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The Ultimate Bloodstock Music Festival Guide!
July 9, 2025 13:55
In this blog, we’re going to cover the basics of what you need for a comfortable festival camping experience, as well as share some tips about attending Bloodstock for any first-timers! With less than a month to go, we can’t wait for the start of the UK’s biggest metal festival!
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Bloodstock is the UK’s biggest heavy metal music festival, established in 2001, with a loyal and constantly growing base of attendees. Metalheads from all over the world flock to attend this amazing UK music festival, headlined by some of the biggest names in metal music.
This year, Bloodstock is being held from the 7th to the 10th of August, now less than a month away! As is now customary, it is being held at Catton Park, Derbyshire. For the full lineup, visit the official website or check out the headliners in our blog earlier this year, UK Festivals 2025.
Originally a one-day festival hosted in the Derby Assembly Rooms, this metal music fest expanded rapidly and became an outdoor event by 2005. 2006 saw the introduction of the first secondary stage, which we now call the New Blood Stage, followed by an additional new stage in 2007. In 2010, the third stage was renamed to honour the loss of Sophie Lancaster, a young woman murdered for dressing goth, in partnership with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.
Many fans of the festival endeavour to return each year, stating that it really feels like a community being given the space to come together, with a big family-feels vibe. Most fans declare that Bloodstock is one of, if not the most, friendliest festivals they’ve ever attended, and encourage everyone interested in metal music to attend. From our experience, attendees are also very welcoming to solo fliers! So let your hair down and get ready to headbang your way through this amazing weekend; just follow along with our festival guide here to ensure everything goes to plan!
Camping necessities for your first music festival
If this is your first time attending a music festival, we understand you may be a bit anxious about what to bring with you. Many festivals will have some differences in what’s allowed into their campsites regarding tools for cooking and specific restrictions, so it’s always a good idea to double-check your packing list against the official website.
However, for the basics, it largely remains the same from festival to festival. Check out our festival camping packing list below for all the basics you’ll need; if you’ve already attended multiple festivals and consider yourself a pro, you may still want this refresher before you go!
- A tent - probably the most basic of festival items, but one you most definitely do NOT want to forget! Pro Tip: If you’re sharing and planning on bringing air beds/mattresses for comfort, you’ll want to size up the size of your tent to accommodate. A two-person pop-up tent is definitely not going to fit two air mattresses!
- A sleeping bag - unfortunately, this writer has been there. It’s not pleasant. And no one wants to spend an extortionate amount of money on a thin and cold sleeping bag from the camp store. So, make sure you buy one in advance, and ensure that it’s packed!
- Pillow - whether you’re a stacker or single pillow stan, you’ll probably want something to rest your head on at night. If you’re aiming to travel light and an actual pillow is too bulky, try bringing a pillowcase and stuffing it with your hoodie or some other clothes at night!
- Hygiene - Toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash. No one wants smelly breath in a tight-knit mosh pit! Baby wipes are great for a quick wipe down throughout the day if the weather is super hot, and a bar of soap will take up less space than a bottle in your toiletries bag. We also recommend bringing some tissues or loo roll with you - most of the toilets will likely either run out throughout the day or by the end of the weekend. If you may need period products, we recommend bringing a couple, no matter what, just in case. Even if you don’t end up using them yourself, you could be someone else’s period angel in the queue for the portaloos!
- Portable Charger - Invest in a portable charger that can easily replenish your phone overnight, preferably with a couple of charges in it. This will take a lot of stress off your shoulders. If you’re worried about running out of juice throughout the day, we recommend a smaller charger to bring in your day bag.
With these bare minimum camping basics, you’ll have somewhere to sleep at night, won’t have to worry about getting lost, and won’t be scaring away the mosh pits.
A nice optional addition is a camp chair; great for when you want to relax in the mornings and enjoy your brekkie or coffee at the campsite before getting ready to head into the main arena for the day. At Bloodstock, chairs are also allowed into the main arena (not possible at every festival), but only in certain zones, so check the maps. If you know you’ll want to be up and in the crowd, we would recommend leaving them at your campsite. We’d also recommend popping them in your tent if you’re not going to be there standing guard, as chairs getting ‘permanently borrowed’ is unfortunately rather common at festivals!
