Review: Field Day festival

Field Day is perfect for those who love their house music and aren't up for a five-day camping mud fest. But is it really worth the hype? We went along to find out.

Started back in 2007, Field Day is one day of joyous techno-colour wonder for house fiends.

The festival has been hosted in a variety of parks around London. This year Field Day will be held in Victoria Park, London.

But are the beats worth their weight in cash? We went to the festival in 2019 but, full disclosure, we only attended the Saturday day-festival (it was also held on the Friday but we had to work).

So without any further ado, here's how much you should budget for if you're planning on giving Field Day a go in the future.

Is Field Day good value for money?

Field Day ticket prices

Here's how much tickets to Field Day cost in 2019 (the earlier you book, the cheaper they are!):

• Friday day ticket: £30 – £45
• Saturday day ticket: £37.50 – £52.50
• Weekend day ticket: £57.50 – £87.50
• Friday day and late-night ticket: £40 – £60
• Saturday day and late-night ticket: £47.50 – £62.50
• Weekend day and late-night ticket: £77.50 – £100.

In 2022, Field Day was held on one day – 20th August. But good news: the 20th was a Saturday!

There are different tiers when it comes to the tickets, but keep in mind that there's usually an additional booking fee you have to pay.

Then there are VIP tickets, which grant you access to the VIP bar and lounge areas, as well as priority queue jump – but these come at an additional price.

When we went, the festival opened its gates at 12 noon and the "day" festival ended at 10.30pm, with the late-night portion going on until 3am.

Bear in mind that lockers on-site will set you back around £10 and charging your phone for an hour and a half will cost around a fiver. Bringing your own portable charger wouldn't go amiss!

It's also worth checking on TicketSwap to see if anyone's selling their ticket for a bit less than the RRP. Great for getting tickets once they've sold out, too.

Food prices at Field Day

The festival went on for 10 and a half hours (15 hours if you purchased a late-night ticket as well!), so you'll definitely get the munchies at some point.

You're not allowed to bring any food to the festival, so we recommend having a big breakfast before you go, and possibly lunch too if you're planning on going a bit later on in the day. Stock up on the carbs (with one of our delicious pasta recipes) is what we're saying!

Field Day has a huge variety of food for meat-eaters, veggies and vegans alike. The average dish will set you back around £8 and you can expect to pay around £4 for a portion of chips.

We treated ourselves to mac and cheese, which set us back £8 – a little painful for pasta, but it was delicious. And we were starving.

Field Day drink prices

Drinks. This is probably the one that'll burn the biggest hole in your pocket. As with most festivals, you can't take your own drinks into Field Day.

Here's how much drinks cost back in 2019:

• Larger: £5.80
• Pale Ale: £5.30
• Cider: £5.50
• Glass of wine (red, white and rosé): £6
• Bottle of wine (red, white and rosé): £25
• Spirit: £6.50 (25ml) or £9 (50ml) + £3 with mixer
• Shot: £4.50
• Soft drink: £2.50
• Energy drinks: £3.

We told you it wouldn't come cheap (although, to be fair, these prices aren't far off from standard London prices). But then again, when do drinks at festivals ever come cheap? Have a couple of drinks before heading off to the festival and then pace yourself for the rest of the day.

You don't want to get so drunk you don't remember seeing your favourite artists anyway!

Field Day merchandise

There were a variety of t-shirts on sale with the festival logo on them. In 2019, a long sleeve t-shirt was going for £30, a standard t-shirt would have set you back £20, and it cost £10 for a tote bag.

There were also stalls that were braiding hair with added eco-friendly glitter for £10. We were tempted by the braids but the likes of Pusha-T were calling.

How much does it cost to travel to Field Day?

Well, that all depends on where you're coming from!

The cheapest option is via coach if you're coming from outside of London and are planning on staying for a few days. Here's a rough approximation of coach ticket prices from all the major student hubs (return tickets):

• Manchester: £18
• Liverpool: £20
• Leeds: £16
• Birmingham: £10
• Cardiff: £14
• Edinburgh: £30
• Southhampton: £14
• Exeter: £32
• Newcastle: £20.

Remember to compare companies to make sure you get the cheapest deal on coach tickets. And usually, the earlier you book, the cheaper the tickets.

If there are a few of you going, you might want to think about car-sharing and splitting the fees. Road trips are the perfect opportunity to practice your singing skills on the way there too. Do keep in mind that there are no parking spaces at the festival, so you'll have to park your car someplace else. JustPark is a great option to find cheap parking spaces in London.

If you're already in London, public transport will be your best bet. Not the cheapest, but we highly doubt you'll be in the mood for cycling or walking back after 10 hours of boogying.

Cambridge Heath and Bethnal Green (overground) are the nearest train stations to the festival. The nearest tube station is Mile End.

Accommodation

We're sure this comes as no surprise, but London isn't the cheapest place on earth to find a roof for the night.

If you're short of friends' sofas to crash on and you're only coming for one day, the cheapest option would probably be to go straight home after the festival on a late-night coach. That way you don't have to fork out for accommodation at all.

Another alternative is to try Couchsurfing, which is free and a great way to make some new festival friends too.

The cheapest AirBnB we could find for a group of four people was going for £100+ per night. This is in Hackney, very near to the festival which is perfect for the stumble home.

Do we rate Field Day overall?

We do indeed! Look, festivals are never a cheap affair, nor is London a cheap city. We'd recommend this one if you're a true techno fan (as we are) and are willing to cash out for the experience.

The sound systems were banging and there was plenty of room to dance. And we can now cross off seeing Todd Terje and Diplo live off our bucket lists.

How much we spent at Field Day in 2019

As far as festivals go, price-wise this one is on par with Mightly Hoopla and is a tad cheaper than All Points East. If you're coming from outside London, you're going to end up splashing out a bit so you're probably best off crashing on a mate's sofa to make it worth your while.

However, our purse strings are still smarting from the £10 locker fee... We'd recommend you pack lighter than we did.

Would we go again? Hell yes!

Have a look at what we thought of the ultimate student festival, Parklife.