If you’re fortunate enough to be heading to Electric Picnic this weekend, we’ve got some top tech gadgets to help get you through your days in Stradbally.
For you to truly utilise your Electric Picnic experience, it’s handy to download a schedule and save it to your phone – you never know when and where the internet will go down!
The festival website should be your best bet for this, but alas, no, life is not that easy. The internet, though, is. Just like last year, we’re recommending Clashfinder, which lets you know who is on where, and when.
Can’t keep droning on
Camping has changed a lot in the past few years, with the introduction of smart technology in everyday life quickly making inroads into how we spend our time outdoors.
Seeing as drones are banned at the event, we’ve had to think of things to help you on the ground, when slumming it at a festival.
The truth is, slumming it is all relative, especially when you are carrying enough processing power in your pocket to do pretty much anything you want online. So why not start with smartphones?
Power banks
For everybody at the event, your smartphone remains your portal to the outside world. For those foolish enough to keep countless apps running throughout, constantly communicating with people far removed rather than soaking up the immediate atmosphere, you’re going to need juice.
Gone are the days when us festival goers exclusively relied on those fast-charge stalls to sort out our Nokias, or pocketed an extra battery to do the aul switch-a-roo. Now we can pre-charge a powerbank or two and use them when we need them.
But be careful to know what you are getting, as some power banks store more power than others or transport it at different rates. A small bit of research into your phone’s battery, and the power bank capabilities, could be the difference between a speedy full charge and a 20-minute waste of time.
This review of 20 options is worth a look.
Keep up to date
Using apps will drain your battery, and things like WiFi and GPS should be turned off entirely, but Twitter or Facebook can be your best friend.
You will be surprised how much handy information is immediately posted, often by those who don’t care where their next fix of battery comes from. So following the @EPfestival account, or knowing who to keep an eye on on Facebook, could come in handy.
Bluetooth speakers
When you’re back at your tent you will still be buzzing from the bands you’ve seen. Those smart enough to get a Spotify playlist together – or some variant on the theme – to reflect this will want to hear more, more, more!
For this, get yourself a Bluetooth speaker. I’m just back from a camping trip where a friend had one of these and it was great, and used a surprisingly large amount of the time.
This Logic3 is a decent option, available for around €70, according to Pricespy, but there are numerous types to choose from.
Waterproof earphones
Okay, this is a little more niche, but sometimes you just want to rock out on your own.
If, for some reason, the weather guessers have gotten it wrong, and Electric Picnic is set for rain, then maybe some waterproof earphones will sort you out.
If you’re willing to spend, then Sony’s offering seem a decent price at €73 on Argos, especially as they are about €10 more direct from Sony.
Camping lights
The party never ends at a festival, until the festival ends that is. So once the sun goes to sleep and you are left under a cold blanket of darkness, try add some light to your group with some wind-up lanterns.
There are solar-powered ones, too, but they are more pricey, while battery-powered lights leave you high and dry when your batteries, inevitably, run out. So this €12 mini light from Argos is a decent shout.
Non-electric additions
Of course there is more to life, and festivals, than electronic gadgets, so here’s some added advice. First off, get a good tent. You would be amazed how more protective you are of your tent the more you invest in it, be that time or money.
Secondly, don’t forget a chair. Never forget a chair. And lastly, start counting down the days until Electric Picnic ‘16, when this Baubax jacket will finally be available.
Main image via Shutterstock
