For a lot of us, the dream summer weekend is spent dancing in a muddy field with a can of Red Stripe and some sequins on. But now that festivals are getting more and more strict about bringing your own alcohol onto the site, some people are getting sneaky about how to get your booze on board.
Now of course we should clarify this is only for those over the age of 18 who can *legally* drink, but don't necessarily want to spend £10 on a pint (we're in a cost of living crisis after all). And we should also mention the festivals do completely have the rights to take the alcohol off you should they find it.
With all this in mind here's some (admittedly slightly ridiculous) ways to sneak your own alcohol into a festival.
*Please drink responsibly*
How to sneak alcohol into a festival
1. In shot glasses disguised as tampons
Suddenly being on your period during a festival isn't so bad. These are 100 per cent leak proof and look exactly like the normal tampons you pack.
Here's how to use them:
- Open the 'tampon' wrapper.
- Take out the 'tampon' and open lid.
- Fill the 'tampon' with alcohol of your choice.
- Firmly secure the lid onto the tampon and put it back into the packet.
2. In a hairbrush
- Remove the cap off the hairbrush.
- Fill with alcohol of your choice.
- Rescrew cap on hair brush.
Also still works as a hairbrush. Ideal.
3. Hidden in a loaf of bread
- Buy a loaf of bread, ideally a loaf of sliced bread in plastic wrapping.
- Take the bread out of the bag, making sure not to rip it and keep the sticker wrap.
- Use a mug to cut a circle in the middle of each piece of bread so your alcohol bottle can fit in.
- Re-fill the plastic bag with the bread and then put a bottle of alcohol in the hole in the centre of the bread.
- Reseal the bag with the plastic sticker tag.
And the best thing? You get a tasty snack to eat afterwards.
4. In a camera
A fake one. Obviously. Don't get this confused when taking those pictures. Here's how:
- Open the cap.
- Use the supplied funnel to fill up to 150ml worth of alcohol.
- Secure the cap.
- When drinking ideally use a straw as it'll be harder to drink from or use it to pour out into a mixer.
5. Disguised as mouthwash
- Buy or finish an exiting bottle of mouthwash.
- Give the bottle a good clean - you don't want to be drinking actual mouthwash.
- Use a clear liquid spirit or spirit that has a colour that could be mouthwash, and fill the bottle with it.
- Close the cap.
Again don't get this confused with your actual mouthwash the morning after a big night. You will not be happy with your past self when refreshing your mouth with leftover tequila.
6. In an umbrella
We're in the UK after all, an umbrella is an essential for avoiding potential rainy festival days. No one is going to bat an eye if you pop one of these in your bag.
- Remove the umbrella cap.
- Fill the umbrella with your choice of alcohol up to 390ml.
- Close the cap.
7. In an icepack
Vodka doesn't freeze, but you can make it look like it does. Heh.
- Open the icepack cap.
- Fill with alcohol of your choice.
- Close the cap.
8. In an actual bra
Look this is dedication to another level, but we're here for it.
- Open the secure cap on the pouch.
- Fill with alcohol of your choice.
- Secure the cap.
- Then place securely within your bra.
9. At the bottom of a Pringles can
- Buy a tube of Pringles.
- Remove all the crisps from the tube (we recommend eating them) but save a handful.
- Then fill up a small empty plastic water bottle with the alcohol of your choice and pop its lid on.
- Put the water bottle in the Pringle can and then top with the leftover Pringles.
- Place the lid back on the Pringles.
10. In your SPF
- Unscrew the lid.
- Fill the suncream bottles with your choice of alcohol.
- Re-screw lid.
We're big advocates of always wearing your SPF, especially at a festival when you're exposed to the sun for hours of the day. We're also pretty big advocates of sneaking in some extra vodka to a festival in a bottle of our go to suncream. So as well as bringing in your secret suncream - please do remember your actual suncream too.
11. Welly boot pouch
Well you're going to be wearing the wellies anyway!
- Buy alcohol pouches, we like these ones.
- Fill up a pouch with the alcohol of your choice.
- Secure the cap.
- Slip the pouch into your welly boot.
12. Hollow out a book
If you can bear to destroy a book (could never be us) then this is an easy hack.
- Find or buy a hardcover book.
- Hollow out the inside pages, but making sure to maintain a border of pages around the outside.
- Pop into the hollowed out hole, a small pouch or bottle with the alcohol of your choice.
- Close the book and you're done.
Or alternatively buy one here, although we do wonder if security might question you over bringing a dictionary to a festival.
*Please drink responsibly*
Dusty Baxter-Wright is an award-winning journalist and the Entertainment and Lifestyle Director at Cosmopolitan, having previously worked at Sugarscape. She was named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 for her work covering pop culture, careers, interiors and travel, and oversees the site’s Entertainment and Lifestyle strategy across print, digital and video. As a journalist for the best part of a decade, she has interviewed everyone from Louis Theroux and Channing Tatum to Margot Robbie and Ncuti Gatwa, while she has also spoken on Times Radio and BBC Radio. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram here.
Lydia Venn is Cosmopolitan UK’s Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer. She covers everything from TV and film, to the latest celebrity news. She also writes across our work/life section regularly creating quizzes, covering exciting new food releases and sharing the latest interior must-haves. In her role she’s interviewed everyone from Margot Robbie to Niall Horan, and her work has appeared on an episode of The Kardashians. After completing a degree in English at the University of Exeter, Lydia moved into fashion journalism, writing for the Daily Express, before working as Features Editor at The Tab, where she spoke on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Talk Radio. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of Gilmore Girls and 00s teen movies, and in her free time can be found with a margarita in hand watching the Real Housewives on repeat. Find her on LinkedIn.
