What Do I Need For Camping At a Music Festival
During the extensive planning stages of attending a music festival with a group of friends, someone suggested that we make it into a camping trip instead of booking hotel rooms. With an open mind, I started to do some of my own research to find out what is included music festival camping, as well as what we will need in order to do so.
What do I need for camping at a music festival? To go camping at a music festival, you will need to bring all of the outdoor gear that you would need for any camping trip, including a tent, sleeping bags, any other necessary equipment.
While camping at a music festival, it is important that you are aware of the area in which you are traveling, and that you have come prepared with everything you need for the best results.
If you are a frequent music festival-goer, you might have stumbled across the idea of camping instead of going with the traditional methods of travel accommodations. While planning for a festival camping trip, you will need to consider a few additional factors that are not included when you go to a hotel.
However, the experience of music festival camping can be very rewarding when you travel with the right people and follow through with a thorough planning process. Keep reading to find out everything that you need to know about camping at a music festival.
Essential Packing List For Music Festival Camping
After you have thoroughly planned out all of your arrangements for how you will get to the music festival and decided that you will be camping on the grounds, there are a few items that you will need for a successful trip.
In this section, we will be going over everything that you will need for music festival camping, from your sleeping arrangements to how you will be cooking your meals.
Take a look at the list down below for an essential music festival camping list.
What You Will Need For Festival Camping:
- Tent
- Shade
- Rope
- Stakes
- Mallet
- Tarps
- Tapestries
- Sleeping mat and equipment
- Food and beverages
- Cooler
- Hot plate
- Reusable dishes (plates, silverware, etc.)
- Chairs and portable table
- Flashlight/lantern
- Head lamp
- Garbage bags
The main essentials that you will need to set up your campsite are your tent, the rope and stakes that you will use to hold it in place, the mallet for assembly, and the tarp that you will lay down underneath it.
Inside of the tent will be where you sleep, and should therefore be where you place your sleeping mat and equipment. Along with the object that you will physically be sleeping on, you will need to bring other items that will make you comfortable including pillows, blankets, and comforters for the cold nights.
Another essential packing item will be the food and beverages that you pack for your trip. You will obviously need to eat at some point, and having some snacks and ready to eat meals on hand will make this process much more convenient.
All of the food and beverages that you decide to bring with you will need to be stored in a compact cooler, with a hot plate and reusable dishes in your luggage for easy cooking and meal preparations.
You will need a place to prepare food and to sit while you are eating, which can be achieved with the use of a portable table and some chairs.
The flashlight and lantern will come in handy when you need some light in the general area of your campsite, while a head lamp can be worn on your head and used when you need to leave the tent in the darkness to go to the bathroom.
Garbage bags are always important to have with you on any camping trip in order to be able to dispose of food waste and keep dirty clothes all in one place.
Apart from all of the essentials that will help your campsite stay organized and run smoothly, you will need to bring some personal items with you in order to be able to take care of yourself during your camping trip.
The next list in this section will organize all of the personal items needed for festival camping into one convenient place that you can reference while putting together your packing list.
Personal Items Needed For Festival Camping:
- Deodorant
- Lotion
- Sunscreen
- Hair brush
- Wet wipes
- Hand sanitizer
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
The first set of personal items needed for festival camping have to do with your personal hygiene. When you are sleeping in the woods, you will definitely need some travel sized bottles of deodorant, lotion, and anything else that will keep you feeling clean and smelling good.
Along with lotion, you will need to have some kind of sunscreen with you for each day that you will be out in the heat. A hair brush and any styling products that you have will serve the purpose of keeping your hair neat throughout your stay.
While this is not something that most of us would like to hear, you will need to bring a few packages of wet wipes with you on your festival camping trip in order to keep yourself clean.
Since there are usually no actual showers associated with camping, you will have to result to other measures to keep up with your personal hygiene, and this will likely consist of the use of wet wipes.
Similarly, you will want to bring some hand sanitizer for after you use the bathroom, before you eat, or just to keep the germs off of your hands in general.
Lastly, a toothbrush and toothpaste is a necessity. You can find a travel sized toothbrush that is easy to carry, and it might even have a plastic cover to protect it from any germs or debris. Toothpaste also comes in travel sized tubes for increased convenience.
Tips For Music Festival Camping (Before You Go)
When it comes to camping at a music festival, there is a lot of advanced planning involved in order to make sure that you have the best experience possible. During this planning process, you should keep in mind a few tips to follow before you go.
In this section, we will be going over all of the bases that you should cover before you head out on your music festival camping trip. It is important to go through all of these thoroughly and keep them in mind while you are making preparations.
Tips For Music Festival Camping (Before You Go):
- Book all of your tickets early
- Do research on the festival/location
- Get the details about parking
- Practice your campsite setup at home
When you are assembling all of your music festival camping plans as far as where you are going and your travel dates, you will want to secure everything promptly to avoid having scheduling conflicts.
