Experts warn Green Man festivalgoers to protect their ears

Nation Cymru staff

As Green Man continues this weekend, festivalgoers are being warned not to ignore ringing, buzzing or muffled hearing after hours of live music.

Data from Tinnitus UK found that 92% of gig-goers suffer from ringing in their ears after gigs temporarily, but 40% of those suffer persistently, with 1.5 million people across the UK suffering from severe tinnitus.

Olivia Kewney, Audiologist and Tinnitus Specialist at The Hearing Centres said: “The frustrating thing is that protecting your hearing at a gig takes almost no effort and costs next to nothing, yet most people either do nothing at all or use the wrong kind of protection entirely. A few small changes and you can go to every festival this summer and come home with your hearing intact.”

The four-day festival started yesterday and finishes on Sunday 23 August in Bannau Brycheiniog, bringing thousands of music fans to the Welsh countryside for live music, arts, science, comedy and camping.

But with long days spent across outdoor stages and festival tents, many attendees could be putting their hearing at risk before they realise anything is wrong.

Global health bodies now warn that over 1 billion young adults worldwide are at risk of permanent, avoidable hearing loss because of unsafe listening, including loud gigs and festivals.

Olivia says the numbers only make sense when you put them next to real‑world gig volumes:

“Repeated or long exposure to sounds at 85dB (A) or above can cause hearing loss, and the safe exposure time halves with every 3dB increase. A nightclub or festival main stage can sit above around 100dB, which means you’re at risk of permanent damage after just 15 minutes if you’re not wearing earplugs.

Push into the 110–120dB range and even very short bursts can be enough to cause harm, which is exactly why WHO are pushing venues to monitor sound and offer earplugs and quiet zones as standard.”

‘Don’t wait until your ears feel uncomfortable’

Advice from Tinnitus UK includes positioning yourself away from speakers, wear filtered earplugs (not the free foam ones), and give your ears a break.

“Sound intensity drops off fast with distance, so moving even a few metres back from the PA speakers can meaningfully cut how much sound energy is hitting your ears. Event safety guidance recommends audiences should not be directly next to a loudspeaker for exactly this reason, so if you can see the speaker stack clearly, you’re too close for a full set at max volume.”

“Foam earplugs muffle everything evenly, which is why people hate wearing them, the music just sounds flat and distant. Filtered earplugs work differently, they reduce the overall volume by up to 25 decibels while keeping the balance between vocals, bass and treble intact, so you get a genuinely safer listening level without losing the quality of the sound.”

“Your inner ear hair cells need time to recover once they’ve been overstimulated, and that recovery starts working in your favour after just five to ten minutes away from the loud sounds. Build that into your day deliberately, don’t wait until your ears feel uncomfortable, because by that point, you’re already well past a safe exposure level.

“Taking regular breaks can be the difference between protecting your hearing and causing damage. Magnesium can also act as a protective buffer, not a cure. It is effective when taken before a festival or within a few hours of leaving.’’

Tinnitis UK also said that damage can happed because people assume each festival day is a clean slate, when actually your ears are recovering from the day before and then you’re exposing them again.

“If you’re doing a multi-day festival, the recovery time between days matters just as much as what you do during the set, so prioritise quiet time in your accommodation or camping area overnight.”

“Muffled hearing, ringing or a feeling of pressure in your ears are all signals that you’ve crossed into unsafe exposure for that day, not just minor side effects to shrug off.

“If you notice any of those, that’s your cue to step right back from the stage area, because pushing through can turn a temporary shift into something that takes longer to recover, or doesn’t fully recover at all.”

If you are a festival regular, Tinnitus UK said you should get your hearing checked.

“If you’re doing multiple festivals or big gigs every summer, it’s worth having a baseline hearing test done. That way, if anything does start to shift over the years, it gets picked up early, when it’s far easier to manage.”

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