Festivals are back!

BDP workers at Love Saves The Day festival stood in front of The Drop's tent.

After a speedy start to 2025 we’re already lacing up our boots and taking to the fields for some festival action.

It’s that time again for live music, DJs and dancing. For some of you, festival season might mean taking alcohol and other drugs, so let’s dust up on some harm reduction advice and explore what you guys have been saying so far this festival period…

Our first festival of the year was Love Saves The Day, a Bristol-based staple providing a smooth blend of local, underground drum and bass with big names like Nia Archives and Overmono.

Thanks to the help of Team Love, we’re able to have open, non-judgemental conversations about alcohol and other drugs on-site. These harm reduction interventions are imperative to keeping you guys as safe as possible during and after the festival. Whether you’re a seasoned festival veteran or a newby, we’ve got you covered.

We took to the field to find our more about drug use at festivals and how you guys feel about festival safety…

We used some stickers and our big ol’ board asking what drugs you were using over the weekend.

Out of those of you who we spoke to, alcohol came out on top, followed by MDMA, ketamine and cocaine.

Percentage breakdown of drugs used among people we spoke to at Love Saves The Day

We hope that by gathering information about the drugs people are using at festivals, we can tailor our harm reduction advice, information and equipment to your needs.

Harm Reduction Advice

So let’s re-visit our top drug and alcohol harm reduction tips to keep you safer at a festival:

Summer is hot hot hot, so bear this in mind when using alcohol and other drugs. Alcohol will dehydrate you, so make sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day. Eat something before you start drinking to help the alcohol absorb into your bloodstream slower. Some drugs like MDMA can cause your body temperature to increase, so try to sip on ½ a pint to a pint of water every hour, and take breaks from boogying to avoid overheating.

If you plan on snorting drugs, make sure you crush your stuff finely to cause less damage to your nose. Make sure you alternate nostrils and if you have a scab or wound, avoid this nostril. Wash your nose out at the end of the night with sterile water.

If you plan on mixing drugs, including alcohol, make sure you read up on interactions before hand and avoid risky combos. Head to drugsand.me for more information.

Arrange meeting spots! It’s easy to lose mates at a festival, especially if you and/or your mates are intoxicated. Arrange meeting points around the festival in case you lose each other in the crowd. Remember, out together, home together.

Staying Safer at festivals

We also asked you what would need to make you feel safer at a festival, you said:

Chill out areas
On-site drug testing
Drink covers
More water points
Women-only zone
Clearer signposting
Friendly security

We’re all about figuring out what you need and working it into what we do at festivals. Want more water? You got it. Want a chill out zone? We’ll make it happen.

Our main goal is to use harm reduction to keep you safer. If there’s something you want at a festival, we’ll do our best to make it happen.