Festival Camping Tips

It's been quiet here lately as it's winter and only the bravest of us are still out camping (well, the brave and those with heating in their tent or caravan) So I thought I'd ask a few people to share some of their camping tales and advice. First off is Karen from over at Excuse This Honesty blog. And she has some excellent festival top tips, I'm not ashamed to say that the last one taught me something, it's genius and I'll be trying it out in future when I camp in summer!

Karen's Festival Camping Tips

Having attended several festivals over the past 10 years, I can safely say none of them have been the same when it comes to camping. Some years have given us conditions which have been wonderful to set up camp in – others … well, not so good.

The first thing I learned is to take an extra bag of tent pegs. No matter what I do, there's always going to be a tent peg that miraculously gets eaten by the ground – especially if it's muddy. I'd recommend picking up a pack beforehand and having them packed away in your rucksack – it will be much cheaper than buying them at the festival. (and I'll add to Karen's advice by suggesting using biodegradable pegs if the festival land will be used later for grazing animals)

Secondly, long guy ropes are something that I use rarely, especially as space is quite often an issue in a festival environment. When it's dark outside and people are trying to make their way through a sea of tents, guy ropes are just going to become a trip hazard. If you're wanting to put them up, shorten them as much as you can while still being able to put them in the ground, and pin them as close to your tent as possible – having someone stumble over one and fall on top of your tent when you are trying to sleep isn't fun! (This is a reason I use my dome tent at crowded festival sites, as the canvas ones I own rely on their guy lines to keep them up!)

We always take a tent which is bigger than what we need. Why? At a festival, there can be some waiting around between bands that you want to see, and sometimes all you want to do is sit at your tent for a few hours and take some time out. In 2012, we attended Download festival and the thunderstorms were incredible. Two of our friends took a giant tent which could fit all 10 of us in at once, making it a great way to stay sociable and have some games on the go while the storm passed!

Lastly, take a foil sheet and some pegs with you to attach to the side of your tent. I've never done this before when camping, but at Glastonbury this year, we saw many people doing it – including those we were camping with. By attaching the foil sheet (which you should be able to get at any camping store as they're used as a safety blanket, too) with pegs to the outside of the tent that will be affected by the sun when it comes up; you'll reflect some of the sun away, making the temperature inside much more bearable in a morning. Believe me, waking up a hot mess at a festival feels 10 times worse than being at home! (This is the best top tip I've heard in ages, I'm definitely going to be doing this!)

Follow Karen on various social media : 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excusethishonestyblog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/excusethiskaren
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excusethishonesty/

Big thanks to Karen for sharing, I'm looking forward to more camping tips and tales over the coming weeks. If you have a story to share - email me Tentsniffer
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Comments

  1. I'm so glad you liked the last tip! Biodegradable tent pegs are also a definite for next time I go camping - it always worries me what the animals will be left with once the festival has gone!

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  2. we haven't been camping for ages now (over 2 years) we keep getting put off by a) the heat in Dubai so I'll try the last tip and b) the cost of the tent pegs we need for pitching camp in the sand

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