Tickets go on sale next month - read this and book! (V Festival)

Member Name: SapphireSunflowr

Product:	V Festival
Date:	18/02/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun fun fun, great music, brilliant atmosphere, good stalls to tempt you from your cash!

Disadvantages: Mud and rain and a very sore back! Expensive food and the hotdogs were nasty...

So, tickets for this year's V Festival go on sale in just over two weeks time (on the 6th March). I will be on the phones getting my tickets, as after losing my festival virginity to V last year I really want to go again! Just incase you are undecided yet whether to book or not, I hope my review will sway you!

Getting there:
We booked our tickets late, so ended up on the coach to Stafford. Waiting at Birmingham coach station with a huge line of other

Camping:
Ah, we really should have got here earlier. We trudged up what felt like miles of campsite past rows and rows of happily camped tents, only finding a spot because out teeny tiny pop up tent fitted in the space between already parked tents. Our second mistake involved setting up our tent facing the space that the other tents faced - our neighbours turned out to be group of banterous boys who liked nothing better than heckling us (two females) whatever we did. They also shacked up with some of the neighbouring teenage girls one the second night, which led to us overhearing some, um, interesting noises at night...

My biggest mistake, though, was neglecting to pack an airbed and forgetting to bring my boyfriend's big hoodie for the night. I was FREEZING, until I bought a blanket off the Oxfam store, and my back hurt so much from only having a mat between me and the cold ground, I was in pain for abut two weeks after!

The Food:
Expensive, and bad hotdogs! Unfortunately our camping stove ran out of gas so we were at the mercy of the stalls, but in retrospect we should have just budgeted for buying food there and not carried quite so many tins, saving space and our backs! The Chinese food was good, and my friend had a fish and chips that cost about £8, and apparently it was amazing. Good job too... The cheapest thing to drink was cider or wine, but to be honest I avoided drinking too much after the first night, as I didn't want to have to get up to pee again in the middle of the night!

The Music:
Was AMAZING. We saw a huge mix of acts on both the smaller and large stage, including Maximo Park, Reverend and the Makers, Stereophonics, The Verve and many more. The atmosphere was fantastic, and seeing Muse perform on the last night was actually the best thing ever - they were actually better outdoors than when I'd seen them in a covered venue, and with the incredible light show and buzz from the crowd it gives me little tingles just remembering it!

The Rain:
Made everything a mud bath, and I'd have been absolutely lost without my anorak AND my plastic poncho - definitely a must pack!

The Toilets:
Grim, and with massive queues, bur actually not quite as bad as I'd thought, given the dire warnings!

Other notes:
You will have to fork out c.£10 for the back containing the information telling you who is playing where. It's actually quite a useful size for carrying things around during the day though, mind. There are also lots of stalls, something I didn't expect, and I spent quite a bit of money at the vintage clothing stalls and some of the jewellery stands. So if you like a bit of retail therapy, bring cash, you'll need much more than you think you will...

Conclusion:
Fantastic, easy and fun - book tickets now but bring a big tent and get there early!

Summary: Ooh, here's another tip - pack all your stuff in a wheelie trolley so you can pull it not carry