Over the next couple of months, some the largest festivals in the UK are taking place, from Glastonbury to Reading and Leeds to Creamfields. In the year leading up to March 2022, over a fifth (21%) of UK consumers attended a music festival, as participation recovered by 80% of pre-pandemic levels.
While festivals are a time to let loose and enjoy music, food and friends, they can often come with safety concerns, and it is important to be prepared.
Whether it’s losing your friends or sustaining an injury, Amrit Chatha, mobile expert at Mobiles.co.uk has reveals five ways your smartphone can be a tool for safety during festival season.
“Before you head of to your festival, set up the emergency and medical settings in your phone. Should you find yourself in an emergency, such as needing medical attention, anyone who needs to use your phone can access this information without a passcode. This means they can find out your allergies or medical conditions to give you the right care and get in contact with the right people.”
Here’s how to set up medical details on iPhone: Health app > profile picture > Medical ID > Edit > Tap Show When Locked > Done
Here’s how to set up medical details on Android: Settings > Safety & Emergency > Medical Information > Allow access to emergency info > Save
At any festival, especially when camping for several days, there is a risk of theft to your belongings. There is also a more likely chance of losing items in the hustle and bustle.
Make sure you have set up your banking cards on your Apple or Google wallet. With this in place, you can pay for everything through your phone, in case you should lose any large amounts of money or your full wallet. Now, you should be fully covered from any financial restrictions.”
Festivals are jam-packed and fast-paced and being thrown out of your normal routine can often lead you to forget things. If you regularly take medication, it is important to have a system in place to ensure you remember to take it, amongst the craziness of a festival.”
“It’s easy to set up alarms to go off at the right time for your medication, so you can hear as well as see your reminder. There are also several apps available in which you can set up reminders for your medication, such as Medisafe or MyTherapy.”
It is possible that you will get split up from your friends during the festival and your phone can be a great tool for 
keeping in touch. Apps such as Find My Friends and Life 360 can be used to share and view each other’s locations, so you can track each other down should you get separated. Find My Tent also lets you pin the location of your tent so you can find it with ease.
In case of a more serious emergency, apps such as Safe and One Scream are voice activated emergency alerts, that send your location to selected contacts upon recognition. There are a variety of apps available that alert friends, set off alarms or even contact the authorities.”
Unfortunately, festivals can be unreliable when it comes to phone signal as they are often located in rural areas. To make sure you have constant communication with your family or friends, you need a back-up plan.
“The best thing you can do in case there’s no signal or your battery runs out, is to create a meeting point. Visit it first together so you know exactly where to meet and in case you cannot get in contact with one another then you know exactly where to go.”
