New technology is offering a solution to the bane of every camper at music festivals: hours spent tripping over guy ropes in the dark in a futile attempt to find the right tent.

As 35,000 people descend on Glastonbury today, festival-goers will be able to use GPS navigation systems on their mobile phones for the first time to help them to find their pitch. The GPS coordinates can be stored in the handset and the user is guided home later by satellite feed. The technology can also be used to find friends in the crowd or locate a car.

It is part of a general trend towards increasingly high-tech music festivals, as crowds seek more of the creature comforts they enjoy at home. Next month’s O2 festival in Hyde Park will offer special swipe cards for luxury lavatories.

On trial for the first time, hundreds of people will be given wristbands with a special chip that will give them access to clean facilities with plenty of toilet paper and handwash.

An express lane at the bars will also allow those with the chip to buy drinks quickly. A spokesman for O2 said: “Technology is a nice way to make people’s lives easier.”

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