Healthy Foods You Can Take to Festivals

Whether it’s a music festival, an art festival, or some other cultural celebration…these events are the perfect venue to spend time with friends and family and enjoy great entertainment. But, while the food options may be deliciously tempting, they can also be an issue if you’re trying to eat healthily. So, what can you do?

What to eat when you go to festivals?

One of the main problems is that authorities often won’t allow people to bring their own food and drink to festivals. At the same time, once you’re inside, the available food isn’t usually very healthy. So, let’s look at some possible solutions.

Camping life: food to take to festivals

When you buy tickets to festivals, you often have the option of paying extra in order to stay overnight. During the summer, festivals held on the beach or ones that include campsites are the most popular.

Just like the festivals themselves, campgrounds for attendees are constantly adding new restrictions. For example, many prohibit bringing in gas stoves, glass, and sometimes even canned goods. In this context, maintaining a healthy diet can be a real challenge.

So, we’re left with two options: buying food at the supermarket or eating the food they offer at the campgrounds. Let’s take a look at each alternative.

Buying food at the supermarket: food to take to festivals

When preparing your own food to take to festivals, deli meats and cheeses and cans of tuna fish are popular choices. But, from a nutritional standpoint, they aren’t always your best options. So, what alternatives do we have?

One great idea is to opt for cooked legumes, as these are a great alternative. You can mix them into salads along with good quality canned goods, such as corn or asparagus.

What about grains? How can you include them in your festival diet? In other circumstances, pasta and rice are easy solutions because they cook quickly and are very versatile. The problem is, if you don’t have a gas stove, then you have no way to prepare them.

The solution: look for microwaveable meals, such as rice or quinoa cups, that are already cooked and don’t necessarily need to be heated up. You can add the contents to salads, mix them with fresh tomatoes and a splash of oil, or eat them just the way they are.

And speaking of oil, how can you dress up your salads and dishes. Try getting your hands on some serving size packets of oil, vinegar, and salt at your local supermarket. Otherwise, just bring along a small container of each from home.

Lastly, don’t forget that the basis of a healthy diet consists of vegetables. You can eat your veggies fresh, prepare salads, or eat canned or packaged vegetables. More and more supermarkets are now selling meals that are ready-to-eat, which can be especially convenient for taking to festivals.

Breakfasts

In general, festivals often continue late into the night. Therefore, waking up early isn’t likely to happen. Just the same, for those who like to eat breakfast no matter what time they get up, here are some ideas:

• Sliced wholegrain bread with olive oil and cured ham.
• In the same way, you can spread store-bought hummus or avocado on a slice of bread.

• Fresh fruit or cherry tomatoes with cheese: you can buy cut cheese and veggies directly from the store. Of course, be careful about how you store it, as both products can quickly go bad.
• Milk —you can buy smaller servings at the store, or take along powdered milk.

Buying food from festival food stands

While festivals are constantly adding more and more food options, pizzas, hamburgers, and kebabs are still the most common. Just the same, there are still some better choices among these less healthy options. And that’s where we’ll focus our attention.

First of all, we recommend you stay away from french fries as well as raw vegetables–which are susceptible to contamination. Vegetable pizzas or wok style noodle bowls are probably your best choice .

All of this being said, you might discover that your best bet is to enjoy the festival to the fullest! Weigh your options and, when possible, choose something healthy. But don’t stress yourself out if healthy food choices aren’t an option.