The best gadgets for festivals
The Glastonbury Festival begins next week, kicking off the summer festival season. As well as a tent and some wellies, a well-packed festival bag these days includes a few vital gadgets.
The Power Chimp will charge pretty much any gadget
The Gelert Solar Shower will heat up your water after three hours in the sun
The Ultimate Festival Kit contains all kinds of handy items
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS14 digital camera is compact but powerful
Whether you want a way to stay in touch with friends, something to record your memories or a way of keeping the music going after the bands have finished, there are plenty of options - and you’ll need something to keep it all charged too. Here are our recommendations for the best gadgets for festival-goers.
Mobile phone
With so many people in such a small area all using their mobile phones, reception is likely to be patchy at most festivals. However, it’s still worth having yours with you. Even if you’re reduced to leaving voicemails and texts, you’ll still be able to use it to keep track of friends. And if you have a smartphone, you’ll also have a camera, some music, a few apps and mapping functions all at your fingertips.
With so many people in such a small area all using their mobile phones, reception is likely to be patchy at most festivals. However, it’s still worth having yours with you. Even if you’re reduced to leaving voicemails and texts, you’ll still be able to use it to keep track of friends. And if you have a smartphone, you’ll also have a camera, some music, a few apps and mapping functions all at your fingertips.
Amazon Kindle
£152 (3G) or £111 (WiFi), Amazon.co.uk
If you want to take a break from all that music and do a little reading in the sunshine, the Amazon Kindle is ideal. It will take up less space in your bag than a paperback and can hold thousands of books. Unlike a tablet computer or a laptop, the Kindle’s e-Ink screen is perfectly readable in bright sunlight. It’s perfect for taking a quiet moment to yourself while you wait for your favourite band.
£152 (3G) or £111 (WiFi), Amazon.co.uk
If you want to take a break from all that music and do a little reading in the sunshine, the Amazon Kindle is ideal. It will take up less space in your bag than a paperback and can hold thousands of books. Unlike a tablet computer or a laptop, the Kindle’s e-Ink screen is perfectly readable in bright sunlight. It’s perfect for taking a quiet moment to yourself while you wait for your favourite band.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS14
£99.95, Jessops.com
Your mobile phone probably has a camera but if you want high quality pictures that you can print out, then you’ll need to take a dedicated digital camera. This Panasonic Lumix model offers 14 megapixels, a 4x wide-angle Leica lens and will also shoot HD video. An optical image stabiliser automatically compensates for camera shake, which should help with those snapshots taken in front of the stage, and it’s slim enough to slip into your pocket.
£99.95, Jessops.com
Your mobile phone probably has a camera but if you want high quality pictures that you can print out, then you’ll need to take a dedicated digital camera. This Panasonic Lumix model offers 14 megapixels, a 4x wide-angle Leica lens and will also shoot HD video. An optical image stabiliser automatically compensates for camera shake, which should help with those snapshots taken in front of the stage, and it’s slim enough to slip into your pocket.
Power Chimp
£19.50, powertraveller.com
The downside of all these gadgets is that they need to be recharged, which is not something that’s terribly easy to do when you’re camping in a field. That’s where the Power Chimp comes in. It’s a cheap, small device uses AA batteries to charge up your gadgets. There are adaptors available for pretty much anything you might want to charge so with an adaptor for each gadget and a supply of batteries, you won’t have to worry about running out of juice. If you’re prepared to pay a little more - and you’re confident that you’ll see at least a little sunshine - then Power Traveller also offers solar-powered models.
£19.50, powertraveller.com
The downside of all these gadgets is that they need to be recharged, which is not something that’s terribly easy to do when you’re camping in a field. That’s where the Power Chimp comes in. It’s a cheap, small device uses AA batteries to charge up your gadgets. There are adaptors available for pretty much anything you might want to charge so with an adaptor for each gadget and a supply of batteries, you won’t have to worry about running out of juice. If you’re prepared to pay a little more - and you’re confident that you’ll see at least a little sunshine - then Power Traveller also offers solar-powered models.
Creative D100 portable Bluetooth speaker
£59.99, uk.store.creative.com
If you haven’t had enough music by the time you get back to your tent, this portable speaker will help. It’s light, compact and comes in a range of colours. Despite its size it provides good quality sound and it takes AA batteries so you don’t have to worry about charging it. Bluetooth connectivity means that it’s compatible with most mobile phones and tablet computers so everyone can take their turn streaming music to it.
Gelert Solar shower
£5.20, Amazon.co.uk
This water bottle is made from heat-receptive PVC. Just fill it with water and put it in the sun for three hours and it will warm up so that you can take a much needed shower. Find a hook or a tree to hang it from - ideally somewhere with a little privacy - and you’ll be able to freshen up before another sweaty night watching bands.
Ultimate festival survival kit
£26.49, Firebox.com
This handy bag isn’t a gadget but it does contain a host of festival essentials, packed into a convenient container. It includes a keychain torch, a PVC poncho, emergency blanket, glow-in-the-dark whistle and a few toiletries.
Glastonbury app
Free for iPhone, Android and Nokia, glastonbury.orange.co.uk
Another reason to take your smartphone is to get the official festival app. The Glastonbury app, sponsored by Orange, comes with a map of the festival site, a schedule of what’s on where and a personal planner so that you can be sure you won’t miss anything.
£59.99, uk.store.creative.com
If you haven’t had enough music by the time you get back to your tent, this portable speaker will help. It’s light, compact and comes in a range of colours. Despite its size it provides good quality sound and it takes AA batteries so you don’t have to worry about charging it. Bluetooth connectivity means that it’s compatible with most mobile phones and tablet computers so everyone can take their turn streaming music to it.
Gelert Solar shower
£5.20, Amazon.co.uk
This water bottle is made from heat-receptive PVC. Just fill it with water and put it in the sun for three hours and it will warm up so that you can take a much needed shower. Find a hook or a tree to hang it from - ideally somewhere with a little privacy - and you’ll be able to freshen up before another sweaty night watching bands.
Ultimate festival survival kit
£26.49, Firebox.com
This handy bag isn’t a gadget but it does contain a host of festival essentials, packed into a convenient container. It includes a keychain torch, a PVC poncho, emergency blanket, glow-in-the-dark whistle and a few toiletries.
Glastonbury app
Free for iPhone, Android and Nokia, glastonbury.orange.co.uk
Another reason to take your smartphone is to get the official festival app. The Glastonbury app, sponsored by Orange, comes with a map of the festival site, a schedule of what’s on where and a personal planner so that you can be sure you won’t miss anything.
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