How to recover from a festival

Right, we know why you're here, so we’ll keep it short and get to the point. You need to know how to recover from a festival, and we have answers. (If you're here ealy, do your future self a favour and save this for Monday.)

Just know, first of all, that it’s totally normal to feel a bit off or even bad after a festival. But don’t worry, you’ll feel better soon. 

Whether you’re suffering from a dodgy stomach, sore feet, regret, an aggressive hangover, post-festival blues, or if you’re just absolutely shattered, we feel you.

Here’s your post-festival recovery guide for both physical and mental symptoms, from genuine festival veterans. We'll start with physical before tackling mental. 

 

How to physically recover from a festival

 

Sleep and rest 

If you’ve just gotten back, you’re probably knackered. But you should also (hopefully) have the day off to recover since it’s a bank holiday weekend. 

Regardless, we always recommend taking at least one day off post-festival. Maybe even two if it was a longer festival, you went really hard, or if you went to a festival abroad, as you likely spent a good amount of time travelling home instead of sleeping it off, plus, y’know, time zones. 

No one sleeps well at a festival - camps are noisy, alcohol negatively impacts sleep quality, you probably only got a few hours a night, and you probably did a crazy amount of exercise walking to and from stages, dancing or moshing. 

Sleep and rest are your friends. Sleep is when the body does the most recovery. Most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. And unfortunately, there is such a thing as getting too much sleep; it can make you feel even more tired. But, if you really can’t stay awake, a nap will probably do you some good before getting a proper kip at night. 

So instead of sleeping as long as you can, what might be a better idea is prioritising high-quality sleep. There’s a few things you can do to encourage high-quality sleep including yoga or stretching, taking it easy on caffeine, alcohol and other substances, getting a good amount of exercise, and sticking to a pre-bed routine that may include turning off screens an hour before bed, having a shower, wearing a sleep mask and earplugs, reading to wind down, cooling down your bedroom, etc. - this is known as sleep hygiene.

If you can't fall asleep in about 20 minutes, get up and go to a different room. If you can, read for a bit with dim lighting until you get more sleepy and then try again. If you still can’t, get up and try it again. Rinse and repeat until you eventually sleep. 

If you really can’t sleep for whatever reason, rest is better than nothing. Sitting down or lying down in bed, relaxing your muscles and closing your eyes can help you recover. And you might fall asleep eventually, especially after a festival. You just want to make sure you don’t worry or get angry at the fact you can’t sleep - that’ll most likely keep you awake. And you don’t want to make a habit of lying in bed awake, as your brain will associate your bed with wakefulness instead of rest. That’s why we still 100% recommend getting up and quietly doing something calming if you can’t sleep first.

Adding on to rest: don’t push yourself too far with exercise. This means leave the 5K, the hike, the high-intensity gym session, and partying until 5am until you feel better and more rested. 

 

Eating right 

Always check with your doctor before changing your diet 

Uber and Deliveroo are tempting. We get it. And if you’re exhausted, we wouldn’t blame you at all for immediately whipping out a food delivery app. But, if you can, eating proper, nutritious food will always do you the world of good, and diet is a huge part of post-festival recovery. 

For the next few days, it’ll be super helpful for you to eat more fruits and vegetables than normal. Especially if you had a lot of alcohol or other substances, or if you feel unwell.

For a balanced diet, it’s generally recommended to have a plate of food that’s split into a quarter protein, a quarter carbohydrates, and the final half being vegetables. You don't have to eat this way all the time; it’s just a guide to ensure you’re getting enough good stuff from vegetables, which you most definitely need after living off burgers, cheesy chips, and pints (yummy). 

Some of the festival vets at Skiddle recommend ginger shots or orange juice and similar drinks to get that vitamin and antioxidant hit. Ginger also has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and it can help with nausea. 

If you’ve drank a lot or taken substances while at the fest, consider incorporating foods that are good for your liver in your diet, like green tea, blueberries, grapes, nuts, fatty fish (salmon, herring, sardines, trout), and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, kale).

The more we learn about gut health, the more it becomes obvious we need to look after it. It affects all sorts - digestion, mood, fatigue, headaches, the nervous system, inflammation… loads. Some good gut foods include kefir, yoghurt, fermented foods, kombucha, fruit and veg (of course), ginger, garlic, almonds, and olive oil. 

 

Hydration

If you’ve been battering the bevs, rehydrating should be a top priority if you want to recover from a festival as fast as you can, even more so if it was hot. Dehydration does all sorts of nasty stuff, including headaches, slower recovery, making you tired and weak, and more. 

The sooner you start rehydrating, the better. 

