The beginning of a festival day is always deceiving. You’re freshly showered, the outfit still looks exactly the way you planned it, your reusable water bottle is full, and somehow everyone in your group is still together.

But by nighttime, you’ve walked miles without realizing it, stood in the sun for longer than you normally would, eaten something questionable because the line was short, and probably lost at least one person in your group. Your feet hurt. Your skin feels slightly crispy. You’re thirsty even though you swear you’ve been drinking water.

A full day at a music festival puts your body through a lot more than we tend to give it credit for. A few basic festival health tips can help you understand what your body is doing and keep the fun from turning into feeling completely unwell by the end of the night.

A few hours in, you’re already losing more water than you think

One of the first things happening in your body is probably also the easiest to ignore: you’re sweating. Even when you don’t feel drenched, your body is constantly using sweat to cool itself down. 

Add extreme heat, packed crowds, dancing, and hours of walking between stages, and those fluid losses start adding up. By the time you actually feel thirsty, you may already be playing catch-up.

The CDC recommends drinking fluids throughout hot days rather than relying entirely on thirst as your reminder. Signs that heat and dehydration are becoming a problem can include:

• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Weakness
• Heavy sweating
• Nausea
• Muscle cramps

So bring the reusable water bottle and figure out where the water stations are before you desperately need them. Sip water throughout the day instead of chugging half a bottle every three hours and calling that hydration.

If you’re dancing and sweating for hours, an electrolyte drink can also help replenish some of what leaves your body through sweat. Sodium is one of the biggest electrolyte losses, which is why water alone may not always feel like enough after a particularly hot or active day. The CDC notes that electrolyte-containing drinks can be useful when someone has been sweating for several hours.

A rave recovery supplement can fit here too, especially one that provides the vitamins and minerals that complement what you’re already eating and drinking for extra support. Look for supplements that include ingredients like:

• Vitamins B6 and B12
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Alpha lipoic acid
• Green tea leaf extract
• 5-HTP
• Grape seed extract

Then the sun starts collecting its payment

There’s always someone who applies sunscreen at the hotel and decides they’re covered for the rest of the day. But sunscreen wears off, especially when you’re sweating. 

The CDC recommends using a broad-spectrum sunscreen and reapplying it at least every two hours, or more often after heavy sweating. Protect your face, shoulders, chest, and anywhere else your outfit leaves exposed. A lightweight long-sleeved layer or hat can help with sun protection too, especially during the middle of the day when UV rays are strongest.

And yes, you can still get sunburn when it’s cloudy.

Sunburn may feel like a problem for tomorrow, but the discomfort can start before the festival even ends. Suddenly, your backpack straps hurt. Sitting feels weird. Your skin is hot and tight, and you start to get annoyed with every piece of clothing touching it.

You don’t want to discover at midnight that your cute daytime outfit basically slow-roasted your shoulders. If you do get burned, cool the skin once you’re back at your hotel or campsite. Aloe vera can feel soothing, but the better plan is preventing the burn in the first place.

Your feet are doing way more work than usual

Festival footwear is one of those decisions that feels mostly aesthetic until several hours in, then it becomes deeply personal. 

Between moving from stage to stage, standing through sets, dancing, waiting for food, and making the inevitable journey back across the venue because someone forgot something, you may walk several miles during a full festival day without ever intending to exercise. And your feet take the brunt of it all.

Wear footwear you already know you can walk in. Festival day isn’t the time to test whether brand-new boots will eventually become comfortable. A clean pair of socks can also become strangely life-changing if you’re dealing with sweat, rain, mud, or a particularly long day. Keeping your feet reasonably clean and dry can reduce friction and make the next several hours much more tolerable.

Cute shoes are great. But being able to walk tomorrow is even better.

Your ears have been working all day, too

Hearing probably isn’t something you think about until your ears start ringing after the final set. By then, they’ve already spent hours around very loud music. And your hearing doesn’t care that you waited six months to stand directly in front of the subwoofer.

Concert sound levels can easily reach ranges capable of damaging hearing, particularly when the exposure lasts for a long time. Studies note that concerts commonly reach around 94 to 110 decibels and recommend hearing protection such as earplugs when you know you’ll be around loud sound.

An earplug designed for concerts can reduce the intensity without making the music sound completely terrible, so be sure to wear some. You can also give your ears breaks by stepping farther away from the speakers between sets.

At some point, you need actual food

Festival food can get weird. Maybe you had a real meal before coming in. Perhaps you’ve somehow survived until sunset on fries and half of someone else’s chicken tender. Either way, eventually your body needs fuel.

You’ve been moving for hours, and staying safe and healthy means giving your body something besides water and vibes. Eat when you get hungry rather than pushing through until you feel shaky or nauseated. 

Festival food doesn’t need to be nutritionally perfect. You’re just looking for something substantial enough to keep you going.

If you’re drinking alcohol, food becomes even more important. Alcohol can contribute to mild dehydration because it increases urination and can disrupt sleep. Drinking alcohol in extreme heat while barely eating or drinking water is a pretty efficient way to feel terrible before the night is over.

You don’t necessarily have to stay sober to stay healthy; you just have to pay extra attention to your body. You could also set up routines to make sure you get the proper hydration and food your body needs. 

While this isn’t groundbreaking health advice, it’s a reminder many people need after several hours at a festival.

Festival toilets require their own survival strategy

Festival toilets are an experience. Sometimes, they’re surprisingly clean. Other times, you’ll open the door and immediately reconsider how badly you needed to go.

Either way, thousands of festival-goers are sharing the same bathrooms, food counters, railings, tables, and other surfaces throughout the day. Germs are unavoidable, but basic hygiene practices can still lower your chances of bringing something home.

According to the CDC, washing your hands with soap and water is the best way to remove germs. When soap and water aren’t readily available, hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol is a useful backup. Wet wipes are also worth keeping in your bag for the general chaos, although they aren’t a substitute for handwashing before eating.

The best festival health tips are mostly small decisions

You don’t have to spend the entire festival monitoring your body like it’s a science experiment. The point is to notice things before they become problems.

• Drink water when you walk past a refill station instead of waiting until you feel thirsty.
• Reapply sunscreen before your shoulders start burning.
• Eat before your body starts negotiating with you.
• Put in your earplugs before the music feels painfully loud.
• Take regular breaks between sets.

A full festival day is a lot. That’s part of the fun, but it’s also why your body feels so different by the time you leave.

The easiest way to stay healthy is to give your body what it needs while enjoying the festival. These events are more like marathons than sprints. And no, you don’t have to attend everything. 

Listen to your body. If all else fails, assign different people to different jobs and work as a team to make sure that you have fun and stay healthy.