I’ve just got back from Glastonbury Festival 2019 – five whole days of drinking, dancing, exploring and generally living my best life! And loving every second of it. It was everything I expected it to be, and a billion times more again! But I can’t lie and say that I didn’t stress out during the weeks and months leading up to the end of June, when thousands of people would descend on a little, local village. I’ve been having a tough time with my disease recently and I’ve found it hard to stay positive all the time. So how difficult would it be to enjoy a music festival with Ankylosing Spondylitis? I would lie awake at night, anxious about a million and one things – most of them AS related.
Will my back behave itself?
Will I be struck down with debilitating fatigue?
Could I be aching so bad that I can’t even carry my rucksack to the campsites?
Will I be shuffling back to my tent at 10pm each night, old lady style?
The anxiety was real. I was SO excited to go “the biggest party in the world”, but I couldn’t help worrying that it would be a massive anticlimax due to me and my glass back. Luckily for me, my fears were mostly redundant. Although I had a few aches and pains here and there, I had a great time and wouldn’t change my festival experience for the world. Annoyingly some of it comes down to luck – whether your Ankylosing Spondylitis will rear it’s ugly head during your music festival or not, but there’s still a lot you can do to prevent that from happening. I’ve put together a few ideas that did me some good, and can hopefully help you out too…
Get yourself fit.
By no means am I saying climb a mountain or two beforehand, or run a half-marathon in preparation, but it would be wise to up your fitness level just a little bit before the biggest week of the year. Even if you’re just planning on chilling at your campside the whole time (why?), you’ll need some power behind you for the initial dash to said campside of the first day. ‘Cause once those gates are declared open, the race is on for the best pitch spots…and you don’t wanna be one of the ones lagging behind who end up next to the toilets.
Glastonbury is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s five long days and five even longer nights…of minimal sleep, an average of 30 miles walked over the duration and some questionable life choices. You don’t wanna go down and stay down on the second day. Not only is stamina a good thing to build up for a marathon music festival, you’ll also wanna work on your balance and core strength for the hardcore crushes after the headliners each night and at peak times during the day. These ain’t no joke and they can actually be quite dangerous if you don’t keep your wits about you. Engage your core muscles, hold steady and you won’t be trampled on. Be safe.
Also ladies – it’s wouldn’t be a bad idea to get some squats in as preparation for the inevitable hover over the longdrop on day 3. Just sayin’.
Don’t forget your meds!
Your packing list should contain wellies, biodegradable wet wipes, a bum bag and toilet paper at the bare minimum. But it should also contain your meds, your pain relief and anything else that makes you feel better when your body is aching. You need to be a bit organised with your prescriptions in the months ahead – make sure you don’t run out or your prescription is due whilst at the festival.
Stock up on pain relief and anti inflammatory drugs leading up to your leaving date, but if you run out during the festival, don’t worry, there’s always a shop onsite to get some more.
Be prepared and write down everything you’ll need to pack a couple of weeks beforehand, to make sure you don’t forget anything last minute. If it’s your first time, there’s loadsssss of blogs online featuring decent packing lists that you can copy. Just add your medications and off you go!
Work out what type of bed is best for you.
This’ll take some active research I’m afraid. You’ll need to test out a few different methods beforehand to learn what’s good for you – you don’t wanna go to a music festival ill-prepared, only to get zero sleep at night, and be a mumbling zombie during the day (there’s enough of them around Glasto anyway )!
Some people need a proper off-the-floor camping bed to get a good night’s sleep, but others are happy with just a yoga mat between them and the grass! Sometimes people discover that a few nights on the hard ground can do wonders for the back, us included, but it’s not for everyone!
We opted for a blow-up air bed, which normally suits us fine, but we soon realised that it had a pesky puncture and the blighter wouldn’t stay up! But it all worked out fine though; we were so knackered when we crawled into bed that nothing was gonna stop us catching some much-needed zzz’s.
Don’t overdo it.
This is a real challenge at Glastonbury in particular. There’s so much to do, all the time! Wherever you go there’s something drawing you in, inviting you to take part in something crazy or get your dance on. My advice? That’s all fine and dandy but it’s okay to sit down and take a breather once in a while. Music festivals have loads of places to take a load off and put your feet up, if only for 10 minutes. My fave Glastonbury chill spots were at the Stone Circle, gazing at the incredible view below us, and the Theatre and Circus Field, where I could literally sit all day watching the comings and goings of jugglers, trapeze artists and comedians entertaining the passer-bys.
