What to Take to a Rave: The Wellness Checklist
There's a lot of content out there about what to wear to a rave, what music to listen to, and which festivals to add to your bucket list. But practical advice about looking after yourself on a night out? That's thinner on the ground.
This isn't about dampening the experience — it's about making it better, and making the day after survivable. Here's the wellness checklist we wish existed when we first started going out.
Before You Go: The Preparation Nobody Talks About
The best rave recovery starts before you leave the house. Your body's baseline state heading into a big night has a significant impact on how you feel during it and how quickly you bounce back after it.
Eat a proper meal before you go. Not a massive blowout, but a solid, balanced meal a couple of hours before — protein, complex carbohydrates, and some healthy fats. This slows alcohol absorption, provides sustained energy for dancing, and means you're not running on empty from the start. The standard move of skipping dinner to "save room for drinks" is one of the worst things you can do for your body.
Get a good night's sleep the night before if you can manage it. Going into a late night already sleep-deprived compounds every negative effect. One extra night of solid sleep in the bank makes a meaningful difference to how your body handles a big one.
Hydrate well during the day. If you're already well-hydrated going in, you start with an advantage. Alcohol and dancing in a hot environment will deplete your fluids — starting from a good place gives your body more to work with.
What to Actually Bring
Water and Electrolytes
This is non-negotiable. If the venue allows it, bring a refillable water bottle. Most reputable clubs and all festivals have free water points — use them. If you're going to a festival and have the option, bringing electrolyte sachets or tablets is a smart move. You lose electrolytes through sweat, and water alone doesn't fully replace them. Electrolyte drinks or supplements containing sodium, potassium, and magnesium help maintain proper fluid balance during a long night of dancing.
Food for Longer Events
For multi-day festivals, snacks matter more than people realise. Festival food is often high in salt, fat, and sugar — fine occasionally, but not as your sole fuel across three days. Packing some easy, nutrient-dense snacks — nuts, dried fruit, oat bars, protein bars — gives you options when the food queues are forty minutes long and you're running low.
A Supplement to Take Before
The concept of a "pre" supplement — taken before a big night — is gaining traction in the rave and festival community, and for good reason. Certain nutrients are particularly relevant in the pre-night context: B vitamins contribute to normal energy-yielding metabolism and help reduce tiredness and fatigue; Vitamin C contributes to normal immune function; Magnesium contributes to normal muscle function. Taking a supplement that addresses these ahead of time makes practical sense.
Pres & Afters' first product — Pres — is designed specifically for this moment. It's launching soon. Get early access here.
Lip Balm and Chewing Gum
Mouth-breathing in a hot, loud environment dries you out faster than you'd expect. Small thing, genuinely useful.
A Warm Layer
Outdoor raves and festivals can be brutally cold once you stop dancing. A lightweight packable jacket stuffed in your bag has saved more people from a miserable end to a night than any supplement.
Pacing: The Most Underrated Rave Skill
The people who consistently have the best nights — and the best mornings after — tend to be the ones who've learned to pace themselves. This doesn't mean holding back. It means being strategic.
Drink water consistently throughout the night rather than in big bursts. Take breaks from dancing — even just ten minutes sitting down gives your body a chance to regulate. If you're at a multi-day event, protecting your sleep even a little (ear plugs, a decent sleeping bag, getting to your tent before 5am sometimes) changes the entire trajectory of the weekend.
The Morning After Kit
It's worth having this ready before you go out, so you don't have to think about it when you're least capable of thinking.
Electrolytes or a rehydration drink for when you wake up. Easy food — something simple, comforting, and nutritious that you'll actually want to eat when you're not feeling great. A recovery supplement to support your body as it gets back to normal. And crucially: nowhere to be, if you can arrange it.
The ideal morning after a rave involves a slow morning, a decent meal, plenty of fluids, and no obligations. Build that into the plan wherever possible.
The Mindset Shift
Looking after yourself on a night out isn't at odds with having a good time — it's part of having a good time. The ravers and festival-goers who consistently show up, year after year, and still genuinely love it are the ones who've figured out how to take care of themselves.
That's the whole ethos behind Pres & Afters. Not lecturing anyone about their choices. Just giving people who love this culture the tools to do it well, for longer.