So here's the thing - you've just had a fantastic time at a festival, and you have a wristband around your wrist that brings back all those lovely memories every time you look at it.

Plenty of people keep them on, you can always see people at festivals with an arm of wristbands. They are a constant reminder of some of the fun you've had in your life, and they are also let you show off every once in a while if you meet someone who cares.

Most people probably take them off though. After all they don't want to make them dirty or risk ruining them. They can also be a constant annoyance on your wrist.

If you've been to festivals, have you kept yours on or taken them off? Of if you were to go to a festival, would you keep it on, or take it off?


I have seven on my wrist at the moment. I've been to eleven open air festivals that have done wristbands, but some have given out plastic ones - and they really can't be kept on. I've got to the point now where I probably should take them off, but I can't bring myself to do it. I wouldn't want to cut the material either - the ones that fasten with metal (like Wacken) leave no other option though. I still find it great to look down to my arm and be reminded of all these festivals, and I don't find them that annoying - but it is getting a bit much now, so they probably will be off by the end of the year. (If I read this next year and they are not off - ha! and hello 2010.)

Damn, man, you mean you currently wear 7 wristbands you are never putting down?

I've never been to a festival

Anyway I wouldn't keep on wristbands, since I don't like accessories like those, necklaces or rings. I'd occasionally wear a shirt though, for example.

Yes, the very same with me (both i wasnt to any festival and i would take the wristband off)...i dont even wear watches, so how should i stand something like that

I went to my first festival this year and as soon as they put the damn thing on I wanted it off Needless to say I got it off as soon as I got home I saw quite a few people with loads of them on though, but it must be so annoying!

I have a few friends who travelled over to Europe for festival season last summer and they're still wearing their wristbands...of course its only Party San and Wacken so I imagine its less cumbersome than say a dozen or so wristbands. Festivals like that aren't very common around here so I suppose actually having one of those is something to show off on this side of the ocean...

Of course I take them off. It is unhygienic to leave them on. Leaving them on is like never removing your watch.
And once they're off I throw them away. Why would i keep them? Keeping wristbands is like keeping all the ticket stubs of concerts one's been to, which imo just takes up room.

I prefer the concerts and festivals that don't hand out wristbands but just simply put an ink stamp on your hand.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.08.2009 at 07:18

Of course I take them off. It is unhygienic to leave them on. Leaving them on is like never removing your watch.
And once they're off I throw them away. Why would i keep them? Keeping wristbands is like keeping all the ticket stubs of concerts one's been to, which imo just takes up room.

I prefer the concerts and festivals that don't hand out wristbands but just simply put an ink stamp on your hand.

They do take up room! I haven't been to any festivals, but I used to save all of my tickets. My parents never let me go to any shows until I turned 18, so since then I've been going to as many shows as I can to make up for lost time lol.

But back to the point, the tickets piled up fast, and instead of becoming something I'd look back on to reminisce, they just became clutter and were discarded eventually

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.08.2009 at 07:18

Keeping wristbands is like keeping all the ticket stubs of concerts one's been to

hey, but i am keeping my tickets ...i have them stick on the wall next to my computer

Written by Ellrohir on 31.08.2009 at 09:05

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.08.2009 at 07:18

Keeping wristbands is like keeping all the ticket stubs of concerts one's been to

hey, but i am keeping my tickets ...i have them stick on the wall next to my computer

If I had kept all my tickets and stuck them to the wall I would need an extra house

After 20 years i will tell you

Written by Ellrohir on 31.08.2009 at 09:14

After 20 years i will tell you

That reminds me that tomorrow it is my 30th birthday of listening to metal.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.08.2009 at 09:33

Written by Ellrohir on 31.08.2009 at 09:14

After 20 years i will tell you

That reminds me that tomorrow it is my 30th birthday of listening to metal.

You remember the exact day?

Written by Doc G. on 31.08.2009 at 09:37

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.08.2009 at 09:33

Written by Ellrohir on 31.08.2009 at 09:14

After 20 years i will tell you

That reminds me that tomorrow it is my 30th birthday of listening to metal.