It’s easy to get a bit carried away as you’re packing for a festival, thinking of everything you could possibly want and/or need over the three days. Just remember, if you’re travelling by car, you have to carry everything with you throughout the grounds to your camping spot; if you’re travelling by public transport, you may need to switch modes or carry it even further! Bringing less means having to carry less, at the end of the day.
This same logic applies to the number of clothes you bring; it also means less washing by the end of the weekend. Plan your outfits around the weather - we would always recommend bringing a waterproof coat or poncho with you in case of a sudden turn. In the same regard, it’s always wise to bring some suncream - no one wants to be lobster red and sensitive when trying to enjoy the music!
What clothes to pack for a festival?
Here at Blue Banana, our festival staples are definitely band t-shirts. Whether you’re repping the main headliners on your shirt or simply your favorite band, our band merch t-shirts are both comfortable and easy to style. Pairing well with everything, from mini skirts to jeans, you can’t go wrong with one of our band tees. All of our officially licensed band merch t-shirts are made of breathable, lightweight cotton, great for dancing in the crowd and saving space when packing. Find your tribe at this amazing UK metal festival with the perfect band t-shirt.
If you’re looking for some perfect festival trousers, we have a large selection of alternative cargo trousers available. With their multiple pockets, this style is great for when you’re on the go. We love the vividly colored straps on the Banned Strap Zip Off Trousers, which can also be transformed into shorts! Perfect for the unpredictable British weather, you can also get two outfits in one with these transformative bottoms!
Accessories are small enough not to take up too much space in your bag, but can completely change the vibe of an outfit. Elevate a plain black dress with a pair of fishnet tights (worn in the traditional fashion over your legs, or get creative and DIY them into a bolero for over your arms!) and a bondage harness. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, harnesses are the easiest way to transform any outfit from boring to unique! The leather fashion harness has origins in the gay and BDSM scene, from Chicago to London and Vivienne Westwood’s SEX boutique, the birthplace of British punk. Layer over dresses, t-shirts, or a bikini top in particularly hot weather to jazz up your festival outfit!
For practicality, we would definitely recommend being brutal with your clothing options; keep a close eye on the weather forecast and pack your clothes to suit, with one or two options that you can swap out for any surprises, such as far hotter or cooler weather than you predicted. A jumper for the evenings and a waterproof coat or poncho, in case of rain, definitely wouldn’t go amiss in your bag. And whilst you don’t need to pack 10 pairs in case of emergencies, we would recommend a couple of extra pairs of socks and one extra pair of underwear - it’s nice to have the option available, just in case!
Camping at Bloodstock Music Festival
At Bloodstock Open Air Music Festival, the campsites are all named after the seven realms in Norse mythology, a fun touch that helps to distinguish the fields. Kyrr campsite is the quiet zone, furthest away from the mainstage with a midnight noise curfew. You can only set up shop there if you’ve purchased a Kyrr camping ticket. Ragnarok is a second quiet zone, aimed at family camping; this site also has a 12:00 am noise curfew.
Midgard campsite has a reputation for being the most ‘feral’, but if you want some entertainment alongside the music, this is the campsite to be! It may be loud and a little rowdy, but most of your neighbours will still be friendly. Settle in for some wrestling and inventive sports such as ‘bin-jousting’, and late-night partying in Midgard!
Bloodstock has plenty of food stalls for when you want to grab a quick bite to eat in the arena, and BBQ areas where you can cook your own food. This is great if you want to stick to a budget during your festival stay, but it can make logistics a little bit trickier. We always recommend bringing plenty of quick snacks and sugar boosts with you; you may not be able to take them into the arena with you, but these little boosts are great for recovering after a full day and night of moshing and dancing!
Why Bloodstock?
If you love heavy metal music, then Bloodstock is THE festival to attend. With thousands of fellow metalheads in attendance, it's a great place where a community can come together and thrive with their favorite tunes playing all weekend long. Being alternative may mean standing out from the rest, but it doesn’t mean standing alone. If you’re not lucky enough to be attending Bloodstock 2025, or you’ve somehow never heard of this festival before now, but you love heavy metal, then make sure you try to attend the biggest UK metal festival in the future.
