How Festival Season Rekindled My Routine

After three weekends of dancing, camping, and chaos, one writer returns to daily life with a fresh perspective on work, wellbeing, and what really matters.

I was back at my desk on a Wednesday morning after a long weekend at Hideout festival. Outside, the London sky was overcast. That morning, my housemates had left unwashed plates in the sink. My usual train crawled along behind schedule, packed and silent. And I was playing catch-up with endless emails. 

But, much to my surprise, I was actually really happy. 

In the past, coming back to ‘reality’ from festivals, holidays, and other events always left me feeling pretty flat. But this festival season, something had changed.

Friends, festivals, and fun times

Over the summer, I'd managed to pack in three festivals. Two were fairly small local ones in the UK, the third was a major international four-dayer in southern Europe. 

I saw a ton of bands I love, discovered new music, and danced till sunrise in the open air. It had been a great season, reconnecting with friends — some of whom I hadn’t seen since finishing uni three years ago — and spending serious quality time together. Whether it was camping, eating street food, or enjoying a lot of warm weather, it had ticked all the boxes. 

So, why wasn’t I yearning to be back dancing in a field somewhere? I kept wondering why I wasn’t craving another escape. Instead, I felt more grounded than ever.

Of course, I love my career. But I think something more had happened over the course of the summer. Maybe I’m just getting older, but the time away gave me a fresh perspective.

Related: How to recover from a festival

Festivals let you reset mentally

By their very nature, festivals throw all of your regular routines into chaos. And that’s OK! 

• Working hours, commuting, exercise, and everything else go out the window

• Your sleeping patterns are totally disrupted

• You’re probably eating a lot more fast food and snacks

• The only objectives you have are to find the stages where your favourite bands/DJs are playing

At a festival, you just have to let go. Want a hot shower at 8 am? Fancy some muesli for breakfast? Need to go for your usual run? Good luck with that. 

I think this chaotic element of festivals is what makes them such a good way to reset mentally. Compare it to a regular leisure time at the weekend or even a foreign holiday. You’ll still be checking your work emails. You’ll feel like you should be doing certain activities (be that sightseeing, hitting the gym, or whatever else). Your days and nights are still pretty ordered. 

A festival is like a space of complete freedom from any routine. And that means you can really reset mentally in a way you can’t with other kinds of free time. 

Inspiring encounters

One of the great things about festivals is how they expose you to new ideas, people, and situations. 

For example, at one of the small UK festivals I went to this summer, I found myself chilling at a spoken word stage one afternoon. Now, I’ll be honest, spoken word isn’t my usual thing. But this one poet was reading such beautiful poems about her mother’s sacrifices, I was practically in tears. It made me think about my own family differently. 

Then there are those chance encounters with random, wonderful people you meet and then never see again. In four days at the European festival, I met a millionaire heir who’d given away his fortune and started an organic farm, a retired couple who’d been coming to the festival since the first edition as students in the 1970s, and saw a guy propose to his boyfriend in the middle of a dance tent. 

You just don’t ever have experiences like that anywhere else!

Festival season has helped me mix my routine up

We all get into patterns and routines, right? It’s the train to work, the HYROX class on Tuesdays, the pub quiz on Wednesdays, and lunch with the family on Sundays. 

Now, there’s nothing wrong with routine, but sometimes we just do stuff unthinkingly. So, while I was in that chaotic festival space, it gave me some time to reflect on what I enjoy doing and how I want to actually spend my time.

Here’s what I mean.

My passion for dance

Over the summer, I spent hours in the dance tent every night, and I absolutely loved it. It made me think: why do I only do this once a month in a random club? 

As soon as I got home, I switched out my regular HYROX session with a Zumba class (my gym puts them on once a week). Honestly, it was a revelation! I’d always kind of thought Zumba wasn’t for me, but it gave me that same buzz as dancing at a festival with a bunch of other people. 

My next step? I plan to sign up for some salsa lessons. 

Being outdoors with friends

Festival camping can often be pretty awful. But the last one I went to this summer in Europe was a cut above. The setting was beautiful, the facilities worked, and I realised how much I enjoyed the time with my friends, just being outside. 

The result? With a couple of my besties, I’m planning a camping trip away later this month. It’s just going to be a night at a campsite followed by a gentle hike. But I’m super excited about how it’s going to go. 

On my bike

While I was at one festival this summer, I was thinking how much my work commute sucks (luckily, I WFH two days a week). The time I spend on the train just feels so dead to me. 

And so it struck me: I can do something about this! Since I got back, I’ve signed up for a ride to work scheme with Huel, and I’m going to start cycling to the office going forward. It’ll let me massively increase how much exercise I do, while also avoiding that boring train ride. 

A sprinkling of festival season in daily life

I always feel super happy at festivals. So, why not bring some of that joy into my everyday life, too? Since I’ve gotten back, I’ve been experimenting with some different ways to bring a bit of that festival energy into my daily routines. 

• Dedicated music time: We all have access to endless music at the tap of a phone screen. But, somehow, I always find myself just putting on random playlists and not listening. After this festival season, I’ve been making myself set aside some time a couple of evenings a week to listen to an album by a single artist the whole way through. It’s not the same as watching a live set! But it’s given me a more conscious way of enjoying music. 

• Street food sessions: I’ll be honest, I love a bit of festival food. It’s not always the healthiest, and isn’t something you should eat all the time. But near our London offices, there are two great street food markets. While I have a Huel meal for lunch most weekdays, I’ve started going to the street food stalls for my Friday break. I love the variety available, and it just gives me some of that spontaneity you get at festivals, discovering new things.

• Self-expression: I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy dressing a little more ‘out there’ at festivals. Cowboy boots, neon pink tops, chunky jewelry — that kind of thing. I realised I find this kind of self-expression really fun, so I’ve started mixing up my normal ‘uniform’ when going out in the evenings and weekends too. Why not be a bit more playful with what I wear?

New appreciation for my day-to-day

One of the things that’s so great about festivals is the total liberation from your normal daily routine. But no one would want to live like that all year long!

Now, as I say, I might just be getting older, but I feel spending three long weekends in that festival ‘space’ this summer has made me appreciate my day-to-day in a new way too. 

I realise I actually get a lot of enjoyment out of those small things:

• Daily catch-up with my work team. 

• A cup of freshly brewed coffee in the morning. 

• Watching an episode of my favourite TV show. 

• Going to sleep at a sensible time under clean sheets.

• Having time to make my dinner with fresh, whole foods.

• A warm shower.

See you next summer

In the past, I’d have almost mourned the end of festival season. But, while I’m sad it’s over, I’m also feeling really good about the next 12 months, too. I’ve realised that I can take some of the positive things about festivals and bring them into my everyday life. At the same time, I’ve come to appreciate my routine and day-to-day in new ways. 

So yes, I’m looking forward to next summer…but I’m just as excited about everything in between.

Words by Elle Wren