If someone’s yanking you towards the dance tent at 2am, telling you the night’s still young, but you’ve got them nasty, knawing pains in your back and hips, it’s probably time to kiss them goodnight and shuffle back to your air mattress…Even if it’s bloomin’ flat! You know your body better than anyone – if it tells you it’s had enough, call it a night. There’s absolutely NO shame in that!
Keep it moving. Shake that booty!
Sounds like a complete contrast to the advice above I know, but take note of this one too. As important as it is to chill out sometimes, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to park up on your camping chair in front the Pyramid Stage (or whatever main stage you have at your chosen festival) for the entire day. No, no, no siree bob! That’s just crying out for a flare to pop up out of the blue. What’s the number one rule for us AS-ers? KEEP IT MOVING AND SHAKING PEEPS! #refusetofuse
There’s plenty of physical activities you can get involved in at a music festival. At Glastonbury Festival this year there was rock climbing, skate boarding, morning yoga, running clubs, not to mention the salsa dancing lessons three times a day! So there’s really no excuse not to stay active.
Stay flexible and agile and you’ll be less likely to be struck down by a flare attack. Which would NOT be ideal for a music festival at all!
But if it does happen, I’ve put together a few handy tips for coping with an AS flare attack – all of which you definitely can do at Glastonbury Festival.
Eat healthily…(if you can )
I’m a bit of a pants advocate for this but I’ll say it anyway. Try and maintain a healthy diet on your little festival holiday, whether it’s two days or five days long, it’s important to keep stocked up with greens and proteins, if only for energy purposes to keep you partying for longer. Speaking for Glastonbury Festival, there were soooooo many wholesome, healthy food stalls selling everything from Buddha bowls to sushi to vegan curry, so there’s no real excuse for not getting your five-a-day…and no, we’re sorry but wine and cider do not count as grapes and apples.
I can safely say I am well and truly brilliant…at not doing this! Sorry I won’t lie to you. I managed a couple of smoothies, a few salads and a handful of cherries here and there, but it was mostly stodge. But I tell you something – it was super tasty stodge, and I regret nothing. But I will try harder at the next festival. Promise.
Prepare to be exhausted.
Sure you’ll get moments of youthful exuberance at the thought of watching a favourite band or eating some tasty food or just generally partying the night away. But you’ll also be tired. Like. ALL the time. But so is everyone.
If you go to Glastonbury pre-accepting the fact that your brain and body will feel like mushy offal most the time, then you’ll expect the inescapable escapes to sleepyland. For instance, you won’t be surprised when you find yourself stirring awake next to the John Peel tent at 2pm, having just slept through Tom Walker’s entire set, including your favourite song right now!
Book a few days off after the festival before going back to work...you’ll need it.
If you’re anything like me, you WILL come back a shell of the human you were a week ago. I had two and a half days to recover from Glasto and I still felt like the walking dead when I hobbled into the kitchen on Wednesday afternoon. It’s really okay to take some time off to get yourself feeling like yourself again. You’ll likely be dehydrated, lacking in proper nutrients and vitamins, sunburnt/ trenchfooted (depending on the Glastonbury weather Gods ) and desperately in need of catching up on some sleep. Do yourself a favour and stay at home for a couple of days, guzzle gallons of water and enjoy some much-needed quality time with your pillow.
ENJOY YOURSELF!
This, this and THIS more than anything.
Stress is one of the biggest contributors to an Ankylosing Spondylitis flare, so put all your stresses aside, go to your music festival and have the time of your lives guys and gals.
Don’t worry about anything, go with the flow and dance the freakin’ night away! You’ve most likely paid a wholleeee lotta dolla to go, so don’t waste it by panicking about the small things. Who cares that you’ve got Ankylosing Spondylitis when you’re at the biggest music festival of dreams? Remember – you’re one of the lucky ones. Embrace everything, do everything, see everything, laugh lots, love freely and HAVE FUN!
Written by https://www.laterstaters.com/
