From Glastonbury to Benicassim: A beginner’s guide to festival finance

From Benicassim to Boardmasters, not to mention a little get together in Somerset this weekend, it's officially festival season.

The heady days of eye-watering ticket prices, extortionate food vans, and the significant risk of everything being filched from your tent are here again.

In fact, festival-goers will risk around £438m worth of unsecured, uninsured valuables at events this summer.

Whether you’re staying in Blighty or heading to distant shores for your music, culture, or sporting kicks, the festival presents a unique series of circumstances that could leave you in a whole heap of money trouble.

Here’s how to avoid a financial headache that could still be hanging over you long after your ears stop ringing.

Getting in

It goes without saying that buying your ticket as early as possible is a must to avoid paying on-the-gate prices if you can still get in at all. Once upon a time the only way to get in for free was to haul equipment, spend all your hours in a hot burger van, or try to jump the fence.

Today, there’s one magic word – charities. Now festivals are a major event for a range of charities trying to raise awareness of their cause and their profile; festivals are full them, and they need volunteers. In return for a free ticket you’ll certainly have to do your bit for a worthy cause but many also have areas for their workers complete with all-important perks such as showers, phone charging points and somewhere dry to sit down.

Getting on

Events in fields in the middle of nowhere have always had a very specific cashflow problem – as in that’s all they have. Taking wads of notes has always been a security nightmare, especially if booze and general exuberance is involved.

Remember the miles of queuing to get cash from a machine right next to ripe-smelling amenities that appears to be sinking, worryingly, into sodden turf? Fear such encounters no more.

This year, with contactless technology firmly embedded in our spending expectations, on-site wifi is a must and many festivals are pushing their vendors to help make theirs a completely card friendly event. With credit and debit cards offering consistent protection against fraudulent transactions both at home and abroad, it pays to be plastic this summer.

Speaking of security, one thing that hasn't changed is the presence of undesirables, less determined to see the best acts on the main stage and more keen on making off with your wallet, phone, jewellery and anything else that isn’t nailed down. (And some stuff that is.)

Get it covered

Around 1.9 million Brits attended a festival in 2016, with numbers expected to rise this year, especially in the UK as would-be holidaymakers decide not to take the exchange rate hit and sample the myriad big bashes our islands have to offer instead.

Each festival-goer will carry with them an average of £236 worth of valuables, with a quarter – roughly 450,000 people – taking personal belongings worth £750 or more. Phones, wallets, cameras, tablets, passports, GPSs and music players are almost as commonplace as the revellers – all in one concentrated area, often under canvas or adorning the bodies and manbags of those typically a little worse for wear.

It’s no wonder that one in every 30 festival attendees had items stolen at an event last year, around 60,000 Brits, according to a new survey by home insurer Policy Expert.

And yet few ticket holders are insured for such events, even overseas, in the way they are for a normal trip away from home. That’s despite the fact that many of their existing home insurance policies would cover them.

“While many will be there to enjoy themselves, unfortunately opportunistic thieves target those who are distracted by the music and excitement,” warns Adam Powell, head of operations at Policy Expert, who advises always using your phone’s pin, zipping up bags and purses, not leaving anything worth stealing in your tent and shielding your pin at cash points.

As thieves often operate in groups, be extra vigilant in large crowds, especially if there is a nearby commotion, which could be a ploy to distract you.

“While the likelihood of falling victim to theft over the festival period increases, this shouldn't deter people from attending any of these events – all of which have extra security measures in place.

“Before you head off, check the small print in your home insurance policy and check whether it includes away from home cover,” he adds. “If it doesn’t, ask your insurer about additional protection. And if you do fall victim, tell the police as soon as possible – a crime number is essential to making a claim.”