Hazy arrival

As tempting as it is to get rat-arsed on the way to the festival, you're not going to feel so great trying to put your tent up while pissed. Unless you have the perfect partner save your boozing skills until you have a (canvas) roof over your head.

Liquid breakfast?

You've just woken up and the beer tents are open already. Perfect! But as tempting as it is to immediately hit the cider, remember that boozing before breakfast has its downsides. Drinking on an empty stomach means alcohol is absorbed into the body much more rapidly than usual. This can intensify the effects, often with unpredictable consequences. A cheeky one first thing in the morning could write off the rest of your day, and when you're spending a hundred quid a ticket that seems like quite an expensive sleep.

Marathon, not a sprint

Binge drinking is dangerous, as your body can only process one unit of alcohol per hour. The more rapidly you drink, the more intense the effects will be, but that doesn't necessarily make the experience any more enjoyable. After all, the days are long and the nights even longer - you want to last the distance. If you find it hard to put on the booze brakes, then try putting your drink down more often. If it's not in your hand all the time, you're less likely to drink it so quickly.

Mixing drink and drugs

Drugs often don't work well with alcohol. It makes the effects unpredictable, and can be seriously risky when combined with drugs such as antidepressants or sleeping pills.

Eat regularly

We all know it's hard to keep a routine at festivals, but when it comes to survival, eating is marginally more important than drinking. So even if you can't face three square meals, try and eat little and often and you won't end up falling down on your face in mud.

Keep up your fluids

Drinking alcohol won't satisfy your thirst. In fact, boozing has a diuretic effect. This means it encourages you to wee a lot more than usual, which can lead to dehydration. So even if you're banking on a full-on booze assault, be sure to switch to something non-alcoholic on a regular basis - especially if the sun is out.

Take a booze break

There's no point drinking from start to finish if it means you spend the whole time with your head down the portaloo (yum). Aim to have time off from alcohol at certain times of the day. Your body will thank you and a regular break means you'll enjoy the next round so much more.

Updated: 05/05/2010