In other words, you should book all of your tickets early, from flights to hotels and rental cars. It is also a smarter move to book everything at the same time instead of doing one thing and coming back for the others.
If you book a flight for your travel dates and have your eye on a certain hotel and rental car, but you come back weeks later and both of them are gone, you will now be forced to make other arrangements and settle for a secondary option.
Before you head out on your adventure, you will need to do some in depth research on the particular festival that you will be attending as well as the location where it will be taking place.
You should be familiar with all of the rules on the festival grounds, especially in regards to camping. Some internet research on the city and neighborhood will give you a general idea of what you will be dealing with when you get there.
In addition, it never hurts to have directions on hand for the nearest supermarket or drugstore near the campsite in case you ever need one.
During your research, you should be looking for details about parking near the campsites. Does the festival allow you to park right next to your tent? If not, where can you park and how far is it?
All of these questions are very important to find the answers to before you get too far in your planning process.
Finally, you will want to practice setting up your campsite at home for the days leading up to your departure. Setting up a tent can be difficult if you have never done it before, so if you gain your own experience beforehand, you will have an easier time setting up at the festival.
Tips For Setting Up Your Festival Campsite (When You Get There)
When it is actually time that you arrive to the festival grounds and you are ready to begin setting up your campsite, there are some more tips that you can follow for a smooth transition.
The list down below will outline a few tricks for an easy and organized campsite set up, so you can get right to enjoying the festival without worrying about your sleeping arrangements for too long.
How To Set Up Your Festival Campsite (When You Get There):
- Choose the right location
- Do all the setting up before you head out
- Make sure your tent is properly secured
- Get as comfortable as possible in your tent
- Bring activities and games for in between performances
Initially, you will need to choose the right location to set up your tent and sleeping arrangements. While it is true that most festivals will be crowded with campers already and you might not have much of a choice of locations, you should try to be as close to the bathrooms and stages as you can.
Next, you should plan to do all of your setting up before you head out toward the festival grounds. This should be done as soon as you get there so that you are not spending all of your time being concerned with your campsite.
After setting up and before leaving your tent, you must make sure that everything is properly secured into the ground. The last thing that you will want to come back to is a tent that has blown away while you were gone due to a careless set up.
During the set up process of your sleeping arrangements, you should try to get as comfortable as you possibly can. This will include setting up your bed in an area that is warm and shaded, with layers of cozy blankets and soft pillows.
While you are at the music festival, there will be tons of performances, with some breaks in between. For the time periods where no one is performing, or while you are waiting for a certain artist to make an appearance, you will need to be able to entertain yourself.
Some suggestions for entertainment at the campsite include bringing card games and sports equipment to pass the time. With the right people around you, playing a makeshift game of volleyball or something similar can make the time fly.
Tips For Eating At a Music Festival Campground
When the topic of camping anywhere for several days is brought up, it is evident that you will need to eat, whether you are purchasing all of your meals, cooking them yourself, or a mixture of the two.
Eating while camping outdoors can get tricky with all of the wildlife that might be around the campsite. As a result, there are a few tips that you should follow in order to get the best experience with festival camping, as far as food goes.
The list down below will give you some general guidelines to follow while you are cooking and eating at your campsite, with some more details in the remainder of this section.
Tips For Eating At a Music Festival Campground:
- Plan your budget according to your eating habits
- Save money by bringing your own breakfast/snacks
- Lay out your cooking equipment and supplies for an organized camp kitchen
- Use a compact backpacking stove instead of a heating plate for minimal tasks (ie boiling water instead of cooking a full meal)
- Stay organized with tables and chairs for eating and optimal comfort
- Organize your items in separate coolers
- Keep your food fresh (closed, in your car, etc.)
- Always throw away your waste and keep it away from the tents
First of all, you will need to plan your budget according to your eating habits. If you are planning to save money by cooking all of your meals at camp, but you know that realistically you will be eating out twice a day, you should save yourself the headache and just plan your budget in order to do this.
A great way to save money while festival camping is to bring your own breakfast foods and snacks, and only purchase meals from food vendors and nearby restaurants for lunch and dinner. By filling in all of the gaps in your eating schedule, you will be able to save a lot of money where you would have tried to find food elsewhere.
When you arrive to camp and set up your tent and equipment, you should lay out everything that you will be suing to cook in a designated area to create an organized camp kitchen. This area should be on top of an elevated surface, and will be the place that you go in order to cook all of your meals.
If you know that you will only be eating instant meals like Mac and cheese or cups of noodles that will only require some boiling water to be added, you can bring a compact backpacking stove instead of a heating plate for these types of minimal cooking tasks.
It is important to keep your cooking and eating area organized with tables and chairs for the most comfortable eating. This way, you can also keep the food crumbs and smells out of the tent where you will be sleeping.
Organize all of your food items in separate coolers so that nothing gets lost, damaged, or confused. For example, you can keep all of your water bottles and energy drinks in one cooler, while your cooking ingredients are in the other.
