at night, and others noted that if you’re willing to miss certain performances, there will likely be less of a wait during the peak hours of the festival.

Wear a Bathing Suit if You’re Uncomfortable

If you don’t like the idea of undressing in front of other festival goers to use the communal showers, a bathing suit is a great idea. Some of the showers are divided by gender, and others aren’t.

“Join the mixed sex free for all with no queue! No one stares, it’s Europe,” someone wrote in a post on the Hellfest Reddit.

“Precisely this,” another person agreed. “I’ve never bothered standing in the queue for the individual shower stalls and always go for the outdoor group shower. Some people wear bathing suits because they’re uncomfortable naked in front of people, some are naked, but I’ve never felt unsafe or stared at (as a woman).”

Wash at Your Tent if You Don’t Want to Use Communal Showers

If you don’t want to use communal showers at all, or if the festival you’re attending doesn’t have them or restricts access to them, you can bring some simple shower gear with you to store in and use at your tent.

“Full body wash at the tent. Not wasting valuable time queuing up for a shower,” one person wrote in a thread on the Glastonbury Festival Reddit.

Some have recommended collapsible buckets, which you can fill at sinks. There are also cheap camp showers you can buy, which are essentially rubber sacks that hold the water and come with a hose that connects to them. If you fill it early and let it sit in the sun, the water will get warm, and then you can have a friend hold it up for you while you bathe.

There are also pop up showers and other tools you can use. Or, just use a big water bottle.

READ MORE: 10 Ways Not to Be an A–hole at Concerts

“Best thing to do is to get a 2L bottle of Evian and then each morning do a cold plunge at your tent. The sequence goes: Water on head and body, work in, lather shampoo/body wash, rinse one, rinse two, towel dry. It’ll suck, but it’ll get you awake and you’ll have saved 30-45 minutes of your day by not having to trek to the showers,” another person added in the thread.

Top 5 Best Camping Showers

Wear Sandals

Unless you don’t mind your feet getting dirty again by the time you get back to your campsite, wear something on your feet. Most sandals allow you to clean your feet without even taking them off.

Use Body Wipes

If showering is completely out of the question, you can bring body wipes with you. They may not offer the same level of hygiene as a shower, but they’re certainly better than nothing, and you can even keep them with you in your bag for some quick touch-ups throughout the day.