Wellies can make the difference between a fun fest and trench foot

// VV Brown, Singer-songwriter //

Don’t forget loo roll!

There is nothing worse than going to the toilet and not being able to clean up. I was in the midst of a monsoon at Bestival doing the “natural” release, as you do, holding on to the sides of the toilet for dear life, in desperate need, but… no loo roll!

Carry a poncho

You never know with English weather. Carry one and have fun in the mud. I didn’t have one at V Festival last year and I used a bin bag. I got so wet that I sounded like a bumble bee when I was singing and I looked like the scary girl from The Grudge. It doesn’t help your pulling tactics, I’m telling you.

Bring antiseptic wipes

OK, so they’re quite a mumsy thing, but you are going to get dirty. Having these to hand makes for an easy clean-up when you don’t want to drag yourself from the mosh pit!

Pack an extra mobile battery

I’ve been drunk, wandering aimlessly around the festival and my friends haven’t found me until the end because my battery went dead and I was busy chatting to the man in the big teddy-bear costume. If you have an extra battery then there is no excuse.

Take coffee

If you are staying over, oh, there will be hangovers. Coffee helps but it doesn’t take away the naughty things you can’t remember doing the night before!

VV Brown will be performing at Lovebox on Saturday 18 July

// Layo Paskinn, DJ/Producer //

Be prepared

If it’s raining, bring wellies and waterproofs and a change of clothes. I will never forget taking a group of my Brazilian girlfriend’s friends, who were over visiting us, to the Glade Festival in 2007, when the mud was 3ft deep. They refused to bring wellies as they didn’t believe it could be that bad. So in a moment of gallantry my girlfriend and I gave up ours and we made do with that stylish fallback of plastic bags over trainers tied in rope – kind of Japan meets Star Wars.

Bring a tent and someone who knows how to put it up

Your lack of camping skills become very apparent very quickly at a festival, although getting someone to put up my tent by paying them with beer has worked for me before.

Never sleep in your car

This seems fine until you do it: waking a couple of hours after falling asleep, drenched in sweat, desperate for air and water, and that’s if you can find your car at 5am. My first trip to Glastonbury was maybe my greatest DJ-ing moment. We played from 7pm until 5am and it was electric. After the set, and still basking in the euphoria, all my potential sleeping options ebbed away and I was left with the dawning realisation that the car was my only friend. I trekked across Glastonbury, heaving my record box, until eventually I found my car park. It was the worst sleep of my life, but I never woke up after a gig so happy.

Explore the festival

It is easy just to focus on the acts and music you know, but there are so many wonderful things we all miss and a festival is the perfect place to lose yourself and open up to other worlds. Last year at the VOLT Festival in Hungary, I came across this Swedish band who kind of mimed a film and story along to music – it was ­totally ­bizarre, but brilliant.

Don’t rely on the mobile

Reception is generally poor so working out a place to meet is not a bad idea. Remember there are 50 to 200,000 people milling around, equally clueless as to where anything or a­nybody is.

Enjoy yourself

It may sound obvious, but you are there to have fun. All the problems become stories and the different people you meet, the music you hear, even the nightmare visit to the toilet are fond memories. We have such a great scene here and, rain or shine, we really let go.

Layo & Bushwacka are appearing at these UK festivals this summer: RockNess, Glastonbury, The Secret Garden, SW4 and Bestival

// Hayley Lloyd, Music Relationships Manager, Orange UK //

Scout out the mobile phone­charging units when you arrive

It’s worth queuing to charge your phone if it means you get to see your favourite bands with your best mates. And there’s nothing worse than ending up on your own at the end, trying to find your campsite.

Work out a meeting point

At Glastonbury I always arrange to meet friends at the sound desk 15 minutes before the band is on – it’s a great atmosphere there and the best sound.

Stay online

Download social networking applications to your phone for another way to stay in touch.

Orange is the official communications partner for Glastonbury

// Paul Hartnoll, Orbital //

Take brandy and chocolate milk

This is my favourite festival cocktail for early morning drinking shenanigans. It’s a sort of cheap Baileys, and your friends (and anyone else that spots you) will love you for it.

Have pockets with zips

On your coat, trousers and anywhere else. If you don’t, you’ll lose it all and leave with nothing. Army trousers with big button pockets are a good start.

Don’t buy a fluffy jester’s hat

Do they still do them at Glastonbury? It’ll make you look like a prat!

Pack one of those tiny camping/hunting stools

In case it does turn into a mud bath. The worst thing about a wet festival is the lack of sitting down real estate. The last wet Glastonbury I went to was terrible. It is the worst aspect of the festival and my calves ached for days.

Orbital will play Saturday into Sunday at The Big Chill , 8-9 August

// Henry Dimbleby, CEO of Leon restaurants //

Know the ABV of your cider

This is the difference between a music festival and being lost in a field for three days.

Avoid any kind of laughter therapy yurt

I once found myself, at a particularly new-age ­festival, having my shiatsu massage disturbed by, to one side, someone having a “gong bath”, and on the other, this laughter therapy yurt.

Don’t buy homemade “mushroom truffles” from a 14-year-old

You may laugh, but it happened to friend of mine

Bring a shooting stick

Or any other portable apparatus on which you can sit down. Really.

Wet wipes are for girls, babies and fried chicken

You are not going to be able to stay clean anyway and no one cares.

Go to www.bigchill.ticketline.co.uk/leon-tickets and book tickets there for a chance to come to the Leon backstage barbeque

// Norman Jay, Superstar DJ //

Don’t make any plans to leave mid-festival!

Accept you’re there for the ­duration – unless you want to spend hours fighting against the flow of festivalgoers who will be coming into the site while you’re trying to leave. I had a nightmare once trying to get out of Glastonbury for a gig I was playing back in London. I spent most of Saturday night trapped in traffic on narrow country roads!

Don’t forget to pack clean underwear

I haven’t been caught short myself but one year at Roskilde [in Denmark] several friends ran out of clean pants and decided to embrace the Nordic spirit of liberation. They just stripped off and ran around the festival butt-naked!

Remember to have fun when things go wrong

Once at the Big Chill there was a power cut in the middle of my Sunday afternoon set. The sound went off completely for five long minutes. After the ­initial shock, I pulled myself together, said something witty and by the time we were back up, the crowd were behind me. You have to remember that you’re there to entertain, whatever happens – if I have to sing and dance, I will.

Keep an eye on your belongings during the big acts

The best time for thieves to get busy is when everyone is gathered in one place. That’s the dark side of festivals – friends of mine have even had stuff nicked during my sets. Make sure your tent is shut, your car doors are locked and keep all your valuables on you.

Plan your schedule: accept you won’t be able to see everything

Make a plan, be flexible and leave time for moving ­between stages. Be prepared to step outside your comfort zone – even if there’s only a few people and a stray dog watching.

Norman Jay will play at The Big Chill, Sunday 9 August.

For tickets to The Big Chill Festival, go to www.bigchill.net