What to bring to the IFEMA Circuit?

The fact that really decides what goes in your bag is not on the prohibited list: it is that the gates open at 08:00, the venue closes at 20:00 and there is no re-entry. Twelve hours inside, without stepping out. Anything you leave at home you either buy in there — whatever they have, at whatever it costs — or do without for three days.

Start with your ears, which is the thing most people underestimate. A Formula 1 car at full throttle is among the loudest things a spectator is ever exposed to, and this is not one session: it is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Foam plugs last an afternoon, end up lost in a pocket and shut you out of everything else. A set of filtering earplugs like the Loop Experience 2 — 17 dB with high-fidelity reduction, according to their listing — takes the edge off without cutting you off from the PA or the person next to you. If you are bringing children, or what you want is to cut as much as possible, the same range has a maximum-attenuation model at 24 dB.

Next, where you are going to be sitting. The stands are hard plastic and the pass covers all three days: that is a lot of hours in the same position. A folding cushion — this one comes in a pack of four, which adds up if you are going as a group — weighs nothing and folds into a bag. Do not let anyone mistake it for a folding chair: chairs are prohibited throughout the venue, as the list above shows.

Your phone is next, because it is your ticket. The ticket is digital, so is the venue map, and you will be taking photos all afternoon; with the venue full, coverage suffers and the phone burns through battery hunting for a signal. A morning charge does not cover twelve hours. MADRING only lets through power banks the size of a phone — 20,000 mAh units are stopped at the check — so a slim 10,000 mAh power bank, which fits in a trouser pocket, is the one to bring.

Feet are the classic nobody plans for. Between the metro, the entry queue and walking the venue you cover a good deal more ground than you would guess, and blisters give no warning: they show up on Friday afternoon and ruin Saturday and Sunday. Comfortable shoes are half the answer; the other half is stopping the rubbing before it starts, and for that an anti-friction stick like Compeed's takes up about as much room as a lipstick.