How does drug testing at UK festivals work?

Glastonbury 2023 has begun.

Thousands of music fans will flood the fields of Worthy Farm, Somerset for the next five nights, to see headliners Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John, and more.

It is perhaps the most famous festival in the world that takes place every summer but for the many disappointed people who missed out on tickets, there are plenty of other festivals to go to.

And what do you think of when you think of festivals, apart from music?

Muddy fields, arguments with friends about who to see next, and... drugs, as many opt to take illegal substances while they watch their favourite bands.

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To minimise the dangerous impact of these drugs, some festival sites offer testing services so people know just what they are taking.

Festivals have been doing this for around 10 years and the Home Office has said festival sites need a license to do so.

This works in two ways, front-of-house and back-of-house testing.

Most festivals opt for the latter, test confiscated drugs or substances left in amnesty bins.

If testers find that something is potentially dangerous - stronger than usual, contaminated, or sold as something it's not - they'll put a warning out to festival-goers so they know to avoid them.

Another method, called front-of-house testing, is where people can take drugs to be tested to make sure they're safe.

However, it is less popular and the boss of Leeds and Reading Festivals has previously said he was concerned it could give people false confidence, the BBC reports.

As for Glastonbury, the Face reports that they use back-of-house testing.

Speaking at a board meeting at Mendip District Council last year, Pete Collins, Drug Expert Lead at Avon and Somerset Constabulary explained:

“We work on site at Glastonbury festival but we don’t get involved in the drug seizures side of things too much from the security staff."

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