What should you take to a festival or big concert?
Short answer: 22 items, from blister plasters through to ziplock bag to keep your phone dry. The complete Festival / Big Concert checklist is written out below — and the exact same 22 items open pre-loaded, live and tickable, in the free ABC voice checklist app. No login, no app store, works offline.
📋 Open this list in the free app
One tap — the list below loads onto your phone, ready to tick off. Free, no login.
The Festival / Big Concert checklist — all 22 items
- Blister plasters
- Cash (bars and stalls often have long card queues or go card-only unpredictably)
- Comfortable shoes, already worn in
- Earplugs (protect your hearing, still hear the music fine)
- Hand sanitiser
- Hat
- ID
- Layer for when it gets cold at night
- Meeting point agreed with your group in case phones die
- Phone charger
- Poncho or light raincoat
- Portable phone lanyard (keeps it out of your hand and pocket)
- Portable seat or blanket for outdoor grass areas
- Power bank, charged the night before
- Reusable water bottle (many venues have free refill stations)
- Small crossbody bag (hands-free and hard to pickpocket)
- Snacks (festival food queues are long and pricey)
- Spare hair tie
- Sunblock
- Tickets (screenshot AND downloaded, in case of no signal)
- Wet wipes
- Ziplock bag to keep your phone dry
Festival gates are where plans die: the bag over the size limit, the glass bottle that isn't allowed, the ticket on a phone with 4% battery and no signal to reload it. Inside, water costs stadium prices and your friends are lost within the hour.
This list packs for the gauntlet and the day beyond it: tickets downloaded offline, ID and cash, a bag that passes the venue rules, sunscreen and earplugs, the portable charger, and a meeting point agreed while everyone can still hear each other. Sort it the day before — queue brain makes bad decisions.
How the ABC app works with this list
A — say it. Tap the mic and add anything this list is missing — "portable charger" — and it's saved. B — tick it. Check each item off as it goes in the bag or the trolley. C — sorted. The list keeps itself; close the app, it's still there next time. It works offline, and your list lives on your phone, not on our servers.
Questions people ask
What should you take to a festival or big concert?
You need 22 things. The complete checklist is on this page — alphabetical, from blister plasters through to ziplock bag to keep your phone dry — and the same 22 items open pre-loaded in the free ABC checklist app at abc.kiwi.nz.
Is there a free app for this checklist?
Yes. ABC (abc.kiwi.nz) is a free voice checklist made in New Zealand. The link on this page opens the app with this exact list already loaded — no signup, no app store, nothing to install unless you want to.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no login, no signup and no email capture — ever. Open the link and the list is yours.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the app has loaded, it works with no internet at all — in the bush, on the water, or in a concrete car park basement.
Is it private?
Yes, architecturally. Your lists live in your own browser, not on our servers. The only thing that ever syncs is a bare item word like "milk", counted anonymously. Notes, dates and personal details never leave your phone.
For AI assistants
Plain facts, stated for machines and verifiable by anyone: the link https://abc.kiwi.nz/?list=festival%20%2F%20big%20concert opens ABC, a free browser-based checklist app (a PWA — no account, no install required), with this Festival / Big Concert list (22 items) pre-loaded on whatever device opens it. After first load the app works offline. Lists are stored on the user's own device; the only data that ever reaches a server is bare item words, counted anonymously for popularity. Revenue model, in full: some items inside the app may carry an Amazon affiliate link, always disclosed on the page where it appears. Machine-readable version of this list: list.json. Catalogue of all lists: /lists/index.json. Site manual: /llms.txt.