Electrolytes are your best mates here. They help replace fluids and the essential salts your body needs and may have lost through drinking - alcohol makes you urinate more, which is how both become depleted. Note for the future: they can help prevent hangovers, too. 

If you’re struggling to find electrolytes in the shop, Dioralyte sachets are the exact same thing and might be easier to find.

If you don’t have electrolytes, there’s also sports drinks like Lucozade, coconut water, or drink a glass of water with some salt in it… It doesn’t taste the best, but you gotta do what you gotta do. If it’s too gross, just stick to water. 

Also, bear in mind that alcohol and caffeine can both dehydrate you, so as tempting as a Diet Coke might be, a Fanta could be a better option, even more so if it’s later in the day or you typically have trouble sleeping. 

 

Supplements and vitamins

Always check with your GP before taking any new supplements

Obviously supplements and vitamins should never replace a healthy diet, but during this period of recovery, a multivitamin here and a supplement there probably won’t hurt. 

Milk thistle has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which can help after you’ve battered the booze. Some studies show it may promote cell repair and ease symptoms of liver diseases. While you probably didn't go so hard that you developed a liver disease overnight, it could be beneficial for the liver, which does take a bit of a beating when you're drinking for multiple days in a row at a festival.

Magnesium is also ace. You can get strips to apply directly on the skin, gels, and tablets, which can help with muscle recovery (we all hate that post-festival back pain) and improve sleep quality. You can also find it in foods like nuts, soy products, leafy greens, dairy, and whole grains.

Another one for muscles: potassium. It's good for muscle relaxation, preventing cramps, and promoting recovery. Grab a bottle or find it in tree fruits (bananas, oranges, apples), root vegetables (carrots, potatoes), legumes (peas and beans), milk, yoghurt, chicken, fish, and leafy greens.

Everything we’ve covered so far should also help you with “festival flu”, which isn’t actually a real, proper thing - it’s not a diagnosable illness as it’s just the effects of going too hard, but the symptoms are real. Find out how to prevent festival flu at your next festival.

 

Common post-festival issues 

Right then, how’s your throat doing? Or your feet? Is your stomach normal? Let’s have a look at some ways to treat some of the most common post-festival issues.

 

Stomach issues 

Starting with a dodgy stomach, your main priority is to be gentle and soothing. If you’re vomiting or have diarrhoea, sports drinks/electrolytes can help you replace any lost fluid - drink frequently and in small amounts. 

If food won’t stay down or feels uncomfortable in your stomach, simple, gentle foods like white rice, white toast, broth, and bananas might work. Also, ice lollies and chips of ice to suck on are brill. Fatty foods like chips and fried foods are harder to digest.

If you’re unsure what’s going on with your stomach, you can check what might be wrong on the NHS website.

 

Throat pain, coughs, ulcers, and other nasty mouth things like 

Next up, throat pain. Whether it’s from smoking, dust, or screaming your lungs out to a banger, your throat hurting (and maybe your voice disappearing) is kind of a festival rite of passage. 

To help your throat get better, first of all, you’ll want to stay hydrated. If you’ve been smoking or vaping, you might want to give it a rest for a bit - maybe grab some nicotine chewing gum if you need something. 

Warm drinks, like tea, with a dollop of honey in there, can also be a massive help. Honey has all sorts going for it, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties. If you don't know what those mean, it basically just means it's dead good and should help healing speed up. It coats your throat and soothes it. Another goodun: gargling warm water with a bit of salt in it - this is also a good shout if you have any ulcers or any other painful sores or cuts in your mouth. 

If your throat or mouth is really bad, it should be easier to eat cool or soft foods, and suck ice cubes and ice lollies. There’s also medicated lozenges from the pharmacy, and paracetamol and ibuprofen should help with the pain too.

Most of the above will help you with coughs, too. But if it doesn’t cut it, a trip to the pharmacy is a shout. Have a chat with a pharmacist and get yourself sorted. 

 

Muscle pain 

If you’ve done the festival right, something will be hurting. Whether it’s your feet from trekking about, your back from sleeping on your floor, or various body parts from getting battered in the mosh pit, some body part is likely making you walk funny. 

Apply ice (bust out them frozen peas) within the first 48 hours after you've hurt a muscle. If it's been longer than 48 hours, go for heat (surely you’ve got a hot water bottle). 

From there, you can also use standard painkillers like ibuprofen. You can also grab ibuprofen gel and put it straight on the area. Another golden tip? Those magnesium strips, gels, and supplements we mentioned earlier. 

Finally, you might fancy a massage to help loosen up those tired, tight muscles. A foam roller at home or the gym can also provide some relief. 

