The Best Festival and Concert Bags: Hands-Free, Zipped and Easy to Spot

The best festival or concert bag is small, zipped, worn across the body or chest, and easy to spot in a crowd. For most people that means a bum bag worn across the chest or a mini crossbody on a bright strap, with nothing in it that you would be sorry to lose. If the venue insists on a clear bag, a small zipped leather bag goes inside it. Here is what to look for, and what to leave at home.

Hands-free comes first

You will be standing for hours, holding a drink, clapping and moving through crowds. A bag that needs a hand is a bag you will put down and forget. Wear it across the body or across the chest so both hands stay free and the bag stays where you can see it.

The bum bag, worn across the chest

Our Bum Bag (33 x 12 x 11cm) has a nylon adjustable strap that lets you wear it at the waist, on the hip or across the chest. Across the chest is the festival position. The zip is at the front where you can see it, nothing bounces, and it goes under a jacket when the weather turns. It holds a phone, cards, keys, a lip balm and a small packet of tissues, which is about all you should be carrying. It is £84.95 and comes in the same full-grain leather as the rest of the range. See the bum bag collection.

The mini crossbody

If you would rather a bag that looks like a bag, the Original Mini (16 x 14 x 6.5cm) and City Mini (18 x 12 x 5cm) are the ones. Zipped, lined and light enough to forget about, with room for a phone, cards and keys. Set the strap long and wear the bag in front of the hip. For a phone and little else, the Eaton phone bag and the City Slim are flatter still; see phone bags. We have gathered the best small styles for a day out in the festival bags collection.

Easy to spot: the strap

In a field of black bags, the strap is what makes yours yours. Every bag comes with two free straps of your choice, and a woven or fabric strap in a bright colour makes the bag easy to find on the ground sheet and easy to describe if it goes missing. Swap it back to a leather or gold chain strap when you get home. There are more than 2,000 strap and bag combinations, so there is one that suits your festival wardrobe. Browse the straps collection.

What to pack

• Phone, and a small battery pack if you have one.
• One card and a little cash, in a card holder rather than a full purse.
• Keys, on the keyring that comes with the bag.
• Lip balm, sun cream in a small tube, a packet of tissues.
• Your ticket, printed or on the phone, and ear plugs if it is a loud one.
• A spare hair tie and a plaster. Small, weightless and the two things everyone asks to borrow.

Leave at home: the full purse, the sunglasses case, anything of sentimental value. The smaller the bag, the less there is to lose.

Concerts and arenas

An indoor concert is simpler than a festival. There is a cloakroom, a floor rather than a field, and a bag limit at the door that is usually smaller than you expect. A Mini or the City Slim gets through the bag check without discussion, sits flat under a coat and holds the ticket, phone and card you actually need. Keep the strap short and wear it on the shoulder in the seats, then lengthen it for the walk back to the station.

Leather in the rain

Festivals get wet. Full-grain leather copes with a shower better than most people expect. Let it dry naturally rather than by a fire or a heater and it will be fine. The easy-clean lining inside means mud and spilt cider wipe out. If the forecast is grim, a zipped bag under a waterproof jacket stays dry regardless.

If the venue requires a clear bag

Some stadiums and arenas, particularly in the US, require a clear bag. Our bags are leather, not clear, so they will not meet that rule on their own. The honest answer is to put a small zipped leather bag, a Mini or the Bum Bag, inside the clear bag the venue specifies. Your valuables stay zipped and organised, the venue gets its clear bag, and you still have something worth carrying once you leave.

Every bag comes with two free straps and a keyring, together worth £63 in the UK and $77 in the US, and is covered by our 365-day warranty with 30-day returns. Pick the bright strap for the festival and the quiet one for Monday.