Article - All you need to know about camping at 2016 Music Festivals

Time is moving quickly. We’ve had Pancake Day, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day already in 2016, and now we are rapidly approaching the Summer of 2016; which can only mean one thing – Festival Season. It may only be March, but it’s never too soon to begin planning for your 2016 music festival itinerary.

If you’re a regular festival goer, you’ll know that the experience isn’t always the most pretty of experiences; but if you love music, then you will without a doubt have an amazing time. Living with your mates, drinking, eating, dancing and singing is typically what people get up to at music festivals; the best part of it all – being unite with all the other thousands of music fans, listening and watching bands you love.

Head Outside’s Survival Guide to Music Festival Camping

Camping at a festival isn’t quite like your normal camping experience. Although it is primarily, in terms of sleeping outside and setting up your own tent, it can be much messier than a normal camp site or camping conditions – don’t let that put you off though.
One of the most important points for not only camping at festivals but for camping overall, is to be organised. We recommend making a list and ensuring that your comprehensive camping list suits your needs; after all, there is no one who knows your needs better than yourself.

For us to really help you organise yourself, we’ll give you ideas for typical camping, which will suit festival camping too. So, let’s begin.

What to pack for festival camping?

Answering this question of what to pack can be difficult, as we said before, you know your needs better than anyone else. But in standard and typical terms, we recommend certain products for setting up your accommodation (tent), as well as other aspects for yourself in terms of cleanliness, cooking and comfortability.

Equipment for your tent
Such camping necessities can include tent pegs, plastic ground tarpaulin, hammers to pitch the tent, and full cans of fuel and a funnel.

Kitchen and Cooking
As well as our camping and tent necessities, we also recommend certain products for the kitchen, which includes cooking stoves, barbecues, pans, kettles, cups, cutlery, energy foods, easy to cook food, chairs and other ingredients and equipment to help you when cooking.

Sleeping and Clothes – Keep dry and comfortable
Another key point to surviving festival camping (and normal camping) is by having good sleeping arrangement and clothing. To ensure your stay is the best it can be, you need to keep dry and warm at all times. Packing a great variety of clothes is extremely important; no not to look good, but to keep warm and dry. We recommend packing clothes suitable for the Summer, but also colder temperatures (especially for the night) are key. In terms of sleeping though, it's important to remember you will be sleeping on the ground; so you may require roll mats or mattresses or airbeds, pillows, hot water bottles, duvets and plenty of blankets to keep warm. Not only do you need good bedding, but you will require pyjamas and waterproof clothing also, in case the British weather traditionally pours down on the festival – as it has done in previous years.

We have recently written an interesting piece on ‘Camping in the winter’ – although it is aimed at an entirely different season, there is still a lot of useful information about preparing yourself for cold temperatures; which applies to camping at festivals.

Ways to cope with Festival Camping

Luggage Support
Typically, at festivals, the car park is always a long way away from the actual camping area or festival itself. Although we are telling you to pack a lot, it's good to pack lightly at the same time. But to coincide with this, we recommend bringing something along with you to help you carry everything – Something like a suitcase or by popular demand, a trolley. The ground may be uneven and hard to travel on, so having extra support with your luggage and belongings will be key.

Festival Tents
The other big part of surviving is having a secure yet easy to pitch tent. On our website, we have a great selection of festival tents and bundles to take advantage of. Our festival bundle packages allow you good quality tents; capable of sitting 1-4 people, as well as other equipment to support you in your festival camping experience. We highly recommend the brand of Yellowstone – they provide quality camping equipment and allow campers a hassle free time of setting up, allowing festival goers to enjoy their experience.

Don’t abandon equipment and tools
Festivals are fun and so when we say don’t abandon equipment and tools, we don’t necessarily mean technology like your mobile phone; you won’t have time to waste looking on your phone or posing for a selfie – you may however need it for emergency. What we really mean by this is to take the relevant camping equipment and basic tools. We’ve said about cooking equipment, but we personally believe that an underrated tool for festival campers, a torch. Yes, your phone has a torch, but that will kill your battery and it won’t be useful like a good quality torch. We recommend a head torch – less to carry, but extremely helpful at night; especially if you encounter problems with your tent at 5a.m.

Don’t lose your friends
Our final key survival point is simple. Do not lose your friends. Stick together, dress up, stand out and enjoy the festival camping experience together. A great way to stand out and ensure that you’re each easy to see if by investing in a festival flag; this will easily make your tent visible from afar, or each individually in large crowds. You’ve come with your friends, so you may as well enjoy your time together and leave together.

We hope that this has helped you to prepare for your festival camping experience. To find affordable festival camping packs, continue to our website. We love to help our customers in any way possible. We are much cheaper than all major camping retailers, so be sure to see our selection of quality festival camping bundles.