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Music festivals, outdoor events, and live experiences all have one thing in common: queues for the toilets. From portable toilets to , including the SheWee, women have always adapted when queues stretch, facilities struggle, and peak moments hit all at once.

Long waits, crowded cubicles, and unpredictable surges make festival toilets a real test of patience, and a driver for creative toilet solutions and modern urinal design.

As sites grow and peak moments intensify, the question isn’t if alternatives are needed; it’s how to provide solutions that work for everyone. 

This article explores how the SheWee and ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ both work at festivals, with women’s urinals offering significant convenience at scale. We’ll explore the factors driving festival goers’ preferences and the steps organisers can take to enhance hygiene, accessibility, and user comfort. 

We will cover: 

• What is a SheWee (and why do people bring one to festivals?)
• What is a women’s urinal and how is it different?
• SheWee and women’s urinals: how do they work in unison?
• What festival organisers can do to improve experience

What is a SheWee (and why do people bring one to festivals?)

A SheWee is a reusable personal urination device that allows women to pee while standing up and is commonly used on outdoor pursuits, sometimes at festivals, and when camping. Made from silicone or plastic, this device is portable, compact, and lets women relieve themselves when toilets are crowded, unappealing or unavailable.

What is a women’s urinal and how is it different?

A women’s urinal is a purpose-built facility for live events that enables multiple users to go at once, usually while squatting, and it is made from durable materials for busy public environments. It is part of the site infrastructure, planned and installed by organisers, so users do not need to carry or clean anything themselves.

Fixed infrastructure rather than a personal device

Women’s urinals are installed directly on site as part of the event’s overall toilet provision. The units are ready to use at any time, with built-in drainage, touch-free design and anti-splashback pedestal to manage waste safely and minimise odours. Their placement and ergonomic design allow them to manage high volume use all day, while remaining sanitary and fully functional. 

Built for high-footfall environments

Peak usage happens between sets, after headline acts, and during short windows, including lunch breaks or evening headliners. Women’s urinals are designed for these high-pressure moments, allowing multiple people to use them efficiently, reducing bottlenecks even when footfall spikes. 

Intuitive to use with minimal instruction vs SheWee

The design of women’s urinals makes them easy to navigate, even for first-time users, we say ‘it’s just like a wild wee’, with units that are anatomically designed for all those that squat to pee. This keeps queues moving quickly, reducing frustration during peak periods. Easy-to-read posters accompany ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ women’s urinals as standard, complementing optimised placement on site and user-friendly design to further minimise hesitation. 

Integrated hygiene and cleaning processes

Built with anti-slip, durable surfaces and effective drainage, women’s urinals are simple for staff to clean and maintain, giving visitors a worry-free experience without having to manage hygiene themselves. 

Increased public peeing when queues break down

When traditional toilets back up during peak moments, public urination often becomes an issue, particularly in crowded or high-traffic areas. Women’s urinals offer a safe, inclusive alternative, minimising these incidents and keeping the festival site more sanitary. The fast turnaround design keeps queues moving, even at the busiest times.  

Part of a wider toilet mix

Women’s urinals are most effective when integrated with cubicles, accessible toilets, and other facilities; by easing the load of traditional toilets, reducing wait times, and keeping private cubicles free for those who need them. Their flexible setup lets organisers place the urinals where demand is highest, keeping footpaths clear and traffic moving smoothly. 

SheWee vs women’s urinals: let’s compare

Both women’s urinals and SheWees exist because traditional toilet provision often struggles at peak times, but they tackle the issue in different ways by serving different needs and settings.

Personal SheWee device vs shared infrastructure

A SheWee is an opt-in solution that requires personal purchase, prior awareness, and confidence to use in a public setting. It works well for those who plan ahead and want a portable option, supporting women in situations where facilities are limited like when hiking or wild camping.

Women’s urinals are shared, onsite infrastructure available to all those who squat to pee, built into the event layout to remove barriers around cost, confidence, and preparation. This aligns with best practice in inclusive sanitation, as outlined by organisations including the

They’re also a lot speedier! Just pop-a-squat and go in a semi-private space. 

Learning curve vs intuitive use

Using a SheWee can take a little practice for first-time users, with women often being forced to look up tips on how to use or clean it. With some familiarisation, it provides a convenient and empowering solution for personal comfort on the trail and occasionally at festivals.

Women’s urinals are designed to be intuitive to use, just squat-and-go! ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ offers additional in-unit features that guide users on where to squat, the direction to face and whether a unit is busy. When positioned as part of the festival toilet mix, women can easily spot women’s urinals as the quickest way to pee and get back to the event!

Hygiene and handling

A SheWee allows women to manage their comfort and hygiene independently. Users enjoy its portability and personal convenience, while being able to rinse and store it for repeated use throughout the day. 

In contrast, women’s urinals take care of hygiene at scale. With dedicated cleaning teams, scheduled maintenance, and integrated drainage, hygiene standards are kept all day, in line with the guidance on shared sanitation. This reduces the need for users to manage cleanliness themselves, builds confidence in shared facilities, and faster movement through facilities during peak times. 

