What to Wear to Essence Festival

Best option here: Cushioned trainers or a low boot. You are on concrete for ten hours.

Avoid: brand-new shoes, heels, and anything you have not walked 10 kilometres in.

You will walk between 15.000 and 30.000 steps a day at a festival of this size, repeated over 4 days. Footwear is the only part of a festival outfit that can genuinely end your weekend, so it is the one place to spend money and break things in beforehand.

• Bag size. Most festivals of this size cap bags at roughly A4 or require a clear bag at the main stages. A belt bag plus a small crossbody clears almost every policy. Check the official rules before you buy anything bigger.
• Chains and studs. Long chains, spikes and metal-heavy accessories are refused at some gates. If a piece is central to the look, have a backup.
• Glitter. Biodegradable only at a growing number of festivals; plastic glitter is banned outright at several. It is also, practically, the hardest thing to remove from a tent.
• No camping. You are travelling in and out each day, so the outfit has to survive public transport at both ends, and a cloakroom is not guaranteed.
• Sun. At 33°C (91°F) with no shade, a hat and SPF 50 do more for how you look on day three than any single garment.

• Two tops per day (one gets ruined)
• One layer for the night
• Earplugs
• Refillable water bottle
• Portable charger
• Sun cream or SPF stick
• Baby wipes
• A bag with a zip
• Packable rain poncho
• Dry socks, more than you think
• Hand fan or cooling towel
• Electrolyte sachets

• Anything suede or leather-soled. Wet suede is finished, and a leather sole on wet grass is an accident.
• Heavy denim and synthetic fabrics. At 33°C (91°F) they trap heat and sweat; you will be looking for a merch t-shirt by 3pm.
• A full face of heavy makeup. It slides. Waterproof mascara, a tinted SPF and a setting spray outperform a full base every time.
• Heels of any kind. Grass, gravel and crowd crush. Platform boots give the height with a surface area that works.
• Brand-new shoes. Ten hours on concrete in unbroken-in soles is the most reliable way to leave early.
• Your good bag. Beer, mud, being sat on. Take the one you would not mind losing, with a zip.