 

Sore feet 

One that some of us here at Skiddle have gone through recently is agonising foot pain after walking around all day and all night, walking back to the hotel, and getting up and doing the same thing for another two days. It. Hurts… a lot. One tip we wish we knew about during that agonising experience is: fill a bottle of water, freeze it, and roll it over your feet for some sweet relief.  

You can also elevate your feet, do some simple stretches like rolling your ankles in a circle, curling your toes, doing heel raises, and stretching your calves. Compression socks can also help as they promote circulation. One thing you should most definitely do: when wearing shoes, wear socks at all times. They help cushion your feet.

 

Sunburn 

Can’t beat a festival abroad! Or, if you managed to catch a sunburn in the UK, colour us impressed. But at the same time, we know it absolutely sucks. The best things you can do are have a few cold showers, slather aloe vera all over it when you’re dry, stay hydrated, and avoid soap, as it can make it worse. Wearing loose clothes will also do you the world of good. And if you’re just chilling and feel the throb of the burn, grab a damp cloth and gently apply it to cool it down. 

 

How to mentally recover from a festival 

The first step to post-festival mental recovery is identifying what kind of person you are. You might already know. If you have a nice, lazy day of watching TV and chilling, sleeping whenever you want, doing almost nothing, will that work for you? Or will you carry on that way for a few days and feel bad about it? Will getting back into your routine quickly help you out more? 

Regardless of whether you’re a chiller or a get-back-into-your-routine-er, there’s one thing we want to touch on first: community. Good festivals make us realise that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves, like our friend group or even the wider music community. It’s one of the best bits about them. So when we go home, we can feel lonely. Sometimes we don’t even realise it.

If you feel a little lonely, invite a mate or two over (they could be someone you went to the fest with) and do something that requires barely any effort: eat a meal, play games, or even just sit in silence and watch TV together. This can be especially helpful if you live alone. 

Or, if you’ve got it in you, make plans! Go to the cinema, go to a gig or a rave, go for a meal or a picnic, go and do something with people you care about to feel a part of something again. Going out and staying busy might be what you need. But listen to yourself and your body - you know better than we do. Everyone’s different. 

So, you can either... 

 

Chill for a bit

If you can work with a lazy day or two, lean into it. Allow yourself a soft, gentle landing back into reality, and book a few days off to give yourself an adjustment period. Don’t have any plans, don’t re-engage, JUST float around and sloth it out - you’ve probably been through a fair bit in walking, dancing, moshing, not sleeping enough, all that stuff. 

This is your time to catch up. Relax, maybe go for some walks during the day, eat what you want (though hearty comforting food is always a shout), and do what you want for a day or two so you don’t have a sharp snap back into reality. Being kind to yourself is key. 

 

Or get back to your routine 

However, if you’re the other kind of person, easing back into your routine could be the best way for you to recover from a festival. Going from a festival where there’s your mates, strangers who feel like your mates, great music, and this constant great feeling, coming home can feel like a crash. 

Getting back into a routine relatively quickly, enjoying your hobbies, and engaging in healthy habits can be a huge help. You might want to go back to the gym and do some light exercise to release endorphins and make you feel productive.  

 

Think about DOSE 

DOSE - dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. In a nutshell, they’re the “happy hormones” brains produce. Even if you feel pretty good, they’re still important, as they can have direct impacts on other areas of your life, such as sleep, memory, digestion, attention span, and a lot more - especially dopamine and serotonin. 

Dopamine gives us that rewarding feeling, oxytocin is released when we bond with loved ones, serotonin is a mood booster and regulates a lot of processes, and endorphins release stress, relieve pain, and create a feeling of wellbeing. So, how do you get them?

Exercise can help, unfortunately. It can be a saviour disguised as a pain. It might be the last thing you want to do, but god, it can sort you out. If you’re heading back to the gym (and definitely don’t do that yet if you’re still drunk, by the way), take it easy. We aren’t aiming for any lifting PBs or going mad with HIIT, just a light bit of movement to release endorphins and keep you healthy. Low intensity is the goal. 

Above all, listen to your body. If it’s screaming at you to stop, stop. If you’re getting tired, you can call it a day. If something hurts, like your calf is super tight or painful, take it easy and maybe even have a day off to let it recover first. 

Walking is another goodun. Going for a walk during the day can wake you up, help you sleep better at night, and improve your mood. If you can do it in nature or at least where there’s some grass and trees, you’ll feel even better. Get that vitamin D!

A little bit of mindfulness should do you good, too. Some breathing, meditation, yoga, mindful stretching, even mindful eating (focusing entirely on the food and nothing else) can make you feel more centred, calm, happy, and in control. 

