Reading Festival and Glastonbury rank the best for sleep – but Womad and Bestival are the worst

This summer’s festival season is being dubbed the ‘Summer of Love’ and set to be one of the busiest in recent years since the pandemic restrictions were lifted.

But research of 18-45-year-olds has revealed the best - and worst – festivals to go to if you want to get some shut-eye.

Glastonbury and Reading (20 per cent) came top in the sleep stakes, followed by Leeds (18 per cent), Isle of Wight (17 per cent) and Parklife (17 per cent).

But Womad - which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year - was named the worst (15 per cent), along with Bestival (15 per cent) and Strawberries & Creem (15 per cent).

Making an offer

The study, commissioned by hoo, a hotel booking site which lets holidaymakers make an online offer for a better deal on hotel rooms, found 36 per cent of those polled will be attending at least three festivals this year, while 21 per cent have splashed out on tickets to more than five.

While sleep may not be top of the agenda, 74 per cent of men admitted it is important to them compared to women (70 per cent).

And 72 per cent think more should be done by festival organisers to tackle the issue of sleep deprivation, including providing adequate sleeping areas and information about how their sleep may be affected.

It also emerged 18 per cent anticipate they will manage only two-three hours of sleep a night while 45 per cent only expect to get four to five hours.

VIP glamping (16 per cent) was named the perfect sleeping arrangement, followed by 15 per cent who look for something more luxurious with a helicopter or chauffeur-driven car to a nearby hotel in order to sleep in a proper bed rather than a tent - and even a butler to tuck you in and make you breakfast in the morning (12 per cent).

Moving away from festival camping

Problems with sleeping have led to many to look at staying away from festival grounds this year with 39 per cent admitting they would rather stay at a hotel and travel back and forth to the site than attempt to slumber in a tent.

And a 61 per cent are jealous of pals who check into a nearby hotel or B&B, while 79 per cent would welcome the opportunity to bid on a hotel room to bag a bargain near a music festival to avoid camping on site.

Adrian Murdock CEO of hoo said:  "This year we expect the festival season to return in a big way, and while this is a time for all to have fun after Covid restrictions have ended, we must remember to take care of ourselves.

“This is why we created this study to bring to light an issue that will affect many festival-goers this year.

“Many will be planning on simply settling for camping and a poor night's sleep when attending a festival this year, when in actual fact there is always a deal to be had on a nearby hotel to ensure that you get the best night's sleep possible.”

Dealing with lack of sleep