Speed at peak times

Crowds at festivals come in waves, so when thousands leave a main stage at once, even small inefficiencies quickly create long queues. Using a SheWee might save women time if it enables them to ‘nature wee’ more discreetly or access men’s urinals because it enables them to pee standing up.

Women’s urinals provide the perfect solution to queue-busting and pee-busting, enabling people to squat to pee how their bodies are designed to, without the need for funnels. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ can be set-up in multiple layouts which allows for simultaneous use in a smaller footprint than the equivalent number of portable toilets. This speeds up use, shortens queues, and helps maintain clear crowd movement. 

Accessibility and inclusivity

A SheWee allows women to step aside from crowded queues and use the device in a discreet area without waiting for a portable toilet. Its portability and ease of use make it an inclusive solution for women who may otherwise face barriers to timely access or have limited mobility to get to toilet zones quickly.

Women’s urinals offer an inclusive solution for quick peeing including integrated handrails for support when squatting and height-adjusted surfaces to create an open-air but semi-private space. Taking more people out of the portable toilet queues and over to use women’s urinals opens up access for those that really need them too. 

Privacy and comfort in busy settings

In practice, many SheWee users, especially those new to it, will often use the device inside a cubicle for reassurance or privacy. This reduces how much it can alleviate pressure on portable toilets.

Women’s urinals balance dignity and speed through the smart use of spacing, screens, and layouts without slowing the flow and making their usage more predictable during crowded festival settings. 

Impact on crowd flow

While a SheWee may help an individual using a cubicle, it also reduces congestion around traditional cubicles, which allows women to take care of their needs on their own terms. 

Women’s urinals improve crowd flow by letting multiple women pee at once, keeping busy areas and walkways clear. Their placement across sites also spreads foot traffic evenly, while leaving traditional cubicles available, supporting faster, safer movement for everyone.  

Best use cases for SheWee and Women’s Urinals

SheWee works well for personal, low-infrastructure environments including road trips, hiking, and camping, where toilet access is limited and convenience matters. 

Women’s urinals shine in busy, high-traffic settings, including live events and festivals where managing large crowds quickly and safely is the priority. 

What can festival organisers do to elevate event experience?

Better festival toilets aren’t achieved by adding more of the same units. It comes from spotting where demand peaks, understanding why queues appear, and how toilet layouts affect the wider site. Organisers who succeed focus on placement, throughput, and adaptable solutions. 

Plan toilet capacity around peak moments, not averages

Plan capacity around the predictable spikes in toilet demand, rather than daily levels, which can help stop queues from spilling into wider site issues. High-throughput facilities, including ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ women’s urinals, are well-suited to absorb demand during peak periods.  

Use a mix of facilities, not one-size-fits-all

Different toilets meet different needs. Portable toilets offer privacy, accessible units make facilities usable for everyone (as well as meet regulations), and ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ combines high throughput with privacy, comfort, and ergonomic design. A combination of these facilities balances demand and boosts overall site efficiency. 

Reduce queues to improve safety and crowd flow

Queues can clog walkways and complicate crowd management. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ can reduce wait times by enabling multiple users at once, easing pressure on enclosed cubicles. Strategically placing the urinals across festival toilet zones and amongst the mix of sanitation infrastructure available, maintains smooth flow in busy areas, avoids bottlenecks, and keeps emergency routes clear. 

Design with women’s experience in mind

Women’s queues are longer because layouts aren’t optimised for use. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s design addresses this with: 

• User-friendly height and orientation to reduce hesitation 
• Visual cues and signage for first-time users
• Privacy screens and spacing that provide dignity while speeding up throughput

Make first-time use easy and visible

Even the best facilities underperform if users aren’t sure how to use them. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ women’s urinals are intuitive to use and feature clear, visible signage, including instructions on how to use the urinals. This helps first-time users adapt quickly and feel confident using the facilities. 

Prioritise hygiene throughout the day

Good hygiene is essential for confidence and throughput:

• Splash-free drainage
• Smooth, durable surfaces for fast, easy cleaning
• A simple, maintenance-friendly design

Work with providers who understand live event operations

¾«¶«Ó°Òµ plans around crowd behaviour, not just theoretical capacity, offering strategic placement to reduce congestion, guidance on unit numbers for peak demand, and solutions for busy open areas and discrete zones. 

Listen to feedback and adjust year on year

The top festivals see toilet provision as an ongoing process. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s flexible and modular system allows event organisers to adjust layouts, add units, or reposition urinals based on feedback and operational performance. This drives measurable wait time reductions and higher attendee satisfaction, without significant infrastructure updates. 

Conclusion

Festival-goers benefit from solutions that work together seamlessly. SheWee provides portability, flexibility and use on the move. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ urinals provide shared, high-capacity access with hygiene, speed, and inclusive features. 

Together, these options give festival-goers choice and confidence, but ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s high-capacity, thoughtfully designed infrastructure makes it the go-to solution for organisers who want a consistently comfortable, safe, and efficient experience. 

Want to reduce queues and improve women’s toilet experience at your event? Get in touch today to plan your festival layout with ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ women’s urinals.