Festival wristbands contain 20 times more bacteria than clothes

Festival wristbands can contain up to 20 times more bacteria as found on clothes, a study has revealed.

The popular trend, in which music lovers wear festival wristbands for weeks, or even months following a music event, can increase your chances of contracting an infection, boils and even food poisoning.

Microbiologist Dr Allison Cottell studied a person wearing two fabric wristbands for two years – and discovered nearly 9000 micrococci and 2000 staphylococci bacteria on them.

Dr. Cottell says via Riot Fest: “Staphylococci are usually harmless although they can cause boils and infections of cuts and grazes, and can also cause a form of acute food poisoning if they are ingested. It would be advisable not to wear them if working in industries such as healthcare or food preparation, where there is a risk that the bacteria may spread to other people.”

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.