Staying well over five days

October in Kolkata is hot and very humid, and a dense crowd adds several degrees to whatever the forecast says. You will lose more fluid than you notice, particularly at night when it does not feel hot.

Drink before you are thirsty. A litre bottle refilled twice across an evening is about right for most people. If you are prone to it, something with salt in it — a lemon-nun-chini sherbet, an oral rehydration sachet — is worth more than water alone.

Ten kilometres a day on hard, uneven surfaces, mostly standing still in queues, which is harder on the legs than walking. Broken-in shoes, a second pair of socks, and a real sit-down in the middle of the day.

If you are doing all five days, take one of them slowly. Everybody who does the whole festival at full pressure spends Dashami asleep.

Sound systems and dhak at close range are loud enough to matter over five days. Standing a few metres back is usually enough; ear defenders for children are not an overreaction.

Air quality drops with the traffic and the incense, and anyone with asthma should carry an inhaler and stay upwind of dhunuchi smoke, which is thicker than it looks.

Sleep is the thing people sacrifice and then regret. If you are out until three, do not also get up for the morning shift on the same day — pick one per day and alternate.

First aid points are set up near the major pujas and staffed through the peak hours. Volunteers at every pandal will find one for you. Pharmacies stay open late during the five days but are hard to reach in a barricaded area, so carry the basics.

This is general practical advice for a crowded outdoor festival, not medical advice; anyone with a condition that heat, crowds or noise could affect should take their own doctor's guidance over anything on this page.