So this summer is going to be a little different, and one thing we’ll be missing is the sights, sounds and big crowds of festival season 💔 Although nothing can beat Beyoncé on the Glastonbury mainstage, all is not lost – you can bring that festival feel to your very own balcony, garden, or corner of the local park.

Glastonbury 2019, Oli Scarff / AFP / Getty

Festivals are places of excess and self-expression, a chance to try something new and to make memories you’ll treasure for a lifetime. They’re magical places of reinvention, where the rules of everyday are suspended for one glorious sun-soaked (or just, you know, actually soaked) weekend. When else can you wear nothing but sequins, we ask you?!

Images L – R: Easy Tiger; Coachella 2019, credit Presley Ann/Getty Images for Coachella; Sophie Hannah

Which brings us to our advice for how to make your very own DIY festival this summer! Whatever space you have, there so many ways to create a festival vibe, with the process of transforming your garden or balcony as much a part of the fun as the music and boogying.

Image taken from Worm

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Get your lighting right! Sometimes all it takes is a simple string of fairy lights or chic outdoor lanterns to totally change a space. You can create instant atmosphere with the colour of the lighting you choose, with a warm yellow bringing a diffuse chill vibe or bright colours adding a disco-feel. You could even use mirrors to expand the sense of space and create a cool indoors/outdoors feel.

Image from The House Shop

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Go bold with the bevvies! Try a new cocktail mix, make your own punch or investigate a local brand of beer or cider. And unless you want to have that #authentic festival plastic cup experience, when you’re throwing your own gig in your garden you can make your drinks look as good as they taste, with plenty of yummy fruit garnishes in beautiful glassware. Just make sure you stock up on enough supplies before the festival goes live, as you don’t want to be popping to the corner shop halfway through the night.

@egith & @atsunamatsui

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All the fun of the fair – whilst you might not be able to get a Ferris wheel into your garden (fair play if you can) that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with the décor. Paint your fence in fab new colours, scatter cushions across the grass, dig that disco ball out from the attic and hang it in pride of place – let your imagination run wild! This is also a great moment to get out those garden games – trust us, hoopla is a lot more fun with cocktails.

@hamo_1313 in Nova Body & @taylor.banneri in Nova Black

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Set a festi dress code! Whatever your style tribe, remember that more is definitely more when it comes to dressing for festivals. Go big on the accessories, embellishments, colours and textures and if in doubt remember that nothing beats a bodysuit for festival feels! Encourage your family/housemates/pets to dress to impress – there’s always a fashion photographer somewhere at a festival, right?

Image Presley Ann/Getty Images For Coachella

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All that glitters…should be biodegradable.

Set up your own face-painting/glitter station in your garden to create some fun and vibrant festival feels. You could even get some glow in the dark paints for night-time lewks. Just make sure that all important glitter is the new environmentally friendly kind to avoid covering your lawn in loads of tiny bits of plastic that you will literally never get rid of.

Credit Max Miechowski

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Create your own photobooth! Dress up a corner of the garden, or repurpose that shed and fill it with props and costumes. Go for polaroids if you’re feeling retro and you’ll have mementos of the summer to treasure forever.

The best thing about a festival in your own back garden…? A warm shower is only a hop, skip and a jump away. Talk about #glamping.

Share your DIY festivals with us! Tag us @bluebella in your pics and enjoy your very own secret garden parties this summer

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