Festival Hair - please help!

[lakhesis]

So I just got tickets for 3 day summer festival, I am super excited, but the question of course is... what am I going to do with my hair?? :confused:
I am nearing tailbone and I have fine hair that knots very easily.

I want to have fun, headbang and have it kind of stylish to go with the rock theme. :rockerdud Definitely do NOT want to spend entire festival with my hair up in a bun, but I also can not wear it down all the time.

Any ideas please? What have you done in similar situations?

My initial thought was to braid in some faux dreadlocks, not super healthy, but it's only 3 days, plus I don't have to do my entire head, just the bottom part. Any experience with faux dreadlocks here?

[Laurab]

Ah! That sounds like so much fun!

I'm not sure how much help I can be, I've never been to a festival and my hair's much shorter than yours, but some follow up questions to get people thinking of things:

What part of your hair do you want up, and why?
Would half-up work well?
Do you want one style for all three days or three different styles?
Do you want braids, accessories, styling methods, or something else?

When i think of festival hair I think of a lot of space-buns, dutch braids, bright colored dyes and glitter, but there's no hard and fast rule about it.

[cjk]

What kind of festival? Styling for a Renaissance Fair would be very different than styling for Lollapalooza.

Having said that, I'm rather fond of the Bailee Viking braids. Or dragon braids. There's a tutorial for both on YouTube.

You mentioned head banging. Do you want your hair to move? Some variation on a crown braid would keep it up, contained, and look positively beautiful.

Or you could do box braids. That would be a lot of look, but would actually work very well.

[Wildcat Diva]

Over three days, any braids you do are going to get super fuzzy, shredded. Idk about the braided in dreadlocks thing.

I myself might just do a simple side braid maybe with a paranda and plan to redo it twice a day.

[akurah]

Over three days, any braids you do are going to get super fuzzy, shredded. Idk about the braided in dreadlocks thing.

I myself might just do a simple side braid maybe with a paranda and plan to redo it twice a day.

Seconding this. Faux dreads will result in potentially having to undread your hair, as that will start to dread "for real" in the same way that real braids can start to dread up on some folk at the nape if you wear them too long.

[lakhesis]

Thanks for answers!

Well, people wear faux dreadlocks for a good month before putting in a new set. I don't mean to actually dread my own hair, so I am more worried about the damage from the little plastic hair bands than my hair matting up.
If it wasn't clear, I meant to put in extensions that are already dreaded and those get braided around with my hair. They are salons around here that do this with dreadlocks, pre made little braids or kanekalon and people get this done also for holidays to worry less about their hair. Sure there is some damage, but since the hair is essentially contained, it's not the matting that much that is a problem.

It is a rock music festival. The more I can get with hair down the better then, don't really feel like having it tucked away the entire time :D That's why the dreadlocks are the most appealing to me, as it's fun, big and kind of contained. Might try it out for a weekend or so with couple of dreads to see how hard it is to get it out after.

I am fine with the same style for three days. Half ups wouldn't really work for me, because it is usually the nape area that gets knotted when I have my hair down.

[leayellena]

I saw a guy with dreads in a nautilus bun at a rock festival 4 years ago. I mean you can braid in dreads and nautilus them with a stick, nothing fancy or luxurious. btw by the size of his nautilus, the guy must have at least mid-thigh length dreads(!)

[lapushka]

What about tiny braids? No cornrows, just tiny braids, but... don't make them so tiny. Make them more substantial, so you won't have a hard time taking them out afterwards. That's about what I would do.

[Tinyponies]

What about tiny braids? No cornrows, just tiny braids, but... don't make them so tiny. Make them more substantial, so you won't have a hard time taking them out afterwards. That's about what I would do.

This was the same thing that came to my mind, you could add ribbons of various colours that would also serve to tie them off, and you’ve still got the option of bunning the lot for part of the day a-la dreadlock nautilus guy to get them out of your way and to delay the inevitable shredding. A buff type head thing might be a good bet too for protecting the whispies but having the braids visible and you could also sleep in it tied closed like a bag.

