The short answer: carry your own toilet roll and hand sanitiser, go at off-peak times (during a headline set or early morning), learn where the better facilities are on day one, and use the compost or flushing loos rather than the portaloos wherever they exist. Prepared people barely think about festival toilets; unprepared people think about little else.
It is the most-asked question by anyone considering their first festival, and the honest answer is that it's genuinely fine as long as you plan for it.
The types you'll encounter
- Standard portaloos. Plastic cubicles with a chemical tank. Fine on Thursday, grim by Sunday. Ubiquitous.
- Compost toilets. A wooden cubicle over a chamber, with a scoop of sawdust to cover. Counter-intuitively these are usually the best option at a festival: no chemical smell, no blue liquid, and far more pleasant by day three. Many festivals now have banks of them.
- Trailer or "posh" loos. Flushing toilets with sinks in a towed unit. Sometimes free, sometimes part of a paid package. Always worth finding.
- Urinals. Open troughs, usually near the arena, which take pressure off the cubicles.
- Accessible toilets. Available at all UK festivals, usually via a RADAR key or an accessibility wristband arranged in advance.
Timing is everything
Queues at festival toilets are almost entirely predictable:
- Worst: between sets on the main stage, and 8–10am when the campsite wakes up.
- Best: during a headline set, mid-afternoon, and before 7am.
- Go before you need to. If you're passing a quiet block, use it. This one habit removes most of the problem.
What to carry
Keep a small bag on you at all times containing:
- Toilet roll – the single most valuable item at a festival. Squash a roll flat with the cardboard tube removed and keep it in a freezer bag so it stays dry. Bring two per person for a weekend.
- Hand sanitiser – sinks are often unavailable or have huge queues.
- Wet wipes – biodegradable ones, and take them away with you rather than putting them down the toilet.
- A head torch for night-time trips. Phone torches die.
- Period products, plus a small bag to carry used ones out if there's no bin. Many festivals now have free products at welfare tents.
Scout the site on day one
Not all toilet blocks are equal. On your first walk around, note where the compost loos and trailer loos are, and which blocks are quieter. There is nearly always a bank of toilets that people overlook because it's slightly out of the way – behind a smaller stage, near the entrance to a different campsite, by the family field. Those are the ones to use all weekend.
Practical technique
- Check the lock and the roll before you commit to a cubicle.
- Don't put your bag on the floor. Wear it, or hang it. Phones dropped down festival toilets are not recovered.
- Keep your phone in a zipped pocket before you go in, not in your hand.
- Breathe through your mouth. Genuinely.
- Some people wear a dab of strong lip balm or a scented mask under the nose. It helps.
- Take your rubbish out. Nothing but paper down the toilet keeps them working for everyone.
Showers, while we're here
Most large UK festivals have showers, sometimes free and sometimes £5–£10. The queue is shortest very early or during a headliner. Take flip-flops, a microfibre towel and a small dry bag for your clean clothes.
Plenty of people skip showers entirely for a three-day festival and rely on wet wipes, dry shampoo and a change of clothes. That is a completely normal approach and nobody will notice.
Staying well
The main health risk at a festival isn't the toilets themselves but hand hygiene around food. Norovirus outbreaks at events almost always come down to people eating without cleaning their hands.
- Sanitise before eating, every time, without exception.
- Drink plenty of water – dehydration makes everything worse.
- If you feel genuinely unwell, go to the medical tent. They are free, well-equipped and used to it.
If you have specific needs
If you have a medical condition affecting toilet access – IBD, a stoma, incontinence, or you use a Can't Wait card or RADAR key – contact the festival's accessibility team well in advance. UK festivals are generally very good at this and can usually arrange accessible facility access, a wristband, and sometimes a pitch close to a specific block. It's a routine request and worth making.
Frequently asked questions
Are festival toilets really that bad?
By the last day of a big festival, the standard portaloos are unpleasant. Compost and trailer toilets stay far better throughout, and most people find it a non-issue once they know where those are.
Is there toilet roll provided?
Usually, but it runs out constantly. Always carry your own.
Can I use the accessible toilets?
Only if you have an accessibility wristband or a RADAR key issued for a genuine need. Arrange it with the festival in advance.
Are there sinks?
Often, but not always, and they queue. Hand sanitiser is more reliable.
