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As a festival virgin, I need these tips to make sure I don’t make an embarrassment of myself!

Some tips you might find odd or strange - so please comment on the messageboard further down the page if you have thoughts...

Your own personal toilet paper

• Some good shoes are a must! Thanks to English weather, I may see myself surrounded by inches of mud and I don’t fancy walking back in my brightly coloured, odd socks!

Muddy Wellies at the V Festival

Amazing Fact #1:Ìý After 2000’s V Fest, when it rained and rained, 127 pairs of shoes were later found in the mud at the V Stage’s mosh pit!

• Wet Wipes. The saviour. Everyone tells me these are a must. I’m not really a girly girl, but there is slumming it and then there is just plain gross. So whether there is no time (or just too drunk) to shower, these are a wash on the go.

• Toilet paper, and lots of it. Just in case you get caught short. I’ve heard SO many stories about festival toilets. The thought of being drenched in other peoples ‘waste', after someone’s hilarious idea to push the portable loos over, does NOT sound like fun. Even the wet wipes would not sort out that mess!

Careful planning

• Plan. I will invest in a guide. I don’t want to be enduring Lady GaGa’s pathetic thrusting around the stage, when I might miss an amazing show on another stage.

• Pack carefully. I am known to over-pack (5 pairs of shoes for a 4 day trip!) But, I will be good and only pack the essentials. I don’t want to be collapsed in a heap on my trek to the camp.

• Stick it up yer jumper. Tickets. Money. You understand.
A wallet with chain attached to your trousers or something hard to move is a good idea to keep your cash safe.Ìý Never assume that you've hidden it well in your tent - thieves are thorough creatures and will usually find the things you hide.

The aftermath of the V Festival

• Big Question - What happens if your friends desert you?
Hmm. Keep your Mum's telephone number in your wallet, I'm told. Just in case?

• Drink Water. Bring a container that you can fill up. Remember - it's very important to stay hydrated when you get into the swing of things.

(As a lady, that presents a dilemma of its own for me: how much to drink without having to go near those nasty toilets too often?)ÌýFood? Well, I'm advised to take lots of those small energy bars. That way, if it gets mad, you're ok - but you're not carrying a lot.

•Ìý Pack a plastic mac - and suncream.Ìý Suncream is essential. Rain will wash off... but a blistered face will send you to hospital.

•ÌýSex? Well, EVERYBODY has told me people at festivals need to practice safe sex and use a condom.

Keep an emergency condom next to your emergency fiver; and don't get so bladdered you forget it's there. And NEVER be too embarassed to mention it! Also, it's a good idea to let your friends know where you are going and with whom. Of course, I'll be too busy watching the bands, thank you very much!

And have fun. (I keep forgetting that one!)