Eta enjoy your festival!!

[akurah]

Thanks for answers!

Well, people wear faux dreadlocks for a good month before putting in a new set. I don't mean to actually dread my own hair, so I am more worried about the damage from the little plastic hair bands than my hair matting up.
If it wasn't clear, I meant to put in extensions that are already dreaded and those get braided around with my hair. They are salons around here that do this with dreadlocks, pre made little braids or kanekalon and people get this done also for holidays to worry less about their hair. Sure there is some damage, but since the hair is essentially contained, it's not the matting that much that is a problem.

It is a rock music festival. The more I can get with hair down the better then, don't really feel like having it tucked away the entire time :D That's why the dreadlocks are the most appealing to me, as it's fun, big and kind of contained. Might try it out for a weekend or so with couple of dreads to see how hard it is to get it out after.

I am fine with the same style for three days. Half ups wouldn't really work for me, because it is usually the nape area that gets knotted when I have my hair down.

I know how false dreads work :) I actually think damage from the false dreads being attached will be largely inconsequential. The reason why I expressed concern is this: when I wear a braid (either around itself or another object like a paranda, which a false dread will be the equivalent to in this case) for more than 24 hours, the braid starts to matt, sometimes pretty badly and depending on how long I go, my braid starts to very slowly dread up.

While I may be mistaken, my concern here for your hair is that your hair will also decide to dread up around the false dreadlocks. That said? If you're getting it put in by a salon, they can probably detangle the hair for you when they remove the faux dreads. If you're doing it yourself and don't mind being extra careful on removal, it's also probably not going to cause significant damage of note. But hair that tangles easily will typically tangle worse when put into these sorts of situations, you know what I mean?

If you really don't want to fuss with it at all though, including to detangle and rebraid it even once a day from a single braid, of the choices available the false dreads or some kind of mini braids all over your head will be the most protective I think of your hair.

[lapushka]

This was the same thing that came to my mind, you could add ribbons of various colours that would also serve to tie them off, and you’ve still got the option of bunning the lot for part of the day a-la dreadlock nautilus guy to get them out of your way and to delay the inevitable shredding. A buff type head thing might be a good bet too for protecting the whispies but having the braids visible and you could also sleep in it tied closed like a bag.

Eta enjoy your festival!!

The buff IMO is a great idea on top of the braids!

Yes, have fun at the festival, because that's the most important thing! :D

[DarleneH]

A single braid and a flower crown
A high bun with flowers circling just it (and not your whole head)
A single braid with little flowers stuck all in it

Not meaning to be stuck on just flowers but there's several different super easy things like that that can be done with them.

[Kalamazoo]

Half ups wouldn't really work for me, because it is usually the nape area that gets knotted when I have my hair down.

Lakhesis, if it's the nape area that gets knotted when your hair's down, then it's your shirt collar that's giving you trouble. Maybe wear a satin shirt & go ahead and wear your hair down? But keep your hairtoy or bobby pins handy so you can put it up quickly when you want to protect it? & then let your hair down when you want to let it fly! Surprising everybody's half the fun!

Satin shirt ... I think I found a pyjama top miscategorized as a blouse at the thrift store. So I wear it as a blouse, and accessorize with a belt, scarf, jewelry, etc. And everybody gushes over how good it looks on me, never ever once mentioning that it's PJs!

[shaiyeh]

if you go for braided in dreadlocks, do try them out in advance (and install them a few days before the event)- it can get very heavy, and headache-inducing if you're not used to them. I used to wear faux dreads back in high school, almost constantly for a year (like, I took them out and re-installed them), and then on and off for a few more years - almost no damage, and the massive shedding you get after taking them out is just due to all the hair you normally shed being contained in the braids. do be careful not to make too small braid sections though. dreads are great, tho, when you're used to them :)

[DarleneH]

Have you considered milkmaid braids or a crown braid?