You remember the exact day?

Yes... but let me tell you why.

It was the first day of school that day entering last year of primary school in Singapore. A new kid who had just arrived from The Netherlands (it was the Dutch primary school in Singpore in case you're wondering) had brought along cassettes of Kiss, Motorhead (the Overkill album) and Van Halen (I + II) along to school and during lunch break played us I Was Made For Loving You as first song, then Ain't Talking About Love, then Overkill and after that some scorpions live from the Tokyo Tapes album and after that a mix of thosefive albums.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.08.2009 at 07:18

Keeping wristbands is like keeping all the ticket stubs of concerts one's been to, which imo just takes up room.

for you maybe who's been to 1923423094230953209523059 gigs

Keeping wristbands on is too much of a nuisance. Instead, I tattoo every single festival I've been to onto my ballsack. Talk about showing off to people who care!

I voted keep on but I meant take off, sorry.

Anyway, I've been to a lot of Portuguese festivals, never those big European festivals out there and I don't keep anything except for the ticket and the memories in my head.

I collect concert tickets and that's my reminder. Even if I go abroad I would much prefer to buy tshirts than to keep a wristband.

I took off my Wacken 2009 (the only festival i've been to so far) wristband because it was really annoying lol, also because i have tons of souvenirs from Wacken and of course tons of great memories in my mind i don't need a reminder for

Never kept them on. No problem with people who keep them on but no, not my style. I hate the thing from the moment they put it on.

Really? Do you all take them off? wow...
I have 3 (the other ones have FALLEN off or were made from plastic, I have been to 9 or 10 festivals so far) and the oldest I have on my wirst is from 06 when I first saw Metallica.
I love my wristbands...they are way cooler than any bracelet you could be wearing, and hell they belong to me!
And if you're working in a lab it's not even unhygienic to keep them, because I sterlize them with pure Ethanol.

But I can understand that if you like have 20 of them, that 'd be really unhygienic lol

I wish there were festivals like that around here so I could keep my wrist bands on
Well, not just for the purposes of keeping wrist bands on lol

Interesting topic. Well I don't wear wristbands, just maybe a couple of days after the festival, but than I take them off. It's not that I don't like to wear them, it just starts to bother me around my wrist after a few days. But I do save them, all of them like most of concert tickets as well.

Well, I've just taken all of mine off.
They were on for a long time, and there was a lot of them. My arms feels rather bare now, but I'm sure this will make things much less annoying in the future.

Yeah I just take them off. I left my Maryland Deathfest one on for a week but then it got annoying.

I have a special place for all my wristbands so they don't become clutter. Same goes for my ticket stubs, I just stick 'em in my photo albums. If it happened that I took pictures of some show that gave me a wristband or ticket stub, I'll put it with that set of photos.

Also, most of the shows I go to give out wristbands if you're old enough to drink. I don't keep those...I don't need a reminder that I'm old enough to legally drink lol!

@jupitreas - I laughed so hard when I read that!

To hell with festival wristbands...it's just trash after the festival is done right?

Let people do what they want! Personally, I love wristbands. They are a good fashion for summer. I just ordered a sample packet through ticket printing and I love having one around my wrist and can put a new one on whenever one gets too old or annoying. I would not want to wear too many at once, however, but I love having one on during the summer.

I'd take them off. I don't like things on my wrists for long periods of time as they get irritating. Also some wristbands are just pieces of plastic crap thats not worth keeping anyway. I don't need a wrist band to remind me of the good times I've had... Thats what memories and photos are for XD

Mine have always fallen off after a few months but then at that point they start turning rotten if they're cloth ones so it can get a bit manky. I know some people who still have some from years ago which is kinda gross to be honest.

I leave them on until they come off on their own. I personally can't really be bothered to take them off. The oldest one that's still on is from 2008, and the ones I have on right now are currently five in total.

I take them off and add them in the jewel case of the CD from my favorite band of the festival. I do the same with tickets...