Tent Sniffing for Beginners

At the end of every festival I attend I enjoy watching people who, on day one, smugly erected an instant 'pop up' tent, and now on day 5 are struggling to get it back into its bag! I have seen swearing, family rows, anger, broken tents, ripped bags, tents crammed into cars still semi erect, even tents just dumped in fury and left at the festival. I envy these people on day one, but always remember on day 5 why I don't have a pop up tent. If only there was a tent that was quick to put up, but just as quick to put down. Well it turns out there is! Trespass sent me a 2 man Qiktent to review and as soon as it arrived DD and I excitedly erected it in the living room! It was super fast, and then, equally super fast, we packed it away again! Good gracious, we were sold on the whole idea. And so we decided to take it with us to the Wilderness Festival in Oxfordshire. Initially we planned just to pitch it and maybe use it for storage as it's small, but in the end D...

So I expect you are all wondering, did I manage to see all of the things I hoped to at the Curious Arts Festival? Well, no. But I experienced all I needed. We arrived on the Friday and the cricket match was in full swing already, sadly it's a short walk form the camp site and the main festival site, and after pitching the tent in the scorching sunshine all I fancied was a snooze and an ice cold beer! Couple with the fact we had the small puppy with us (and she was panting in the shade) we decided to miss the cricket in favour of total non exertion.

LAST MINUTE FESTIVALS & YOUR ESSENTIAL CHECKLIST I'm well into my festival season, I hope you've been to at least one, or are about to! I'm looking forward to reviewing all of the ones I attend but until then, here's a list to keep you busy - maybe you'll find a festival to attend? Or to pencil in for next year.

Every year I plan lots of things to see at Camp Bestival and we usually manage about 50%. Mainly because the festival is large, we are easily distracted and extremely lazy. So I'm making a list this year of just 5 things that I absolutely MUST see.

A couple of weekends ago I dragged Mr TentSniffer along to a food festival. I say dragged, he wasn't that reluctant but he's not really a foody so it wasn't his favourite choice of things to do. As it was mostly outside we were able to take Fizz. She was much admired and she didn't beg for food either! What a good girl. We visited a cafe called The Hungry Guest for some coffee, we couldn't really say no as they had a board outside suggesting we try Fizz in the courtyard! We did and she liked it very much. Mr TS rather fell for the Podgy Pieman , or at least for his wares. though the pies were slightly more than the penny of the nursery rhyme, they were delicious. Mr TS had a sausage roll with sundried tomatoes and fennel seeds and I had a shredded beef, beetroot and horseradish pasty. Yum! I also enjoyed a cocktail made with gin from a small distillery in Scotland. Another triumph. I'm still cross I didn't try the Arbikie Chilli Vodka ! There w...

One of the nice things about festivals is the choice of food that is available. From cheap and cheerful fish and chips to more exotic haloumi fries with pomegranate salad, via wood fired pizza. But are the fish ad chips cheap? and what of the pizza? Can you afford pie and mash for the whole family? and three meals a day? So first things first. Festivals don't make a lot of money - despite what you might think, they have a huge turnover but actual profits are often low. Many festivals, Glastonbury included, continue to run not because they are a money spinner, but because the organiser loves festivals! One of the way festivals make money is via onsite sales, this includes food and drink stalls and is a reason many festivals ask you to buy booze at the bar and to try the food. So by buying your rations onsite you are helping the festival. But we all know that money doesn't grow on trees and there is a fine balance between helping a festival, enjoying the food and becomi...

Last year I missed the Friday at the Curious Arts Festival as DD was still at school, this year as a teen she has finished her GCSEs and so we will be there for the opening at 12 noon. This means that hopefully we can catch the Curious Arts cricket match, as while I don't like watching cricket on TV I do love a live match, especially at a festival, with gin...