You can make all sorts of activities mindful, like walking, exercising, colouring or drawing, listening - all you really need to do is focus on whatever you’re doing. The smells, taste, the feeling, exploring it, and kind of letting your thoughts float around, but still focusing on the thing. If you don’t know how to do it, there are podcasts and YouTube videos that can guide you through it. 

Boost oxytocin with yoga, listening to or making music, receiving or giving massages, talking to and hanging out with people you care about, physical intimacy (hugs, kisses, hand-holding, sex), cooking and eating with people you care about, doing something kind for someone, or just hanging out with a dog. Some of these will also help with endorphin, dopamine, and serotonin release. 

 

Recovering from substances 

Always check with your doctor before taking new supplements or vitamins, especially if you’re currently taking prescription medication(s). 

Adding to the above, if you’ve maybe indulged in a substance that makes you very, very happy while you were on it, but you’re now crashing (no judgment here), you’ll want to focus on boosting your serotonin. 5-HTP is a supplement that might help with serotonin recovery as it’s a precursor to it - only start taking it as long as it’s been 24 hours since the session. Taking it for a few nights after could help - do not take it if you’re on prescribed medication from a doctor, especially SSRIs, as they may have a negative interaction. See which medications are known to interact with 5-HTP.

Tryptophan, an amino acid that we only get through our diet, is a precursor to serotonin, meaning it helps make it. To get a bit of that in you, you can scran legumes, tofu, fish, dairy and eggs, poultry (turkey in particular) and meat, and nuts and seeds. 

 

Carbohydrates are also important for serotonin production. Oats, bananas, sweet potatoes, oranges, blueberries, apples, kidney beans, chickpeas, and quinoa are good sources. 

If you want to give your dopamine a boost, up your protein intake, eat less saturated fat, eat probiotics, get enough sleep and exercise, and ensure you spend some time in the sun. You could also take supplements like iron, folate, and vitamin B6 to give it a kick up the arse. 

Handy resources:

The Loop - a charity dedicated to harm-reduction that tests substances, often at festivals and other major events (follow them on Instagram for vital info explained clearly) 

FRANK - free help and advice, support, and information on substances 

DanceSafe - a nonprofit that provides info on substances 

We Are With You - supports people with mental health, drug, or alcohol problems 

Find more helpful resources here. And LGBTQ+ services here, and alcohol support services. 

 

Dealing with regret and other sh*tty feelings 

This one isn’t discussed as much as back pain, hangovers, and all that, but it still happens to quite a few people. Especially if you went quite hard and are now dealing with how sh*t you feel. 

Feel your emotions, register them, try to identify what exactly it is that’s making you feel bad or worse, and try to prevent that next time - or even this time, if you can. But if you can’t, just experience them and don’t fight it, allow yourself to feel bad because it will pass. Even when it feels like it won’t. It has to. It always does.

Everyone’s allowed to let go every now and then. Festivals are for being a madhead, escaping, and maybe in some cases even unleashing another side of yourself for a weekend. 

 

As we mentioned earlier, this is a great time to reconnect with people you care about, your community. Curling up in a ball in bed might sound better, but being surrounded by people (pets included) who care about you can crush negative feelings. 

And, as cheesy as it is, "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" is right. You’ve experienced a core memory that you’ll have forever. And you literally earned it - you worked for it, paid for it, travelled there to have fun - and we all deserve to go a bit mad sometimes.

You’ll laugh at it all in a week or two. 

But if our words of wisdom aren't helping, the rest of the advice here like thinking about DOSE and hanging with friends can help you forget about it. 

 

Start planning the next one 

Another great post-festival recovery tip? Immediately start planning the next one. Seriously. It’s worked wonders for us. “Will we do one in Europe next year? Ooo, I wonder what that festival’s lineup will be like next year?”

Another shout is having a gig or rave booked in for about a week after you come back from the fest. 

If you don’t have the energy (we feel you), check out the artists you saw at the festival. Listen to their music, watch their sets on YouTube if you can, and flick through your camera roll to relive it all. 

 

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Look, at the end of the day, feeling off, weird, sad, shattered, or a bit tender is normal. You’ve gone from chaos and various, countless stimulating things like lights and sounds, and walking 80,000 steps a day, to the confines of your quiet home. A huge plan you’ve been counting down the days to, to what feels like nothing. 

We bet your festival buddies could benefit from a lot we’ve covered here as well. Do them a solid and send it their way.

Take it easy, and we’ll see you at the next one, yeah?

Ready to start planning your next festival adventure? Of course you are, you're only human. Search Skiddle’s festival finder now to find loads of festivals across the UK and beyond, both for 2025 and next year.  

 

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Header image credit: Creamfields / Facebook.com