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Reading Festival

ParentingAutism

We are going to Reading Festival in the morning. Already we've had meltdowns due to change of plans: my husbands car, which we were planning to take, has an oil leak and was smoking on the way home from work. We are now having to take my car, which is small and not ideal. Everyone has had to unpack and pack as least as they can so it can fit in the car, which they now have to have bags on their lap. Everyone is ofcourse a little stressed because of these changes. No one knows who they want to see, the lineup or Schedule because we haven't have chance to look yet so we have no plan. 

Obviously this is torture for my eldest. Luckily she has calmed down and spoken to me about the issues which I've helped as best as I can: 

1. Didn't know what to pack because outfits need to be matching, doesn't know what is Festival and weather appropriate. 

2. Change of cars. I gave her 2 options: we can take my car and be squashed but we will get there OR we take the other car and if it starts smoking and we need to pull over we will need to wait hours for RAC or recovery to come? This has definitely relieved her stress realising my car is the best outcome. I also said she can still listen to her music, have Snacks and drinks with her. It's just more crammed but otherwise its the same. 

3. She is worried about the queues getting really long and having to wait hours. That's the main issue. We do have a plan in place for this. Plus she's expecting a queue so it won't be a shock.  

4. We will need to eat out every night but finding somewhere where all kids can eat is a struggle. 

5. Worried about the weather. Will she get too hot, too cold, too wet? 

6. Toilets. She has never used toilets when we are out. On holiday she may go once a day if we are lucky. 

I have been teaching her about what is in and out of our control which is certainly helping. We also have no room to take sensory toys, pecs and weighted vest and blanket. I'm hoping her bag can be used as a weighted blanket as such. I think she has packed a few sensory toys. Communication will be a struggle if things get tough for her. We literally have no room in the car and pecs are important. I was wondering if anyone knows any good AAC apps for android that wr can put on her phone ready for the weekend just incase. I know she will love it. She knows this but she stresses before about everything but once she is there she will enjoy it. 

  • UPDATE: OUR EXPERIENCE: 

    It took so much longet to get there than we already planned, took 3 hours. Queues to get in didn't take too long but kids were struggling with the heat. Had a few meltdowns because of the spiders and bugs in the tent and grass. Other than that, music was absolutely amazing, kids loved it. My eldest wore ear defenders the first 2 days, then last night didn't need them. We did have to come home early last night because my husbands dad who was looking after the dog was really poorly. We left after the acts we wanted to watch, around 11:30pm, got home around 1am. 

    If you are interested in watching the acts, they are on BBC Iplayer. 

  • in reply to GuybrushThreepwood

    She is perfectly fine at night in the cold as she finds it cosy and always has the same hoodie she wears to bed which is now her travel hoodie, used to be her Yr 6 leavers hoodie. She has joggers and a blanket if she gets too cold. But will definitely make sure everyone has some layers. 

  • in reply to Desmond79

    We live 1hr 30 mins to 2hrs away. She does love long drives but that is always because we use my husbands car for long drives so don't know how she'll cope with this. 

    She LOVES music and is a massive drum and bass fan so Friday and Sunday nights are her favourites so far. 

  • I never had the confidence to attend a festival, and only attended a handful of gigs; in my time.

    I was always a lone-wolf. Festivals are for camaraderie. Does your daughter have friends coming to Reading?

    How fare are you, from Reading? Perhaps long-distance driving does too much wear-and-tear. For me, just driving to Derry - or Belfast - and back overheats my engine. Back in March, I required a replacement timebelt.

    I hope she enjoys the festival, nevertheless. Who is she most looking forward to seeing?

  • in reply to GuybrushThreepwood

    Weather just remember to look at the forecast, forgot at download one year I was dressed for 20degrees max and it was 35 *facepalm* had to buy trainers  at a stall because I only had padded wellies. If camping it can get cold this time of year in the middle of the night so make sure to check minimum temperatures too. Also after the sun goes down it can be nippy even if it’s been quite hot during the day the headliners won’t finish until around 11pm. Probably best to take some light layers

  • Are you camping or staying in a hotel? I haven’t been for a few years now but I remember going to McDonalds across the road, a Toby Carvery where they’d cling filmed all the carpets and the big shopping centre in town. There’s also a big Tescos along the river path if you are camping and have cooking equipment with you. There was also a quiet campsite but it was the other side of the river and a bit annoying that you had to get a shuttle boat every time you wanted to go anywhere. Festival toilets are grim, it may be worth packing masks if she has problems with smells, the campsite ones now days tend to be a shipping container with cubicles on top and portaloos in the arenas. It always baffled me how someone would manage to fall in the campsite ones each year and need rescuing by people in hazmat suits. The worst queues are usually driving in at the start, there are sometimes queues to get in the arenas, prepare her for drunk/drugged teens pushing the back of queues, that was always really annoying at Reading. Never experienced it at festivals that are usually on during school times and/or more remotely located.

  • I'm afraid I can't help with most of this stuff, but I wanted to reply anyway as I live quite near Reading and actually lived there during/just after my time at the university there.

    We're forecast rain here this weekend unfortunately, so yes, you may all get wet! However there is a big Primark in town that's easy to reach from the festival site and usually has things like those foldable rain ponchos. You can get clear and black ones so no worries about matching with outfits ;)

    As for food- are you planning to come off the festival site and into town for your evening meals? If so then you'll definitely have more choice as there are lots of places to go and that might increase your chances of finding somewhere that suits everyone. The Oracle shopping centre has quite a few chain restaurants so may be a good place to start.