Say what you like about Sacha Lord – and this blog frequently comments on the self-declared man on a mission to save hospitality across Britain. But there’s one area that I won’t hear a word said against him, believe it or not. And that topic is on reducing the potential harm that drugs can do.

Which is why last weekend, Parklife used their official Twitter account to remind visitors to drink plenty of water. And seek medical attention immediately if you start to feel unwell…

Drink plenty of water. If you feel overheated, dehydrated or drowsy, please seek medical attention.

— Parklife 2022 🚀 (@Parklifefest) September 12, 2021

This seems sensible advice whether you intend to partake with something questionable or not. I personally get headaches if I don’t drink enough water and become even more grumpy than normal.

Now, I’m going to hazard a guess that Lord’s other event, the Warehouse Project, will also post a similar message to this in the next few days. Today’s event might also choose to use its platform to retweet a message like this from W.E.L. Safe…

If you are at @Parklifefest this weekend, here’s a few tips:
Have fun, be safe.
We have our wonderful volunteers onsite in the welfare tent if you need us. #stayhydrated #startlow #goslow #dontmixthefix #takebreaks #comefindus #welfare #parklife #festivalsafe #staysafe #welsa pic.twitter.com/Z55mh5wJcl

— W.E.L.Safe CIC (@WELSafe) September 12, 2021

So let’s apply the above tweet to Warehouse Project. Now, I don’t know exactly what the drinks prices for the event is, so I’m going to use Parklife’s price of £2.50 for a 500ml bottle of water as a guide. It’s an event with the same owner, so I consider this a reasonable assumption.

They advise drinking half a pint every hour. Half a pint is 284ml. This evening’s event goes on from 7pm to 2am – so you’ll need 1988ml in that time. That’s four bottles and £10. And if you’re at tomorrow’s event from 2pm to 4am, you’ll need 3976ml. Eight bottles at £20.

To give you some context here, you can buy multipacks of six 500ml bottles in several supermarkets, often at around £1. The same amount with Sacha Lord would cost £15 – and seeing you’re not allowed to bring in your own food or drinks, you have no choice but to pay.

Add that onto the costs of tickets, transport to get there and home again, possible hotel costs, food whilst you’re there and other drinks – because who drinks just water at these things? – and that’s a lot of money involved.

I’d suggest charging £2.50 for a bottle of water isn’t consistent with your message of harm reduction, Sacha…