Keep all of your food fresh by making sure that packages and containers are sealed tightly, keeping everything in a secure location. If your snacks and food ingredients do not already come with resealable bags, you should place them into another one.
A safe place to keep all of your coolers and food items is inside of your car, where anything from small animals to the heat of the sun can’t get to them.
Lastly, make sure that you are always throwing away your food waste while you are festival camping. It is important not to leave garbage and scraps scattered around where you sleep in order to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention.
The designated garbage bag with all of your food and discarded items should be kept far away from all of the tents, perhaps near the eating table or on the perimeter of your campsite.
The Best Foods To Bring For Festival Camping
Now that you have learned some helpful tips and suggestions for eating at a music festival campground, you might be starting to brainstorm some ideas of specific foods that you would want to bring with you on your trip.
To get the thinking process flowing, we will be going over some of the best foods that you can bring for festival camping. All of the items on the list below are easy to pack and keep fresh throughout your entire adventure.
Take a look at the contents of this outline and consider adding a few items to your music festival grocery list.
Best Foods For Festival Camping:
- Trail Mix
- Packaged nuts
- Dehydrated fruits
- Granola bars
- Beef jerky
- Instant items (ie Mac and cheese, cup of noodles, coffee, oatmeal, tea, etc.)
- Sandwiches (PB&J or cold cuts)
- S’mores
One of the best snack foods that you can take on any kind of camping trip or outdoor adventure is trail mix. You can find tons of varieties with mixtures of nuts, seeds, granola, and even chocolates.
Even better, they will usually come in a resealable bag for the purpose of eating them outdoors and retaining the quality. On the other hand, you could make your own trail mix at home with a combination of healthy ingredients that you already have at home.
Packaged nuts are another great snack to look out for at the supermarket. Like trail mix, you can find them in resealable packages or cans with easy to use lids. You can choose a container of your favorite snack nut or find a value pack with more than one.
Dehydrated fruits are another essential snack when it comes to camping. These types of foods can be purchased ready to eat at the store, or you can make them yourself. If you have a dehydration machine, all you will have to do is input the fresh fruits of your choice and watch them come out as delicious chips.
Granola bars are a great snack to bring with you on your festival camping trip when you find that you need a burst of energy. After dancing in the sun all day, you might want to stop and take a few bites of a granola bar to get your energy back up.
Another delicious packaged snack for camping is beef jerky. You can choose from tons of flavors and marinades including teriyaki, and even certain cuts of meat. Packages of beef jerky go hand in hand with any kind of camping trip that you are planning to go on.
When you are sleeping in the middle of nowhere with little to no electricity and certainly no real kitchen, instant food items will be your best friend. Stack up on instant Mac and cheese, oatmeal, cups of noodles, and any other kind of ready to eat meal.
You can also find instant coffee that is campsite-friendly, as well as the traditional tea bags that can be placed into hot water for a relaxing beverage.
For lunches, you can bring a package of bread and some sandwich items for a quick meal at the campsite. You can use a jar of peanut butter and some honey or jam, or pack some cold cuts into your cooler.
Out of all the items in this list, you certainly can’t forget to bring S’mores! A staple in campfire treats, all you will need is a box of graham crackers, some marshmallows, and a few bars of chocolate to complete your dessert.
As mentioned in the previous section, it would be very cost-effective to try to make your own breakfast and snacks, while opting to purchase lunch and dinner from nearby food vendors.
The list down below will give you a few ideas of some meals that you can make in the morning to spice up your breakfast.
Campfire Breakfast Ideas:
- Scrambled eggs
- Breakfast sandwiches
- French toast
- Pancakes
- Chilaquiles
- Bacon and hash brown bake
These recipes can easily be concocted on your own or found online. They will require all of the necessary cooking tools that are needed such as an iron skillet, spatula, bowls, spoons, and more. However, this process should not be a problem for the avid cookers or those who are eager to save money on their trip.
Safety Tips For Music Festival Camping
To tie this all up, we will be going over some safety tips that you can follow for the optimal music festival experience. Take a look at the final list down below to find out how you can stay safe at camp and throughout the festival grounds.
Safety Tips For Music Festival Camping:
- Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water
- Party safely (monitor alcohol intake and be aware of drink spiking)
- Take breaks in the shade to prevent heat stroke
- Bring medications (prescription and OTC)
- Know your way around the festival grounds and campsite
- Use earplugs to protect your hearing
- Stay with a group at all times to avoid getting lost
Before you go on your festival camping trip, make sure that you have gone through these guidelines thoroughly, and make sure to apply them for the safest possible trip and return.
In conclusion, music festival camping can be a fun and unforgettable experience for everyone involved. With the right planning process and safety tips for the duration of your travels, you will be able to enjoy the moment without having to worry about preparation mishaps.
Keeping everything together and organized is the perfect recipe for a flawless music festival camping trip. By following all of the tips that were outlined in this article, you won’t be able to wait for the next festival!
