Crime

• Leave unnecessary valuables at home.
• Beware of pick pockets and don’t keep valuables in outside pockets whilst in crowds. It’s better to keep them in a bumbag or money belt rather than a rucksack.
• Never leave valuable items in your tent when you are not there. Thieves sometimes unzip tents or cut holes in them to grab things that are easily accessible. When you are sleeping, keep valuables in the bottom of your sleeping bag.
• Avoid taking large sums of cash with you. We are a cashless festival, so please load money on to your nominated bank card before you arrive – as signal connection can be temperamental.
• You can register your valuables with Immobilise, the UK national property register. This may improve the chances of getting them back if they are lost or stolen.

Wherever there are large crowds gathering together with lots of intoxicated people, perceptions can be distorted, inhibitions reduced and sometimes minor tensions can escalate.

• If you see trouble brewing, walk away and don’t get involved. Look for a member of security staff and report it – prevention is better than trying to resolve a problem afterwards.
• Consider how your own behaviour could be interpreted and be sensitive to the fact that when people are intoxicated things can be taken the wrong way.
• If you have a friend that sometimes acts up when they are partying, find a good time to have a word with them beforehand about how to behave.
• If you spot a friend behaving badly and you think trouble could be brewing, try and calmly take them out of the situation before things escalate. Festival sites are huge! You don’t need to stick around in one place if you feel uncomfortable.

1. Zero Tolerance to Sexual Assault

2. Hands Off Unless Consent

Consent means agreeing to do something. When it comes to sex, this means someone agreeing to take part in a sexual activity. Any form of sexual contact without consent is illegal whatever the age of the people involved. If you do not give consent and a person still engages in a sexual act, this is sexual assault or rape. Legally speaking, people who are drunk or under the influence of drugs can’t consent to any kind of sexual activity. Remember you shouldn’t ever feel pressured into any kind of sexual activity. It’s ok to say no or change your mind.

3. Be an Active Bystander

If you witness any kind of sexual assault don’t just ignore it. An active bystander is someone who responds effectively to harmful behaviour and provides support. Be a friendly face in the crowd and help look after each other.

The 5 Ds of how to be an active bystander:

1. DIRECT – directly intervene in the situation
2. DISTRACT – take an indirect approach to deescalate the situation and interrupt what is happening
3. DELEGATE – get help from someone else to intervene
4. DOCUMENT the situation as it is happening
5. DELAY – after the incident has happened check in with the person who was harmed.

Spiking is when someone puts alcohol or other drugs into a person’s drink or body without their knowledge or consent.

Even if someone has been consensually taking alcohol or other drugs, spiking is never ok and never the victims fault. All of our bars operate the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme, so if you feel like you’re in an unsafe situation, use the “Angela” code word to alert one of our trained bar staff that you need help so they can help you access the discreet help you need.

UK law prohibits you from being in possession of illegal drugs and therefore bringing them to festivals. We have strict security measures in place which may include full searches on arrival and drug detection or ‘sniffer’ dogs. Additionally, there may be police presence before you arrive on site at train stations or other stop off points. If you are found in possession of drugs you may be arrested and are liable to prosecution and/or may not be allowed to go into the festival. If you are found with drugs once on site, you may be ejected and/or arrested.

Read more about understanding the law as well as harm reduction advice on alcohol and other drugs.

Drink & Drug Driving

If you are the nominated driver you need to be fit and capable to drive you and your mates home safely. If you are stopped by police, they have tests for drink and drug driving. If you test positive, you could get a fine, a ban and even a prison sentence. Worse still, if you are involved in an accident you could seriously injure or kill someone.

One in five convicted drink drivers are caught the ‘morning after the night before’ so make sure you leave enough time to sober up before you have to drive. If you have been drinking until very late, you might feel ok in the morning, but could still be over the legal alcohol limit. There is no way to get rid of alcohol any faster; having a coffee, a shower or other ways of ‘sobering up’ are myths.