Tent Sniffing for Beginners

Have you got plans sorted for the weekend? It's a Bank Holiday in the UK (for those of you that live in foreign climes that equates to a day of rest for many of the people that usually have a 9-5 toil) and I am one of many that will be enjoying a long weekend. In the UK it is also tradition that Bank Holiday Mondays are wet. However as we have seen from previous festival news, this year has been one of broken traditions, it even rained at Camp Bestival! (unheard of in it's previous 9 year history) so it's no surprise to see that the sun will be shining all weekend at Hersmonceaux this weekend. If you live any where near Herstmonceaux (it's in East Sussex) and you are not planning a trip to England's Medieval festival for at least one day (camping is available and camp site opens at 2pm today!) then you are missing out!   Tickets are available at the gate and the festival is open Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Last year I was glad I camped as there were s

Hi all, I expect you are wondering what a tent has to blog about. Well I have some exciting times you know - I travel to all sorts of exotic places (ok ok the Isle of Wight is the only time I have travelled 'overseas'  but still...) and I attend lots of festivals each year, I don't get a wristband but that's OK as I don't have any wrists. To introduce myself, I am Wilfred. I am a canvas Cabanon tent, a Dutch pyramid style, slightly retro and very storm resistant. In 2015 I had the equivalent of a tent tattoo , and was painted with a fun Japanese design. I'm well used, well loved and unique. This year I went to The Byline Festival and had a lovely time in a nice grassy field with well spaced tents. There were lots of new tents there who told me that their owners had never even taken them out of the bag before! I felt a true 'old hand' with my merry bunting and flags, my extra tarpaulin and my solar lights. The festival itself seemed very genteel.

Well. Where to begin. Camp Bestival . A fabulous festival of fun and frolics for young people, kids and the young at heart. It is always full of laughs, and some surprises. The regular fun things include the awesome Insect Circus, the worlds largest bouncy castle (only a regular since last year), Mr Tumble, Dick 'n' Dom, kids garden fun, crazy bikes, sticker crafts, retro 80s bands, the Blue Coats, the inflatable church, the WI tea tent, the Feast Collective, and the jam jar cocktail bar. This year surprises included... rain . It never rains at Camp Bestival. No seriously it doesn't. DD and I have been going since 2009 and it really never rains. It is sunny, hot, you need sunscreen. This year, Camp Bestival's 10th Anniversary , the rain we had never had...all came at once. And so, suddenly, Camp Bestival resembled Glastonbury. For families that were not used to camping, or had small kids I imagine this was horrible. Muddy tents and wet clothes are no