Safety tips given to festivalgoers on hot weekend

Signs across the festival have asked people to "hydrate"

Festivalgoers on the Isle of Wight have been urged to make sure they "hydrate" as temperatures are expected to hit 32C in parts of the UK.

Organiser John Giddings said they have sold more than 50,000 tickets for this year's event.

He said music lovers have travelled from as far away as Australia to come to "the sunniest place in the UK" for the weekend.

"They're looking for a good time and a safe time and it's important that we tell people that the weather forecast is hot," he said.

Revellers have been attempting to keep cool

He added he hoped people would go away and say they had "the best weekend of the year".

The well-established music event, previously dubbed "the Woodstock of Europe" when it began with a series of festivals between 1968 and 1970, boasts 15 stages and 150 acts at Seaclose Park in Newport.

Signs with rolling screens across the site are issuing messages advising people to "stay hydrated".

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David Rock, crisis manager for the festival, said: "The best piece of advice is to drink... and when we say drink we are not talking about alcohol."

He believes the event is "much further ahead" than other festivals in the UK when it comes to crisis management.

The team have set up water stations around the site, where people can fill up their own drinks bottles.

Revellers have also been told they can bring a refillable water bottle and as much water as they like into the campsite, but not in glass bottles.

It added that when heading to the main festival areas, people will be able to take in up to 1.5 litres of water in one or more sealed bottles as well as an empty refillable bottle of any size.

The Pigeon Detectives frontman Matt Bowman doused himself in water on stage on Thursday

Singer, songwriter Example and Yorkshire rock band The Pigeon Detectives entertained early arrivals at the festival on Thursday.

Sting, Stereophonics and Justin Timberlake will headline the event's main stage over the weekend.