How young is too young for a festival without parents?

Most UK festivals set a minimum unaccompanied age of 16 (Reading and Leeds, for example). Under that, an adult must accompany the ticket. Even at 16 and 17, agree a parent on call and a clear check-in schedule.

Should I forbid drinking and drugs entirely?

You can — and at 13-15 that is reasonable. For 16-17s, a blanket ban often means they will not tell you when something goes wrong. Harm-reduction (drink water, do not mix, tell a friend, start small if at all, use the welfare tent) keeps the conversation open and tends to lead to safer choices.

What if their phone is stolen or dies?

Plan for it. Welfare tents have phones. Stewards can radio for help. Your phone number written somewhere on their body or kit is the single most useful thing. Agree a fallback meeting time at the campsite — if all else fails, they go there and wait.

Important

Your Teen is Going to a Music Festival

Practical preparation for a teen attending their first or fifth music festival — phones, meeting points, money, drugs, and what to say.

What might be happening

Your teen has tickets to a festival — Reading, Leeds, Latitude, Parklife, TRNSMT, or a smaller local one. They will be in a crowd of tens of thousands, away from home for one to four nights, with a phone that will run out of battery, friends who may not stick together, and easy access to alcohol and drugs. Most teens come home tired and happy. A few have a hard time. The difference is usually preparation, not luck.

How serious is it?

The realistic risks are: lost or stolen phone, separation from friends, dehydration and heatstroke, alcohol overdoing it, contact with drugs (often without knowing what they have taken), and theft from tents. Serious risks — sexual assault, drink spiking, drug overdose — are rarer but real. Talking about it before they go is far more useful than hoping the subject does not come up.

What to do first

Step 1

Charging plan: a fully charged power bank (10,000 mAh minimum) and a spare cable. Festival phone charging tents exist but the queues are long. Tell them to put the phone on airplane mode when not actively using it to save battery.

Step 2

Meeting points: agree two physical meeting points in advance — one at the main stage area and one at the campsite entrance. "Meet at 4pm at the left of the main stage sound desk" works better than "text me later".

Step 3

If they lose their phone: write your phone number on the inside of their wristband and on a piece of card in their pocket. They can borrow any phone or use a welfare tent to call you.

Step 4

Cash and cards: a small amount of cash for emergencies, a contactless card with a low balance, and a way to top it up remotely (most banks let you do this through the app).

Step 5

Health: sun cream, a refillable water bottle, condoms if age-appropriate, any prescription meds in original packaging, and the location of the welfare and medical tents.

What to say

Phrases that help

"I would rather you call me at 3am from a welfare tent than try to handle something on your own. There is nothing you can tell me that will make me angry if you are safe."
"If a friend is in trouble — too drunk, taken something, hurt — get them to the medical tent. They will not be in trouble with the festival or with me."
"People mix drinks and drugs at festivals. If you choose to drink, drink water in between. If you choose to take something, start with a tiny amount, never take pills from strangers, and tell at least one friend exactly what you have taken."
"Look after each other. If a friend goes off with someone you do not know, check in on them."

What not to say

✗"If I find out you have been drinking you are grounded." — they will hide it and not call you when something goes wrong.
✗"Drugs will kill you, do not touch them." — too absolute; better to give realistic harm-reduction info.
✗"Just stay together the whole time." — they will not, plan for separation.

Settings to check

•Phone: enable Find My / Family Link location sharing for the festival weekend. Agree it is on — do not do it secretly.
•Add ICE (in case of emergency) contacts to the lock-screen Medical ID on iPhone, or the emergency info screen on Android.
•Set up an eSIM or check coverage — festival sites are notorious for poor signal. Many UK networks have data limits at busy events.
•Pre-download the festival's official app and offline site map before they leave home.
•Turn off geotagging on social media posts so they are not advertising an empty tent.

When to escalate

If you cannot reach your teen and they have missed an agreed check-in by more than a couple of hours, contact the festival's welfare team — every UK licensed festival has one. If you suspect they are in medical danger (overdose, assault, missing overnight), call 999 and tell the operator which festival. For sexual assault, the festival welfare team can arrange Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) support. Talk to Frank (0300 123 6600) is the UK helpline for drugs questions, day or night.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 · This page is educational guidance, not a substitute for emergency services, safeguarding professionals, or legal advice.

This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.