Heading to a festival this summer? Ruby, Health and Wellbeing Support Worker at Wirral Ways, shares three common mistakes to avoid.
- Mixing substances without knowing how they interact
Mixing a substance with alcohol, or one substance with another, can feel very different to how it usually feels on its own. Do a little research before you go on whether what you’re taking is a stimulant or a depressant, and how this will affect the alcohol you’re drinking. Some combinations can make you feel more drunk than usual, others (MDMA, for example) might mean you don’t feel drunk at all. Know what you’re mixing before you mix it.
- Taking more because you’re “not feeling anything”
If you don’t feel anything straight away, give it time. Go low and slow rather than taking more in one go. Taking too much too quickly can tip you from feeling nothing to feeling far too much, and that can ruin your night.
- Going off on your own
Stick with your friends. When you split up, you often haven’t got signal or data, phones die, and friends deep in the crowd aren’t going to hear a call. Ruby saw this firsthand working at Creamfields last year, the biggest issue wasn’t drug related emergencies, it was people who couldn’t find their friends and ended up sitting with the welfare team instead of back with their group. Take your friends with you on your side quest and stick together.
Pop into Wirral Ways if you’d like advice on how you might feel on the drugs you’re taking, or where you can get support at your festival.
Find out more: www.wirralways.org.uk | wirral.services@cgl.org.uk | 0151 556 1335
Last Updated on 25 August 2026